Should Ponga have been sent to the bin?

Kalyn Ponga did everything in his power to pull off the fairytale story for the Newcastle Knights in Sunday’s Grand Final.

But was he lucky to have played all 80 minutes of the match?

The Queensland fullback managed to score a 90-metre try to give the Knights a double-digit lead during the first half of the Grand Final.

However, despite running for 254 metres, two tackle breaks and plenty of defensive efforts, the Novocastrians just fell short in a 19-18 defeat to the Roosters.

But in the aftermath of the clash, there was plenty of focus on the 28-year-old also laid a dangerous tackle on Victor Radley, which placed him on report during the 25th minute.

But in Michael Carayannis’ opinion, the fullback should have been sent to the bin over the incident.

“If it was the other way around, what do you think would have happened?” Carayannis said on SEN’s Kick Off.

“If it was Victor Radley on Kalyn Ponga, I think we would have seen a different outcome. I thought it was a sin bin.

“I thought Adam Gee had a fantastic game last night, but I thought that was a sin bin.”

The Grand Final marked Dane Gagai’s last game with the Knights having signed a one-year deal with the Broncos for 2027.

They bring in Marata Niukore from the New Zealand Warriors.