The emotion of the week finally caught up with Kalyn Ponga, who starred for Newcastle despite their 19-18 defeat to the Sydney Roosters in the NRL grand final.
The Knights fullback was responsible for many of the match’s most dazzling moments – a constant menace with ball in hand on both sides of the field. He saved a four-pointer when pressuring Mark Nawaqanitawase’s aerial put-down in the first half. He ran away for a length-of-the-field try, the undoubted highlight of a thrilling encounter. The headgear, which looked pink as he ran, was impossible to miss.
Despite his brilliance, however, the Roosters proved too clinical and overpowered the gallant Knights in the second half. The result came at the end of a week the city of Newcastle experienced incredible highs, but – with Saturday’s accident in Wallsend and Sunday’s defeat – it was not without lows. The massive support for Newcastle at Accor Stadium on Sunday only amplified the sentiments.
Ponga was exhausted at the end of 80 minutes, physically and emotionally. “It hurts so much,” the Knights captain said after the match, his voice wavering. “I know we did them proud, but the ultimate goal is to win a comp. [I] can’t thank them enough for their support. We’ll be back.”
Most of the 80,814 in attendance were backing the Knights, and the stadium roared as the Novocastrians raced to a 12-0 lead. The relentless Roosters stayed patient and pegged them back, and led by seven late in a match in which they enjoyed 57% of possession.
Newcastle found a way back, however, scoring a late try to give them one last shot. Despite the urging of their fans, they could not conjure one more of their trademark long-range tries.
Ponga said he was “super proud” of the team, despite the result. “Wooden spoon last year, if you had have said we were playing in the grand final [at the start of the season], I would have said you were kidding,” he said.
Speaking to press afterwards, he was composed and reflective about what had been an extraordinary week for Newcastle. “I’m so grateful for this week to see the spirit, pride of our community, the connection that it’s brought to so many people,” he said.
“Newcastle people are tough and they’ve had to do it tough yesterday with something that happened and our thoughts with those people as well – the tragedy that happened as we were leaving – but our community just really rally around each other.
“Nothing this week was a burden on us. Someone said before the game was it distracting? Fortunately we get to be in this position, we get to experience what we experienced this week, and it’s definitely a feeling I’ll chase again.”
Roosters captain James Tedesco was full of praise for his opposing fullback, who has finally entered the conversation this year as the best player in rugby league.
“If you stop Kalyn, [you go] a long way to winning the game,” Tedesco said. “Our boys on the edge did a great job defending him. I mean, they just keep asking questions, he’s so hard to handle, our boys did a great job.”
Knights coach Justin Holbrook said there is no player in the competition he would like in his team more than his captain. “I just love everything about him, I just love the way he leads our team, [he’s] so infectious. I said to him a few times this year, if we’re going to get to the end of the year and give it a shot, he’s going to have to be our best player,” he said.
The coach agreed that the team relished the week. “I got asked that many times, is it overwhelming? Is it overwhelming? It was never overwhelming, and we didn’t even care what we had to do, we were just going to be ready to go.”
