Former NRL hooker Mark Riddell believes NSW must make QLD star Kalyn Ponga work hard in defence early on, if they're to nullify his dangerous attacking capabilities in the State of Origin decider.
The Continuous Call Team
Shownotes Transcript
Cameron Smith was on the Sunday footy show today, the Queensland legend and future immortal by the sounds of things. And he spoke about how the Maroons could use Kalen Ponga in the decider on Wednesday night. Well, I'm not sure what the plan is for Kalen. You've got to remember, his Dabu game, he played in the middle and was fantastic on Dabu.
Then you think back to his last game in the Maroon jersey was game three of 2022 and he was the best player on the field. So I'm sure Billy will have a plan to get Kalen onto the field. I'm not sure what stage of the game that will be, whether it be first half, whether it be second half. But knowing the way Billy thinks about football, I think the plan will be to get him on the field with that man right there, Reece Walsh, and have that sort of double prong attack.
Well, they're two of, Darrell, the most attacking threats in the National Rugby League. They're both superstar players. To have them both on the field, it's certainly going to cause some headaches for the Blues. I think it's a bonus for them. Like, he's a superstar from Ponga, and so is the other bloke, Reece Walsh. I think just on Reece Walsh, I know I'm getting off track here a little bit, but I think he's flying under the radar a little bit, Lee.
leading into this game because there hasn't been much talk about Reece Walsh. He had a quiet game by his standards, certainly in game two. But I'm thinking he'll be happy that he's not sort of been the focus of everything and maybe Kalen has become the focus of it all. I think he could play anywhere, Kalen Ponga. I mean, you put him lock, second row, you know, and just put him on the edge. I mean, he's going to be a danger wherever he plays. I saw a vision of him when he played last time. I think he was man of the match in that game.
was it the third game last time? I think they had to win up in Brisbane. He just was fantastic. He just cut, cut through big tackles. He's so strong. He's a, he's a massive plus for the Queenslanders. As a former New South Wales player, Josh, I would have thought if you're defending a Queensland side that boasts the origin players that they have, but, uh,
a team that's got Reece Walsh and Caelan Ponga on the field at the same time defensively you're going to have to be ready for what's coming your way otherwise you're going to lose some points yeah you're going to have to get your numbers right and Dylan Edwards will have that job what it allows them to do is to be able to put two ball players on each side of the field effectively if you put Ponga in the middle but then play him as like a fullback role you can then team up and then whichever side doesn't number up properly you're hitting that side and you've got either Reece Walsh or Caelan Ponga coming at you so
It is a danger sign. I reckon he'll probably inject him into that second half and look to do that when the Blues are a bit fatigued. So, yeah, he's certainly dangerous, but it can also backfire on him as well, having an extra back on the bench. So it's a bold move, but we saw in the first game at work for Billy. Well, if I'm New South Wales, the moment he comes on the field, I'm just spotting him up. If he's in the middle, I am just spotting him up and running every forward at him for one or two sets.
and just hammering him. That's what they've got to do. If he wants to go and play in the middle, they can't let him have it his own way because he's such a talented player with the football. We know how much of a threat he's going to be. I totally agree with what J-Moz said there about their ability to attack
with both Walsh and Ponga. But if he wants to play in the middle, you've got to let him know that he's going to play in the middle. And those Blues forwards have to be aiming up and getting straight through him. It's going to be a fascinating contest Wednesday night. Suncorp Stadium will have a special edition of Wide World of Sports from six, myself and Peter Basaltis, and then from seven, the pre-game with the continuous call team leading into State of Origin three at Suncorp Stadium.
