Ponga, O’Brien face contract questions yet again after Dragons loss

Newcastle Knights co-captain Kalyn Ponga and coach Adam O'Brien have faced the music yet again over the contract status of the star fullback.

After stating negotiations were still ongoing last weekend, another Knights loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons in Wollongong on Sunday afternoon saw the post-match press conference descend into more questions over the future of Ponga.

It was reported during the game by NewsCorp that the Knights had taken Ponga's offer off the table during the week following demands from Kalyn's father Andre.

The touted extension, which would have kept Ponga at the Knights until the end of 2027, however, is still on the table according to O'Brien, who told the media he had found out about the reports "about ten seconds" before the start of his press conference.

“It has never ever been brought up to me once as head coach,” O’Brien said.

“I don’t even know what the story is, I got it like ten seconds before I walked in here so I don’t even know what it is.”

O'Brien also sarcastically trashed reports the club would chase Cameron Munster, while saying the process to re-sign Ponga was still ongoing.

“Ridiculous, I had breakfast this morning and we were signing Munster,” O’Brien said.

“I can’t keep up with you guys fair dinkum, I think he showed why he is worth the wait, we went over it last week.

“I think his performance this week showed how committed he is to this team and we are committed to him too.

“I think they are still going through their process, Kalyn’s management and the Knights... certainly the way he played today his focus has been on the team.”

Despite the close loss to the Dragons, Ponga was one of the Knights' best.

Scoring a try, he also had 140 metres from 29 runs, a line break and a try assist as well as ten tackle breaks to his name by the time it was all said and done.

Asked if he was feeling pressure to make a decision though, Ponga suggested he would make the call on his terms.

“No I don’t, never have, never will,” Ponga explained.

“I know what I am is sort of feeling, I think you guys want to know what I am doing but like I respect you, I hope you guys respect that I want to make this decision on my terms and announce it on my terms so that is what I am going to do.”