Talks between Kalyn Ponga’s management and the Newcastle Knights are back on despite The Daily Telegraph reporting that the club pulled out of negotiations earlier this week.
According to that report, the Knights pulled a three-year contract extension from 2025 off the table after a dispute occurred between Ponga’s dad Andre – who is working as Kalyn’s agent – and the club surrounding how the new deal would be announced.
It is believed that club CEO Phil Gardner was the figure that pulled the pin on negotiations, but SEN’s Michelle Bishop says club recruitment manager Clint Zammit soon repaired the fractured relationship to get the deal moving once more.
“The negotiations of Kalyn’s contract have ultimately been between two people – that’s what we’ve learned overnight,” Bishop said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“Clint Zammit the recruitment manager and Phil Gardner the CEO … we know that only two people are involved.
“The reason for the differing versions of whether the contract was pulled or not it actually depends on who you talk to.
“I understand Phil Gardner was dealing directly with Kalyn’s dad Andre who is his manager, and the demands got too much, he felt the club was being disrespected, it was becoming a bit of a circus, so he (Gardner) pulled the pin.
“Clint Zammit on the other hand came in as a calming influence and he entered negotiations and said, ‘How can we get this done?’.”
According to Bishop, the Knights initially became frustrated with Ponga as the get-out clause in his contract was only meant to be triggered if he wished to pursue a rugby union switch instead of an NRL transfer.
“One of the real frustrations from the Knights’ point of view – is that special clause that’s never in NRL contracts but the Knights allowed it with Kalyn because they didn’t want to lose him to rugby union,” Bishop explained.
“There was an All Blacks clause there where he could explore his options in and around that rugby union space.
“The Knights felt that he had taken it a little too far because it was meant to be about union instead of rugby league, it didn’t have any mentions about the Dolphins or any other club, but they were ready to put up with it.”
After talks picked back up, Bishop says that Ponga and the club have since come to an agreement that will be announced imminently.
“Where we’re at today is I believe Clint Zammit met with Andre yesterday, calmed the situation, cleared it up,” Bishop said.
“I think the thought of pulling that three-year deal cause panic in the Ponga family as well, now they look like they may have come to some kind of agreement that we’re expecting to hear about shortly.”
The new extension will reportedly earn the fullback from $1.1 to $1.2 million a season from 2025 to 2027.