Kalyn Ponga deal is done but NRL must fix absurd player transfer issues

Our long and entirely unnecessary national nightmare is over. Kalyn Ponga has extended his deal with the Knights. After a seemingly never-ending drama full of plot twists and secret meetings, press conference storm-outs and outright lies, contract clauses and unaccredited advisors, the star fullback has inked to stay in the Hunter until the end of the 2027 season.

This protracted soap opera has finally reached a conclusion nearly all expected, that conclusion being that a club that has struggled to attract big-name stars is willing to do anything to appease their big-name star to keep him.

The Knights beat out the Dolphins for Ponga’s signature as the latest addition to the league missed out on yet another target. While winners and losers out of contracts are rarely decided in the immediate aftermath, the Dolphins have come out of this both disappointed and red-faced.

The NRL’s newest outfit have yet to land a marquee player despite publicly setting their sites on plenty of key playmakers. Ponga was the closest the Dolphins came. The 24-year-old met secretly with Wayne Bennett, who himself was signed as the new franchise’s coach, to lure the big names. It certainly hasn’t worked to date.

Newcastle are certainly pleased with themselves, thrilled they have managed to keep their gun custodian. The red flags this whole saga has thrown up though should suggest any public declaration of unmitigated success should be tempered.

The story out of Redcliffe, if it is to be believed, is that Ponga did not respond well to a challenge from Wayne Bennett to become an even better player, apparently expecting to be lauded and enticed rather than have a grim picture painted for him.

The inclusion of a clause that allowed him to look at