COMMENT
Depending on who you talk to the Kalyn Ponga-Newcastle Knights possible salary cap breach is either a complete storm in a teacup or the tip of the iceberg of something more sinister.
The truth may well lie somewhere in between.
Call the hounds off because the way we’ve heard it the $250,000 Team Ponga was owed has supposedly been paid and the case is set to be closed.
Or is it?
What this whole Ripley’s Believe It Or Not circus has done is open up the conversation about who’s who in the zoo at the Newcastle Knights, who’s got control of the steering wheel in terms of calling the shots and who’s tiptoeing around the edges.
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When the news first broke last night we had to get the Fox Lab abacus out trying to decipher what the actual problem was, aside from an unpaid third party deal to Team Ponga that had been approved by the NRL back in 2020.
Then the conspiracy theories started about how the Sydney Roosters may have been preparing to make a secret play to try and get Ponga out of his contract.
Those theories were met with stern rebuttals from the Roosters but where there’s smoke there’s often someone with a box of matches.
For the record, the amount owed to Ponga was $50,000 per season from 2020 to 2024 making the total amount owed $250,000 – which is by no means small beer.
So who are the main players in the latest Newcastle spot fire?
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KNIGHTS CEO PHILLIP GARDENER
No stranger to public relations disasters – most of them his own doing – Gardener negotiated the Ponga contract which has now blown up because of an unpaid third party deal.
As of Tuesday afternoon the company associated with the third party deal had supposedly paid the $250,000 owed and just like that the case is set to be closed.
Or is it? The intriguing name supposedly on the third party agreement is Knights mystery man Blake Cannavo.
BLAKE CANNAVO
The managing director and CEO of Native Mineral Resources – this is NOT the company who supposedly owed Ponga $250,000 in an unpaid third-party deal.
A mystery man who talks a big game and regularly rings player agents, Cannavo doesn’t actually have any official role with the Knights.
It’s well-known Cannavo is essentially the right hand man for the above mentioned Knights CEO Phil Gardener.
Colloquially known as “Phil’s handbag” around the Knights, Cannavo plays a hands on role at Newcastle without actually getting his hands on the ball.
Cannavo has a long and colourful history associated with the game of rugby league and in many instances it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction.
Plenty of influential rugby league figures have long asked the question of why Cannavo has not been given his marching orders out of the Knights dressing room.
Has recently been at war with Newcastle’s recruitment manager Adam Doyle who is extremely close to Newcastle’s previous recruitment manager Clint “Virus” Zammit.
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ANDRE PONGA
The captain of Team Ponga and Kalyn’s Dad.
Went to the NRL Integrity Unit last week in relation to the unpaid third-party deal.
The play worked with the $250,000 owed since supposedly being paid. Or has it? Mystery still surrounds.
Has a longstanding rapport with recruitment manager Clint “Virus” Zammit.
CLINT “VIRUS” ZAMMIT
Now a recruitment manager at the Sydney Roosters “Virus” has been extremely close with Team Ponga since Kalyn was 14 years of age and enjoys a tight-knit relationship with Andre Ponga, captain of Team Ponga.
An ex-Townsville rugby league halfback, Zammit was the recruitment manager at the Cowboys responsible for bringing Ponga through the ranks at the club.
Zammit was also responsible for identifying the likes of Jason Taumalolo and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow before joining the Newcastle Knights in 2020 and then departing in March of last year.
Negotiated the terms on Ponga’s current $1.4 million per season contract with the Knights but was then moved on from the club.
The theory doing the rounds at the time was Cannavo played a big role in ending Zammit’s tenure.
Where it gets interesting is Zammit was spotted in Sydney last week with Kalyn’s father Andre Ponga.
Zammit also attended a schoolboys carnival in Wagga Wagga last week where word about the unpaid Ponga third party deal began doing the rounds.
The man nicknamed “Virus” now works at the Sydney Roosters which has prompted conspiracy theorists to pedal a line about the Chooks being poised to try and make a play.
The Roosters have laughed it off given Ponga is currently on a deal worth $1.4 million per year on the salary cap and is signed with the Knights until the end of 2027.
ADAM DOYLE
The Knights current recruitment manager who was riding the coat tails of Cannavo hard until recently.
The pair have since had a bust-up prompting Cannavo to start a campaign to try and get Doyle moved on from his role.
Still enjoys a good rapport with Zammit who also helped get him a start at the Knights. Previously a player agent.
PETER PARR
One of the most respected figures in the game, Parr has been the Knights director of football since July of 2022.
Unfortunately for Parr he’s been trying to avoid punches in the dark ever since getting his feet under the desk.
Put simply, it’s not Parr’s circus.
How so? Take your pick. From the latest third party spot fire to the push to get rid of Adam O’Brien last year, Parr has had no involvement in any of it but is the figure head left to try and mop up the mess.
Who’s causing the mess? Most of it relates to the strange politics at play created by Gardener and “Phil’s handbag” Cannavo.
Rugby league. In the fair dinkum department you can’t make this stuff up.
IN THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE FOX SPORTS WROTE NATIVE MINERAL RESOURCES WAS THE COMPANY THAT OWED PONGA THE THIRD PARTY DEAL MONEY. THIS WAS INCORRECT. IT IS A SEPARATE COMPANY WHICH OWES THE THIRD PARTY DEAL MONEY.
Source Agencies
