BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

Can you name a time in your life that you have seen a club announcing a star player re-signing and ever seen the player’s agent actually part of the press conference?

Even stranger still, have you ever seen the dad sitting next to his son at the same conference?

Granted, Andre Ponga looks after his son’s business dealings but this whole thing is oh so strange.

Who has the power in Newcastle now?

Kalyn Ponga is a Knight until the end of 2027 but what does that mean?

On 2GB earlier on Wednesday, veteran caller Ray Hadley recited a story he once heard from the legendary coach, Jack Gibson.

Jack wanted to sign many young players, he refused some because when a rookie came through, said rookie’s parents wanted to be part of every deal as they joined the club.

Get rid of the parents if you want to play for me, Jack would say.

The whole thing is getting weird if it isn’t already.

According to reports, Andre Ponga has been trying to become a heavy hitter at the Knights and the club has had enough. Some punters at the pub want to know what kind of wage Andre could get as an employee at the Knights while his son, also his client, has been negotiating and how it effects the salary cap.

The fact is, rugby league people can see straight through a con job from a million miles away.

While Ponga might, eventually, become a legend of the game, he has so far to go.

He is yet to drag the Knights to the deep end of a finals series.

Ponga hasn’t dominated for Queensland.

Some with good memories might remember his casual, almost arrogant response when asked on-field about his State of Origin debut experience at full-time.

He brushed it and basically said it was no quicker than NRL level game.

Most scoffed.

Others ate it up and believed the hype.

Since then, Ponga hasn’t done anything.

“I want to announce that I will be extending with the Newcastle Knights for a further five years,” Ponga said at the press conference on Wednesday.

“It is a proud moment to sit here on my terms and our terms both us a club and myself and our family to make this announcement. So yeah I’m just proud.”

If you saw it on television, when he said “our family”, his eyes shifted left to his father.

He was always shifting left to his dad.

What is going on?

Since then, Fox Sports journalists have reported text chains between Andre Ponga and Redcliffe recruitment manager Peter O’Sullivan.

At the same time, Braith Anasta is hosting NRL360 on Fox League every night of the week.

He’s also the player agent of Cameron Munster.

Who is also off-contract.

Journalists, Phil Rothfield, Paul Kent and Brent Read, were on the show but couldn’t do anything but shoot it back at Anasta who got to spin what he wants about his client’s future.

It’s a weird world we live in.

Yes rugby league has been a dirty, rotten box for a long time.

But it doesn’t mean it makes it alright in 2022.

@woodward_curtis