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Kalyn Ponga dragged into ugly NRL storm as Nathan Cleary secures epic Panthers victory

Fans have been left baffled to how the Panthers received two fortunate calls.

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·4-min read

Kalyn Ponga was at the centre of two controversial calls that went against the Knights as Nathan Cleary scored the winning try for Panthers as they chase down the Storm for the minor premiership title. The Knights pushed the Panthers at BlueBet Stadium all the way in their 22-14 defeat, but two huge moments turned the NRL contest against the away side.

The first had Knights - and Tigers fans from Thursday night - fuming after Isack Tago was deemed fortunate he wasn't sent off after a late high-tackle on the fullback. In the second-half, Ponga threw a wild pass out wide and it landed in the hands of Brian To'o.

Kalyn Ponga reacts and Isack Tago tackles Ponga.
NRL fans have been left fuming as the Panthers escaped with two fortunate calls both surrounding Kalyn Ponga (pictured). (Images: Getty Images/NRL.com.au)

The Panthers winger scooped up the ball and raced away for a try. Although play was brought back from the bunker when it was deemed Tago had collected Ponga high and with force after he had passed the balll.

While the penalty was awarded to the Knights, Tago did not find himself spending 10 minutes in the sin bin. Tigers fans harked back to their Thursday night game when Justin Olam was sent off for a high-tackle when his shoulder made contact to the head of Heilum Luki. While most fans feel Olam's tackle had more force, Tago's tackle could have easily been a sin-bin.

But the drama continued later in the game. Later in the second-half, Tago made a break down the right hand side of the field. As he went to pass, he slipped and Ponga collected the centre as crashed into the ground.

Ponga was then penalised for a head-high tackle. Although replays showed Ponga didn't even make contact with Tago's head, but made a standard one-on-one tackle. The penalty was a defining moment in the game.

Kalyn Ponga tackled.
Kalyn Ponga (pictured) was in all the drama against the Panthers.

Cleary used the momentum and blitzed through the Knights defence only moments later to seal the game for the Panthers in front if their own fans. However, the NRL world was left baffled at the two calls. Viewers could not believe the Panthers escaped without at least a sin-bin for the tackle on Ponga. The fullback's tackle was also deemed by most as a great tackle and not worthy of a penalty. Both calls went the way of the Panthers and fans were left frustrated with the result.

The Panthers have now closed the gap to the table leaders the Storm after Melbourne lost to the Dragons on Saturday night. The Knights made it hard for the Panthers to click in front of their home fans, but it was their superstar halfback that stood up and made the difference yet again.

"To be honest, it was a pretty ugly game from me so I felt like I needed to step up at the end and that moment sort of fell in my lap," Cleary said after scoring the winner.

The victory leaves the Panthers only two points behind ladder-leading Melbourne. COach Ivan Cleary said the club were looking to secure a top two finish at the end of the season.

"(Finishing in) the top two is the main thing," he said. "The minor premiership I think is an underrated achievement. If that happens, it happens but we'll just be looking forward to Parramatta next week and trying to build on this performance. We struggled to get much momentum at all today but I just thought we stuck at it, moved the ball when we could. It was a hard-fought victory."