Newcastle Knights Captain Kalyn Ponga is relishing the time spent in Fiji and believes the country can host NRL matches in the near future.
Playing on Fijian soil for the first time offered a memorable experience for Ponga, who praised the warm welcome and the beauty of the location.
“It’s beautiful. Someone asked me my favorite thing about Fiji, and I said the people, they’re very welcoming, lots of Bula” he shared with FijiLive.
Ponga also addressed the potential for Fiji to host more NRL games, seeing it as a valuable opportunity for the sport’s growth in neighboring countries.
With Fijian players being integral members of the Knights, he believes that expanding NRL games into Fiji could benefit the sport immensely.
Despite the Knights’ 28-10 defeat to Melbourne Storm last weekend in Lautoka, Ponga remains upbeat about the NRL season ahead.
“Lucky it’s a second trial, we’ve got some weeks to sort of adjust, and I’m not really worried. I’ve lost, I think I said this the other day, I’ve lost every trial that I’ve played and so I’m not really too worried when the NRL season starts,” he concluded.