Kalyn Ponga cops brutal truth bomb from Aaron Woods over cubicle furore
Dragons rival Aaron Woods has dropped a hard truth on Kalyn Ponga, after the Newcastle Knights skipper finally fronted media.
Newcastle Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga has been implored to 'grow up' by NRL mainstay Aaron Woods, after fronting media for the first time since his toilet cubicle incident in August last year. Ponga faced reporters on Monday, nearly six months after he was captured leaving a toilet cubicle in a Newcastle pub alongside teammate Kurt Mann.
It was an embarrassing look for Ponga and Mann, considering both players were out with injury at the time the scandal erupted. The rest of the Knights had been interstate playing an away game.
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Monday's press conference was Ponga's first opportunity to share his side of the story, having been shielded from enquiries by the club for several months. Ponga maintained that Mann had accompanied him into the cubicle because he was sick, adding that he 'shouldn’t have been out in the first place'.
However the long-awaited press conference left Woods, who will start his second season for St George Illawarra this year, feeling unimpressed. The 31-year-old said it was time for Ponga to realise the responsibility that went hand in hand with not only his role as club captain, but also as someone with immense talent in the sport.
“He’s club captain. You can’t hide,” he said. “You’ve got to come out and front-foot it. He should have just spoke about it then.
“He went into the toilets with Kurt Mann . They did whatever they did. Come out and move on. Just front-foot it there straight away.
"Now it’s dragged on ... six months, eight months ... however long it’s been. We’re coming into a new season."
Woods accepted that Ponga's relatively laid-back demeanour off the field was not an indication of his attitude on it, with the 252-game veteran saying his talent alone would only take him so far. The next crucial step for Ponga, he said, was a more full understanding of the off-field responsibility associated both with being skipper, as well as one of the top players in the league.
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Woods said he had long been a fan of Ponga and would continue to be in future, but that the star fullback needed to match his skill with maturity. He also added that there was no doubt the renewed interest in an old story was nothing but a distraction to the Knights during their pre-season trial matches.
“I know he’s got this blasé attitude, he’s a pretty cruisy type but when he crosses the field he’s straight onto it ... but when you’re club captain, you’ve got sponsors and all that you’ve got to look after, you just need to front-foot these little things," Woods said.
”You’re not a kid, mate. You’ve got to grow up. You’re the captain of the club and you’re the face of it, he’s one of the superstars of our game, he’s one of the highest earners.
“You’ve just got to front-foot those things so we can just knock it on the back (and) we don’t need to go on about it for the new year of footy."
On Monday, Ponga admitted he erred in going out while sitting out the final seven rounds, but was adamant he was not aware of studies that indicate alcohol can slow recovery from concussions. "I didn't know the affects alcohol could have on concussions," Ponga said on Monday.
"Obviously it's not great for concussions. I have learned a lot from that time. But at that point of time, no (I wasn't aware). Concussions aren't a foreign part of the game, but there is so much stuff people don't know."
with AAP
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