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"Huge turning point": SEN League reacts to Ponga send-off
SEN • May 28th, 2026 5:37 am
SEN’s Rugby League experts have given their reactions after Kalyn Ponga became the seventh player in State of Origin history to be sent off.
In a match full of big moments, the Queensland fullback’s shoulder charge on Tolutau Koula proved to be the biggest talking point with referee Ashley Klein deeming the incident severe enough for Ponga to take no further part in Game I at the 57th minute.
With that decision, NSW made the most of their extra man proceeding to score three tries in the final 18 minutes which saw them pull off a historic comeback to win 22-20 and take a 1-nil series lead.
However, despite being sidelined for the remainder of the match, the NRL's Match Review Centre has handed the Knights’ star a fine of 23% of his match fee (should he take an early plea) for what they considered a Grade Two shoulder charge, allowing him to play this week.
Reflecting on the controversial call, Chad Townsend believes Ponga was hard done by, believing it should have been a sin bin.
“I don't think it was a send-off. I'm OK with 10 minutes in the bin,” he said on SEN’s Origin Live.
“Watching back the replay, there's no doubt he tucks the shoulder.
“The shoulder is not wrapped around, which is the shoulder charge mechanism.
“And then it's a head clash. It's a head-on-head collision.
“I've seen guys sent off from the field in the NRL for head clashes.
“We’ve seen that, heavy force and level of force and all this…but we've seen that.
“I'm watching (the replay) back and I'm thinking to myself, yeah, I'm OK with 10 in the bin.”
But for former NSW Blue Brett Kimmorely, he believes Klein’s decision was the right one.
“I think it's a send-off,” Kimmorely told SEN’s Blues Radio.
“He definitely makes contact with the head. It was forceful.
“I think Kalyn's head makes contact. (With) intent and with force, and you make contact with the player's head, whether it's your head or your shoulder, you do get charged with it.
“So, I think it's a send-off.”
While Corey Parker admitted he was unsure whether it should have been a sin bin or send off, he believes that moment changed the game in NSW’s favour.
“There's two things here,” Parker explained on SEN’s Maroons Radio.
“Kalyn Ponga with the shoulder charge and the contact to the head, which then led to Ashley Klein saying that ‘I've got (a) send-off’.
“It then went upstairs, and by all reports, the bunker was trying to let Ashley know that it's not a send-off; however, he went up with, ‘I've got a send-off’. So, he gets sent off.
“Now, it was direct, forceful contact to the head. So much so that Tolu Koula failed his HIA (and) didn't come back on.
“In real time, I think we're in agreeance that was it a send-off? Wasn't it a send-off? Was it 10 in the bin? I'm not sure.
“However, that was the moment where Queensland really hit the skates. It was such a huge turning point.”
