Kalyn Ponga future takes another twist but do Newcastle Knights already have a replacement in mind

Kalyn Ponga’s future has been one of the main subplots of the NRL in 2022 with a tug of war between current club Newcastle Knights and the Dolphins back home in Queensland for his signature.

The Dolphins are set to become the NRL’s 17th club and will join the competition under former England and Great Britain coach Wayne Bennett who once helped build Brisbane Broncos into a force upon their arrival in the NRL and will look to do the same with the Dolphins now.

But recruitment has been tricky with a number of high-profile targets slipping through their fingers and it seemed Ponga was going the same way until now.

Reports down under have suggested that the contract offer from Newcastle to Ponga which would have seen the fullback stay with the Knights for three more years is now off the table.

This is coming from many sources including The Daily Telegraph and The Australian which have stated the decision to do so is to launch a full scale assault on signing NRL winner and Queensland star Cameron Munster.

Munster has perhaps been one of the league’s best players since bursting onto the scene in 2014 fitting in nicely alongside the holy trinity at Melbourne of Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Billy Slater and these days is part of the Storm’s new holy trinity with Harry Grant and Ryan Papenhuyzen being the heirs apparent to that trident of class which spearheaded the Storm’s success. But his future is also up in the air with the Daily Telegraph reporting that seven clubs are pursuing his signature with no deal agreed with Melbourne yet.

One of those clubs pursuing Munster is the Newcastle Knights who have now prioritised a long term deal for Munster over re-signing Ponga and it’s possible that Munster may slot right in as Ponga’s replacement having played a lot of his career at fullback. That said, now an established six, perhaps he’ll lead the Knights’ attack from five-eighth.

Nonetheless, we could soon see Munster in the red and blue or Newcastle and Ponga running out with the Dolphins as they look to take the NRL by storm.