Ponga has grown up, now Newcastle can shake the Penrith machine
Rugby league showed its heart for Jai
The death of Angry Anderson at 79 was another sad farewell to an Australian icon, but the week’s most powerful reminder of mortality came through the extraordinary courage of Jai Arrow.
His tribute dinner at The Star carried unavoidable sadness, yet the clips, music, photographs and untold stories also delivered the fun Jai wanted. More importantly, rugby league dropped its tribal nonsense at the door: rival clubs bought tables, the Roosters turned up in force and Nick Politis personally helped Jai through Deluxe.
That is the game at its best. Jai remains a larrikin who can laugh at himself and wants everyone laughing with him, despite the cards he has been dealt. His stoicism has been outstanding, while the response around him proves rugby league’s fiercest rivalries are still only football rivalries when real life comes barging through the front door.
Spend the concert money on juniors
Grand Final entertainment has become an annual circus, and I’d rather see the money poured into grassroots football than burned chasing an overseas headline act.
The dumped performance remains a muddle because the competing accounts cannot both be accepted as gospel. Reports suggested the artist would not perform Dance Monkey and that the NRL pulled the pin; her management denied that version and blamed a scheduling clash. Both sides of that story matter.
Olivia Dean would have been a terrific alternative, although I heard the asking figure was US$1.2 million. She is already in Australia and begins touring the Monday after the Grand Final, but that does not mean rugby league should empty the vault. If there is a spectacular replacement hidden away, unveil it. Otherwise, honour the promised $1 million for grassroots and let the football be the entertainment.
A Knights win would belong with the great ambushes
If Newcastle topple Penrith, it will rank among the greatest finals upsets of the NRL era, which began in 1998. That is not hyperbole; it is the company this assignment keeps.
The Bulldogs erased a 16-point deficit against Parramatta in the final 10 minutes of their 1998 preliminary final before winning in extra time. The Warriors stunned Melbourne in the 2011 preliminary final when virtually nobody gave them a chance. Then there was Newcastle overwhelming a Parramatta side that had lost only four games and scored more than 800 points that season, largely because the Knights arrived loose while the Eels looked wound tighter than piano wire.
Penrith are September specialists and may win comfortably, but Newcastle’s injury-ravaged, next-man-up charge has already acquired the smell of a proper finals fairytale. I’m not dismissing it.
Penrith have cracks Newcastle can attack
Penrith are still the competition’s hardest finals examination, but they are not flawless and Newcastle have enough speed to expose the cracks.
The Knights must first repair their middle defence because Penrith will punish the easy metres conceded against the Warriors. Cody Hopwood and Lachlan Crouch held their own at Eden Park, while Jermaine McEwen and Francis Manuleleua have embodied the next-man-up mentality, but young middles cannot spend Sunday constantly retreating.
The opportunity sits wider, where Penrith’s defenders have repeatedly been exposed and scrambling can only hide the problem for so long against Newcastle’s big, fast outside backs. There is also a legitimate selection question around Freddy Lussick, who helped Penrith through an eight or nine-week stretch and could steady the side without burning another interchange.
Dylan Lucas is the Knights’ concern. His ankle is not right, Penrith will find him and Newcastle cannot carry a compromised runner into deep water.
Ponga has finally become Newcastle’s leader
I’ve never been Kalyn Ponga’s biggest fan, but he has won me over because the skateboard cool and contractual uncertainty have been replaced by leadership, commitment and genuine feeling for Newcastle.
The talent was never in question. The problem was the sense that Newcastle’s best-paid player, despite the club’s enormous investment, always had one eye on rugby union or another escape route. That uncertainty has disappeared. Ponga signed a three-year extension through 2030, has played 17 games and counting this season and now speaks about Newcastle with conviction rather than leaving everything to his manager.
I reckon signing Dylan Brown was central to that change. The pair have forged a strong friendship, while Justin Holbrook has helped create a club that looks united and knows where it is going.
Ponga now looks happy, plays with heart and handles the media like a captain. Newcastle need his best against Penrith. I think they will get it.
Latrell must earn Souths’ next deal
Souths are right to park Latrell Mitchell’s contract talks because potential cannot keep outranking availability.
The club wants to see how he starts next season and, the way I’m hearing it, negotiations will remain parked until well into the year. Latrell can test his value from November 1, but the message from Wayne Bennett is unmistakable: get on the field, dominate and write your own price.
Since arriving at Souths in 2020, Latrell’s highest season total is 17 games; he played 11 in each of the previous two seasons and 12 this year. That is nowhere near enough return from a player who can be arguably the best in rugby league when fit and firing.
Forget the convenient line that this will become a board decision. Wayne is the game’s most experienced and successful coach, and nothing significant happens at Souths without his authority. Latrell is the master of his own destiny now.
Do not turn Harrison into another burdened prodigy
Zane Harrison is an emerging star, but 11 NRL games should not become a licence for everyone around him to lose their heads.
The 20-year-old is a local Gold Coast junior, his family lives there and the Titans want to build around him. They reportedly have about $600,000 available for next season, while Papua New Guinea now views Harrison as its second-choice halfback if it cannot land Nathan Cleary. His agent, Sami Ayoub, is keeping his cards close and I reckon he is trying to secure top dollar for a player he considers blue-chip.
That is the manager’s job, but Harrison’s job is consistency. A match-winning field goal against Penrith and several special moments are not the same as carrying an NRL side for 24 rounds.
Ash Taylor remains the warning: the relentless $1 million-man label created a crushing burden, despite his direct denial that he earned that amount. Harrison’s money will come. His development must come first.
