Press conference: Kalyn Ponga on Round 3
Kalyn Ponga admits that after coming off the back of two wins, Sunday’s loss against the Sydney Roosters was a tough one to swallow.
But it was a great opportunity for the team to see what is required to be a top four team.
“As a group we have identified what went wrong and a lot of it was just effort areas, they beat us to the ball on multiple occasions… that’s easily fixed, and we will rebuild and look to be better.
“I didn’t enjoy losing but I enjoyed playing against them (Roosters)... they’re a very sharp side.
"They turned it on and we didn’t. We gave them the ball and gave them opportunities and didn’t compete as hard as we should have.
"It was a great learning curve for us, we’re building and they’re a top four side and we’re hoping to be at that benchmark.”
The 19-year-old fullback identified a lack of effort in critical moments affected the momentum of the game and ultimately cost them the win.
“I think in our first two games our effort was high but our effort wasn’t as high as it should be against a pretty sharp side. We will pick that up and come into the game this weekend looking to improve. “
Although the Knights’ efforts last Sunday cost them, Ponga states that it wasn’t from a lack of intensity in the forward pack, with the red and blues matching the physicality of the Roosters.
“I thought we were pretty physical as a side... our physicality was up there. Personally I didn’t get tackled too hard or anything, but I thought we matched them and at times were better (in terms of physicality).”
In regards to this Sunday’s match against the Dragons for the Alex McKinnon Cup, Ponga is looking forward to matching up against Dragons fullback Matt Dufty.
“I haven’t really looked too much at them, we will do some video this week… I know Dufty at the back is pretty sharp.”
