Maroons debutant Kalyn Ponga was a sensation in his Origin debut, taking on a totally unfamiliar defensive workload and position and almost blowing the game apart late, with Telstra Tracker data revealing he was one of his side's hardest-working players.
Telstra Tracker data shows how far players travelled relative to their time on field to come up with an impressive metres-per-minute intensity rating. Only Josh McGuire (115.5 metres per minute) and Jarrod Wallace (115.1) registered a higher ball-in-play intensity than Ponga's 113.5.
In his eagerness to get among the defensive duties, Ponga conceded an offside penalty shortly after entering the field which eventually led to a penalty try to NSW but it was the only real blemish for the highly-rated 20-year-old whose 29 tackles was almost halfway to the 68 tackles he has so far completed in 15 NRL matches this season, according to NRL.com Stats.
![](https://www.nrl.com/SysSiteAssets/2018/03/graphics/stat-attack_ponga_20180625.jpg?center=0.3%2C0.5&preset=photo-inline)
His total match intensity (which also includes time when the ball is not in play) of 88.8 was a jump on his 84.9 this season at club level, a figure that was already very high given his metres covered from fullback (the average for all back-three players across the NRL this year is 76 metres per minute).
Ponga's 109 metres gained with the ball was fifth-best for his team. Those ahead of him played 80 minutes and were in the back five, meaning Ponga – who played 52 minutes in the middle – was effectively Queensland's best forward for total metres.
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Almost 50 of those metres came in a single run when he brushed past Blues skipper Boyd Cordner to streak into the backfield for what could have been a match-winning try if not for some superb cover defence from James Tedesco and Josh Addo-Carr.
Of more concern for Maroons coach Kevin Walters is the fact that NSW again dominated the intensity readings, with Telstra Tracker data finding the top seven hardest-working players were all Blues.
Halfback Nathan Cleary again dominated with a match-high distance covered of 8579 metres and a match-high ball-in-play intensity of 125.3 metres per minute.
NSW coach Brad Fittler conceded Cleary was "a bit lost" at times, particularly in the first half, but a late covering tackle on Valentine Holmes was a potential match-saver.
He registered just four kicks as James Maloney took charge and six runs but worked hard off the ball – his 25 support runs were eight clear of the next best, Holmes.
Jack De Belin (118.6 m/min), Boyd Cordner (116.4), Damien Cook (116.1), Matt Prior (116.0 across 33 minutes), James Tedesco (115.7) and Maloney (115.6) all registered a higher ball-in-play intensity than any Maroons player.
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