Ponga was born in Port Hedland, Western Australia to New Zealand-born parents, and is of Māori descent by way of his father's ancestry.[3] He spent an early portion of his life in Newman, Western Australia before moving to Mount Isa, Queensland at the age of 2.[4] In 2006, at the age of 8, he relocated with his family to Palmerston North, New Zealand and spent five years there, where he played a number of sports; including rugby league, touch football, hockey, rugby union, golf and soccer. In 2010, he won New Zealand's under-13 national golf championship.[5] In 2011, at the age of 13, Ponga and his family returned to Queensland, settling in Mackay. He attended Mackay State High School and was a member of the Rugby League Academy program, as well as playing junior rugby league for Souths Mackay. Also in 2011, he was signed to a scholarship with the Central Queensland NRL bid side. In 2012, he was selected for the Australian Schoolboys under-15 side, becoming just the second 14-year-old to make the side.[5]
In 2013, Ponga, then a scholarship holder with the Brisbane Broncos, moved to Brisbane. He attended Anglican Church Grammar School and competed for their rugby union side in the prestigious GPS competition,[6] while also playing rugby league for the Easts Tigers in the Cyril Connell Cup. That year he made the Australian Schoolboys under-15 side for the second consecutive year.[7][8] While in Brisbane, Ponga also began playing Australian rules football and was placed in the Brisbane Lions Talent Academy after being spotted at a representative Rugby league match where he was considered an outstanding prospect.
In December 2013, then 15-year-old Ponga signed a four-year contract with the North Queensland Cowboys.[10] He was pursued by six professional clubs from across three different sports, turning down the Broncos, Melbourne Storm, Sydney Roosters, Queensland Reds and Brisbane Lions to sign with the Townsville-based NRL club.[5][11] The Lions continued to pursue Ponga after he committed to the Cowboys[12] and it was later revealed he was one month away from sensationally converting to Australian rules football and signing a four-year contract with the Lions in the latter half of 2016.
Ponga moved to Townsville where he attended Ignatius Park College, played for the Townsville Stingers in the Mal Meninga Cup. Later on the year Ponga represented Australia in the under 18s touch football at the 2015 Youth Trans Tasman series.[15] In January, he was a member of the QAS Emerging under-18 Origin squad.[16] In August, he made his NYC debut for the Cowboys, coming off the bench in his side's 50-6 victory over the Parramatta Eels in Round 20. It was later revealed that he had missed five months of the season fighting a life-threatening brain infection.[17] He finished the year as the Cowboys' starting fullback, scoring 8 tries in 8 games. In October, he was invited to train with the New Zealand national team in preparation for their tour of Great Britain. In November, he joined the Cowboys' 2016 first grade squad for pre-season training.[1
