‘He’s not my mate on Wednesday’: Blues enforcer ready to take down Knights teammate Ponga
Jacob Saifiti is preparing to face his Newcastle teammate Kalyn Ponga in the upcoming State of Origin match. Despite their club connection, Saifiti emphasizes that he will do whatever it takes to neutralize Ponga's impact on the game. He is ready to share insights about Ponga's playing style with his Blues teammates.
- ▪Jacob Saifiti is determined to thwart Kalyn Ponga's influence in the Origin opener.
- ▪Ponga was selected as Queensland's fullback after missing last year's decider due to injury.
- ▪Saifiti has vowed to provide valuable insights on Ponga's playing style to his teammates.
Sydney Morning Herald publishes from Australia and files mainly under world. We currently carry 3,161 of its stories.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","dateModified":"2026-05-23T06:30:00Z","datePublished":"2026-05-23T06:30:00Z","description":"Jacob Saifiti has vowed to do whatever it takes to neutralise his Newcastle skipper, one of the Maroons’ biggest weapons, in the Origin opener.","headline":"‘He’s not my mate on Wednesday’: Blues enforcer ready to take down Knights teammate Ponga","keywords":"State of Origin, For subscribers, Just in SMH, NRL 2026","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Barrett","jobTitle":"Senior sports…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Sydney Morning Herald.