Knights gun Kalyn Ponga has broken his silence on his infamous toilet cubicle saga — explaining “food I had earlier” caused him to feel ill.
Ponga and teammate Kurt Mann were captured on film leaving a toilet cubicle in a Newcastle Pub in August last year, being ushered out by staff.
Both players were out injured at the time and faced heavy scrutiny for their actions while their teammates were interstate, but escaped sanction from both the Knights and the NRL.
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Speaking to reporters on Monday, the gun fullback said Mann was “there to help” in the toilet and he acknowledged his actions were “wrong”.
“Putting myself in that position. I shouldn’t have been out in the first place,” Ponga said.
“I was in the wrong there.”
Ponga also said the period during August last year was “one of the most difficult moments of my life” while he explained he has done a lot of reflecting on the moment.
“A lot of self-reflecting over the off-season. It was a period that I will look back on and hopefully down the track, and even now, it is probably one of the most difficult moments of my life,” Ponga said.
“I have learnt a lot from that time. I have put things in place that will help me be a better person and hopefully a better leader.
“I shouldn’t have been out in the first place. I do support the boys, they know that.”
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Ponga was also questioned regarding his concussions, suffering multiple head knocks in 2022 which ended his season prematurely.
The multimillion-dollar player admitted he was unaware of the affects alcohol could have after a concussion and revealed he had recovered well over the off-season.
“To be honest I didn’t know the effects alcohol could have on concussion. There is so much about concussion that people don’t know. I look back on that time and that period I was going through the concessions, and they do have an effect on you,” Ponga said.
“Moving forward, there have been lots of lessons learned and that is one of them.
“I think I have recovered quite well. I haven’t had to think about the concussions to be honest. I have gone through the preseason and done all the contact.
“My head feels safe. I want to put that in the past. It is a part of last year that hurt me a lot.”
