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Kalyn Ponga genius undone in horror moment as Cowboys snatch freakish NRL finals epic

Ponga admitted after the game he was haunted by the missed opportunity.

andrew reid
·4-min read

Kalyn Ponga admits he was haunted by a crucial late chance to ice Newcastle's sudden-death NRL finals victory over North Queensland after the Cowboys snatched a 28-16 victory in freakish scenes. Ponga was outstanding throughout the contest and almost single-handedly dragged his team across the finish line in a nail-biting finals showdown in Townsville but a couple of late errors was all the home side needed to keep their season alive and book a date with Cronulla in week two of the finals.

Ponga had two linebreaks, two try assists, seven tackle breaks and ran for 188 metres from 19 carries in easily the most dominant individual display on Saturday night. The reigning Dally M Medallist proved almost impossible to tackle at times and gave the Cowboys defenders nightmares all game but missed a crucial go-ahead conversion when the scores were locked at 16-all late in the second half, before combining with Dane Gagai to bomb a crucial try in the 69th minute.

Kalyn Ponga admits he was haunted by a late bombed try in Newcastle's sudden-death NRL finals loss to the Cowboys. Pic: Getty/Nine
Kalyn Ponga admits he was haunted by a late bombed try in Newcastle's sudden-death NRL finals loss to the Cowboys. Pic: Getty/Nine

The Newcastle marquee man sliced through the Cowboys' defence from inside his own half before racing downfield and drawing in North Queensland fullback Scott Drinkwater. Knights teammate Tyson Gamble was screaming for the pass back inside and would have almost certainly scored untouched under the posts but Ponga only ever had eyes on the outside and threw a shocking pass low and out in front of Gagai that the centre dropped as the golden opportunity went begging.

Reuben Cotter made the Knights pay less than five minutes later after profiting from one of the most fortuitous tries he'll ever score. Kyle Feldt's tap back from a bomb took a deflection off a Cowboys teammate before slipping through Cotter's fingers and hitting his knee, with the Maroons forward then beating Ponga to the footy to plant the ball down for a try to leave the Knights gutted.

Newcastle prop Leo Thompson was then sin-binned at the death for a late hit on Feldt and Tom Dearden iced the thrilling victory by scurrying over from close range after a questionable effort from Ponga to save the try. But it was the Newcastle skipper's role in the bombed try with Gagai some 10 minutes earlier that Ponga said he would like to redo if he had his time again.

"Yeah, we definitely did (let it slip)," he told Nine. "It's not just one pass that we missed out by, there were some moments in the game. I said to the boys behind the tryline, we've got to be proud of ourselves. I know it blew out at the end, but we were in every single moment right until the death there.

"We just didn't come away with it. Everyone was counting us out, but we've fought hard over the last six weeks to get into this position and we had a moment there, not to win the game but to put ourselves in front. "It's hard when you lose. I would have liked that pass back for sure... it's hard."

Kalyn Ponga's pass to Dane Gagai was spilled as a certain Knights try went begging. Pic: Getty/Nine
Kalyn Ponga's pass to Dane Gagai was spilled as a certain Knights try went begging. Pic: Getty/Nine

League Immortal Andrew Johns agreed that it was a moment to forget for Ponga but the Newcastle legend said if it wasn't for the superstar fullback, his club wouldn't have stood a chance of beating the Cowboys in the first place. "They would like to have that one over," Johns said on Nine's coverage.

"As soon as Kalyn got in the clear, he was thinking Gagai. I don't think he would have heard Tyson Gamble on the inside. You've got to understand though with Kalyn that if he's not out there tonight, they don't get within 30 of the Cowboys. It's hard to describe how good he is."

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The Cowboys will now travel to Sydney to take on a Sharks side that was hammered 37-10 by minor premiers Melbourne in Saturday's earlier finals clash. "There has been a couple of questions about our toughness and we answered that tonight. We are looking forward to going to Sydney next week with a healthy squad," Cowboys coach Todd Payten said after the game.

with AAP