The superstar fullback made himself available for the All-Stars game, but the Canberra Raiders have been accused of failing to do likewise.
Kalyn Ponga had Newcastle Knights fans holding their breath on Saturday night in the NRL All-Stars game, putting his body on the line with a level of commitment that Adam Blair would have loved to see from Canberra Raiders players. But the Maori All-Stars coach has accused Ricky Stuart of encouraging his Raiders players to make themselves unavailable so they didn’t get injured before the NRL season.
Blair led the Maori team to a gritty 10-6 victory over the Indigenous All-Stars in Parramatta, before using his post-match press conference to urge the NRL to police availability properly. The former Kiwi international called out the Canberra Raiders, who will soon fly to Las Vegas for the season opener, and accused them of being the leading culprit for encouraging players to make themselves unavailable.
“Everyone’s dream is to play NRL and if you sit on the fringe of that it’s hard to stand up to your coach and say, ‘Hey, I want to represent my people’,” Blair said. “I understand how it works … the more the game (NRL) can expose us to this game, the more the game can say, ‘If you’re Maori, you’re available to play in this game’.
“The more they hold everyone accountable then it becomes easier for the clubs to go, ‘well, the game says you have to play – unless you’re injured – you go and play’. There’s so many talented players that could’ve been here but due to pressures… for example, I love our Canberra boys and we could have taken five or six of them and put them in our squad. But I get it, I’m on the other side now (working for Newcastle)… those are five of Canberra’s best players.”
Adam Blair praises James Fisher-Harris and Kalyn Ponga
Blair said Raiders prop Joe Tapine would have been one of the first players picked for the Maoris alongside James Fisher-Harris, who captained the team. Blair praised Fisher-Harris’ insistence on playing for his side and said it rubbed off on the group’s younger players.
“When you have someone as strong and as passionate as Fish for our people, it brings the likes of Kalyn (Ponga) into the team,” Blair said. “Keano Kini is only a couple of years into his career but is brave enough to stand up to his club and say, ‘I want to represent my people, because that’s who I am first and foremost’.
“The more we can have our best players on the field, the more we can continue to be proud about who we are, the more we can be staunch about us as people. There should be no question around whether you represent your culture or not.”
Kalyn Ponga risks injury with brilliant try-saver
Ponga was perhaps the biggest name to feature in the exhibition match on Saturday night, after Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr were controversially allowed to use the match as part of their suspensions. The Knights had Ponga, Dane Gagai, Leo Thompson and Dylan Lucas in action, leaving fans holding their breath that none were injured.
And Ponga sent a huge scare through fans in the first half when he pulled off a brilliant try-saver that put him at risk of injury. The fullback came screaming across field and body-checked Tyrone Munro when the winger appeared certain to score, with Ponga left sprawled on the ground afterwards.
Thankfully he wasn’t hurt, but Andrew Johns summed it up in commentary for Channel 9. “Everyone in Newcastle just held their breath,” the Knights legend said.
