Knights stars Kalyn Ponga and Kurt Mann to go unpunished for pub toilet cubicle scandal

Knights stars Kalyn Ponga and Kurt Mann are reportedly set to go unpunished by the NRL over the bizarre pub toilet cubicle fiasco that caused much speculation across the footy world.

Footage emerged of Knights skipper Ponga and Mann being kicked out of the same pub toilet cubicle at the Delany Hotel in Newcastle by security guards on August 13.

The bizarre incident prompted both the Knights and NRL to launch an investigation into the incident, with a variety of differing reports being given for the scandal.

Sources have seen confirmed neither player will face a sanction from the NRL, according to the Daily Telegraph, after both players were drug tested.

Kalyn Ponga (left) and Kurt Mann (only his left sleeve can be seen) were kicked out of the same toilet cubicle at a Newcastle pub earlier this month

It’s unclear whether the Knights will punish their $1million-a-year skipper, who is sidelined with concussion, or Mann – who was also injured at the time.

Newcastle football manager Peter Parr previously said the club would back whatever the NRL’s Integrity Unit came up with. 

‘We contacted the Integrity Unit, they will now run the process and we will support them in that,’ he said the day after the footage emerged: August 16.

‘We haven’t discussed any punishment yet because we don’t know if there is any punishment to be had … we don’t have to make any decisions on that yet, we don’t even know if punishment is necessary.’

Kalyn Ponga (left) and Kurt Mann (right) will reportedly not face punishment from the NRL

Ponga and Mann were kicked out of the same toilet cubicle at the Delany Hotel in Newcastle’s CBD on the same night the Knights were getting belted 28-10 by the Broncos, with the club languishing at 14th on the ladder after a diabolical season.

Ponga’s father Andre was immediately on the front foot when video emerged on his son and Mann being kicked out of the same cubicle two days later.

‘He made an exciting house purchase Saturday and celebrated with a few mates drinking. Sick in the toilet and his mate went in to help him,’ Andre Ponga told the Daily Telegraph on the day the footage emerged.

Is Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga a ‘protected species’? The Newcastle skipper has yet to face sanction for the pub toilet cubicle fiasco

That explanation has been heavily scrutinised, with some onlookers questioning why the pair decided to take their drinks into the cubicle if Ponga was feeling unwell. 

It’s now been claimed by the club, and pub, that Ponga was not in fact drunk, and was only at the pub for less than 30 minutes; leading to many claiming the star fullback was a ‘protected species’ who would always escape punishment.

The toilet Kalyn Ponga and Kurt Mann were kicked out of now has its own plaque

Hilariously, comedian Steve Phillip placed a plaque commemorating the incident at the exact toilet in the Delany Hotel. 

‘The Kalyn Ponga, Kurt Mann Memorial Toilet. On the 12-8-22, Kalyn celebrated a house purchase, vomited and Kurt helped his friend,’ the plaque read, in a nod to Andre Ponga’s now-infamous defence of his son.