Kalyn Ponga

Since 1987, he is just the sixth player to make his first-grade debut in a finals match.

Kalyn Ponga (born 30 March 1998) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League (NRL).

He is the recipient of the 2023 Dally M Medal.

Ponga previously played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL.

At representative level, he has played for New Zealand Māori and Queensland in the State of Origin series.

He has also played as a and debuted on the.

Ponga was born in Port Hedland, Western Australia, to parents from New Zealand, and is of Māori descent by way of his father's ancestry.

He spent an early portion of his life in Newman, Western Australia, before moving to Mount Isa, Queensland, at the age of two.

In 2006, at the age of eight, he relocated with his family to Palmerston North, New Zealand, and spent five years there, where he played a number of sports; including rugby league, touch football, hockey, rugby union, golf and soccer.

In 2010, he won New Zealand's under-13 national golf championship.

In 2011, at the age of 13, Ponga and his family returned to Queensland, settling in Mackay.

He attended Mackay State High School and was a member of the Rugby League Academy program, as well as playing junior rugby league for Souths Mackay.

Also in 2011, he was signed to a scholarship with the Central Queensland NRL bid side.

In 2012, he was selected for the Australian Schoolboys under-15 side, becoming just the second 14-year-old to make the side.

In 2013, Ponga, then a scholarship holder with the Brisbane Broncos, moved to Brisbane.

He attended Anglican Church Grammar School and competed for their rugby union side in the prestigious GPS competition, while also playing rugby league for the Easts Tigers in the Cyril Connell Cup.

That year he made the Australian Schoolboys under-15 side for the second consecutive year.

While in Brisbane, Ponga also began playing Australian rules football and was placed in the Brisbane Lions Academy list after being spotted at a representative Rugby league match where he was considered an outstanding prospect.

In December 2013, then 15-year-old Ponga signed a four-year contract with the North Queensland Cowboys.

He was pursued by six professional clubs from across three different sports, turning down the Broncos, Melbourne Storm, Sydney Roosters, Queensland Reds and Brisbane Lions to sign with the Townsville-based NRL club.

Ponga played for the North Queensland Cowboys Holden Cup team from 2015 to 2017, playing 44 games, scoring 32 tries and kicking 42 goals for 212 points in his U20s career.

Ponga moved to Townsville where he attended Ignatius Park College, played for the Townsville Stingers in the Mal Meninga Cup.

Later on the year Ponga represented Australia in the under 18s touch football at the 2015 Youth Trans Tasman series.

In January, he was a member of the QAS Emerging under-18 Origin squad.

In August, he made his NYC debut for the Cowboys, coming off the bench in his side's 50-6 victory over the Parramatta Eels in Round 20.

It was later revealed that he had missed five months of the season fighting a life-threatening brain infection.

He finished the year as the Cowboys' starting fullback, scoring 8 tries in 8 games.

In October, he was invited to train with the New Zealand national team in preparation for their tour of Great Britain.

The Lions continued to pursue Ponga after he committed to the Cowboys and it was later revealed he was one month away from sensationally converting to Australian rules football and signing a four-year contract with the Lions in the latter half of 2016.

In November, he joined the Cowboys' 2016 first grade squad for pre-season training.

In January, Ponga was selected in the QAS under-20s Origin squad.

In February, he played in the Cowboys' first-grade side's trial game against the Broncos, scoring a try.

In May, Ponga was selected for the Junior Kangaroos and Junior Kiwis but opted not to play.

He spent the majority of the season playing for the Cowboys' NYC and was named at fullback in the NYC Team of the Year.

On 16 September, Ponga made his NRL debut on the wing against the Brisbane Broncos in the finals, replacing the injured Antonio Winterstein.

Ponga was short from scoring his first NRL try in the 16th minute of the game making a break on the wing getting taken down by Broncos Lock Corey Parker.

He was contracted to the Cowboys until the end of 2017.

In November, it was reported that Ponga had signed a contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2018.

On 17 November, when North Queensland returned to pre-season training, head coach Paul Green confirmed the reports and his disappointment saying the contract was in the cooling off period.

The deal was officially announced on 28 November as a four-year contract starting in 2018.