Calls to ban Kalyn Ponga from State of Origin as NRL investigates Kangaroos withdrawal

NRL officials have launched an investigation into Kalyn Ponga's withdrawal from contention for the Australian Kangaroos squad, which has reportedly left coach Mal Meninga fuming. Ponga dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when he announced he wouldn't be making himself available to play for Australia in the Pacific Championship Test matches at the end of the NRL season.

Crucially, Ponga revealed he isn't injured but simply wants to put his full focus into a full pre-season with the Newcastle Knights. "I want to win a comp, for me anything short of that isn't success," Ponga said in a statement on the Knights website.

"My focus has never shifted from wanting to win a premiership with the Knights, that has been my goal since I joined the club in 2018 and continues to be my focus. When I'm done, I want to look back at my career with a positive reflection, including people saying he was a great signing and represented our community to the best of his ability.

"For now, I don't feel like I have earned that yet. That's why I have made this decision and will work hard every day to chase those goals."

Kalyn Ponga's withdrawal is against NRL rules

But the fact Ponga isn't injured means his withdrawal would be against NRL rules. Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, NRL clubs must make all players available for representative selection unless there's a valid reason they can't play (usually injury).

Ponga has form in this area, pulling out of contention for the Queensland State of Origin team in 2023 to focus on club footy with the Knights. But on that occasion he came to an agreement with coach Billy Slater, who was likely to pick Reece Walsh ahead of Ponga anyway.

In this instance, the NRL has the power to step in and force Ponga to play if Meninga wants to select him. The NRL could seek further information from the Knights, with the potential of sanctions for the club if players aren't made available for selection without a valid reason.

According to reports, Ponga didn't inform Meninga of his decision before the Knights released the statement on Tuesday, and the Kangaroos coach isn't particularly happy about it. Meninga had previously declared that Ponga was in the mix for selection in the Australian squad, although Dylan Edwards and James Tedesco would appear to be in front of him in the pecking order to start at fullback.

Edwards' availability remains a mystery, and the Panthers fullback might opt to get surgery on his troublesome knee instead of playing for the Kangaroos. According to reports, Meninga had been planning to pick Ponga in his squad at the very least.

Calls to ban Kalyn Ponga from State of Origin selection

Discussing the situation on Tuesday evening, former Australia captain Bob McCarthy said selectors should put a line through Ponga's name for good and never consider him for Kangaroos selection for the rest of his career. And leading journalist Paul Crawley reckons the NRL should ban him from State of Origin selection as well if he doesn't want to play rep footy.

“As I understand it the Knights had been informed he would be in the squad, so if it turns out that he didn’t put in a call to the NRL and especially to Mal Meninga, that’s just an absolute show of disrespect and a slap in the face," Crawley said on NRL 360. “The NRL have to take a stand on this because in the past, in eras gone by, it was always up to the representative doctor to make a decision on whether a player was available or not.

“That seems to have disappeared in where clubs have taken on more professionalism, but there’s no talk of injury here. If the NRL doesn’t take a tough stance, it opens a loophole for other clubs to say in the future that we don’t want our players playing for Tonga or Samoa or Australia or New Zealand in the end of season Test matches.

“It’s a show of disrespect to the NRL where’d you’d almost slap him with a fine for bringing the game into disrepute and you wouldn’t let him play Origin next year. If you don’t want to play Tests, well Origin is a selection trial for the Australian team.”

NRL 360 host Braith Anasta said it was "unprofessional" if Ponga didn't ring Meninga first, while journalist David Riccio added: “The major sticking point here is the process or the lack of process that’s been followed.

“Make a phone call to Mal and say 'this is what I’m thinking, would you be ok with it and this?', and it would be a far different story. But the fact the media statement came out to the complete surprise of the NRL and Mal Meninga is what’s going to create a bigger story here.”

On social media, veteran journalist Phil Rothfield suggested Ponga had been burned by Meninga last year when he wasn't selected in the Kangaroos squad despite winning the Dally M medal as player of the year. On that occasion Meninga stuck solid with Tedesco as his fullback and picked Edwards as a winger.