Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett was presented as the architect of his meeting with Kalyn Ponga in Sydney regarding the contract of the Knights co-captain, but a report has emerged claiming the Newcastle superstar in fact teed it up.
Ponga is contracted to the Knights until the end of 2024 but the final two years are options in his favour, meaning he is effectively a free agent.
The Dolphins are yet to land a top-line playmaker and are interested in poaching Ponga for their inaugural 2023 NRL season and beyond.
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But Nine rugby league reporter Ben Dobbin says it was Ponga, not Bennett, who set up the face-to-face meeting in Sydney about his future, before adding it left a Knights source “filthy”.
“(Ponga) had an initial meeting with the Knights where they put forward their offer, the Dolphins have obviously put forward their offer, and he went away and thought about it. Well within his rights. Everybody was on board about it, everyone knew about it,” Dobbin said on Triple M’s The Rush Hour with Leisel, Liam and Dobbo.
“Then last week Kalyn Ponga reached out to the Dolphins and said, ‘I’d like to have another discussion’.
“Now, let’s get some things straight. The discussion didn’t take place in Newcastle, in your own backyard, in your town, Wayne didn’t fly into Newcastle.
“They were in Sydney… and it was on the back of Kalyn Ponga and his father, who manages him, wanting to have a meeting to see exactly what the Dolphins really, truly, genuinely felt that their side was going to be like.”
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Dobbin said he was staggered by an encounter he had with a Knights staff member regarding the Ponga fiasco.
“I spoke to somebody at the club… (they) were filthy on it. Filthy,” Dobbin said.
“And then when I told them it was in Sydney, they said, ‘well, at least it wasn’t in his own backyard’.
“So what if he did!”
Ponga in February insisted he was committed to remaining with the Knights and winning an NRL premiership with the club.
“I’m locked in. I’m dedicated to winning a comp here,” Ponga told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“It’s all I want to do, it’s really all I think about. I don’t know why, there’s always speculation I’m going elsewhere.
“But I’m really enjoying this group of men, being here at the Knights, so I’m excited.”
Those comments suggest Ponga is committed to seeing out the remainder of his contract with Newcastle – and that’s a belief shared by Dobbin.
“I don’t believe Kalyn Ponga will join the Dolphins,” Dobbin said.
“I believe that he’s doing his due diligence and will remain with Newcastle.”
Ponga will next turn out for Newcastle in a clash with Manly in the Hunter on Thursday night.
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