Asked if he felt they could both feature in the Queensland squad, as was the case in 2024 when Walsh started at fullback, and Ponga was used as an interchange impact player, Ponga replied: “Hopefully. That would be nice.”
Ponga has 10 Origin appearances to his name, for five wins, while Walsh has been involved in three wins in his five Origins.
Kalyn Ponga is yet to play senior international football but has represented the Junior Kangaroos.Credit: Getty
While Ponga was happy to declare his Origin ambition, he was less forthcoming about his intentions regarding the possibility of representing New Zealand at this year’s World Cup.
The current eligibility rules prevent the 27-year-old from representing both the Maroons and Kiwis, but the ARL Commission has been considering changing the criteria to allow dispensation for the likes of Ponga, Victor Radley and Addin Fonua-Blake, who are dual qualified.
“I don’t think it’s even possible, is it?” Ponga said when asked if he had any thoughts about potentially representing the Kiwis. There’s no point in commenting on hearsay.”
If Ponga was keeping his cards close to his chest, the Knights did their best to assist him by editing that portion of his press conference out of the video they posted on their website.
The Kiwis would no doubt welcome Ponga, who said in a recent radio interview with New Zealand station Sport Nation: “All my values, who I am, everything that I am, really is back in New Zealand. It’s my family, it’s my culture.”
Newcastle’s recruit Dylan Brown said after winning the Pacific Championships with the Kiwis: “It’d be awesome seeing him in the black jersey, because he’s a great talent.”
Kiwi hooker Phoenix Crossland, a long-time teammate of Ponga’s at Newcastle, added: “It’s up to him, and obviously the rules as well … I think he’s pretty keen.”
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Seven months after undergoing foot surgery, Ponga said he was “ticking boxes” in his painstaking recovery and would “definitely” be fit for the season-opening clash with North Queensland in Las Vegas, although he was uncertain about playing in trial matches or the All Stars.
“When he came back and [started] running, they noticed they got a bit of bone bruising there,” Knights coach Justin Holbrook explained.
“If you keep running on that, it can lead to something worse and a fracture. That’s why we took the precautionary approach, put it in a boot and said back off and let it settle down.
“In particular, the time of year it was. If we’re already playing, it’s March-April, we probably don’t have that approach.
“If it’s a bit sore, but he’s OK, we push on. But the fact that it’s his time of year, I’d much rather play it safe now than when we’re playing week-to-week. That’s why we’ve done it the way we have.”
