As Kalyn Ponga did exactly what we've seen him do before - on Youtube and in the NRL - at the Nines, you had to wonder where the North Queensland Cowboys will fit him in. Everyone knows that Ponga is incredibly gifted, whether it's on the golf course or dominating Brisbane's prestigious schoolboy rugby union competition and his deal to join Newcastle Knights next season reflects that. Right now though, the Cowboys don't exactly need what Ponga offers.

The Cowboys will soon bid farewell to Jonathan Thurston and fullback Lachlan Coote's time as a slick NRL fullback is nearing an end, opening up two long-term play-making spots behind a Cowboys forward pack will continue to be among the NRL's best. The Cowboys have lost James Tamou and they might lose Matt Scott to bigger money, however they have a roster of young forwards (Coen Hess, Patrick Kaufusi, John Asiata, Ethan Lowe, Braden Uele, Corey Jensen, Sam Hoare, Ben Spina and of course Jason Taumalolo) who will keep the Cowboys in the mix.

Ponga didn't want to wait around and snapped up Newcastle's cash. While there is nothing wrong with Ponga deciding that his future lay in Newcastle, there was clear path to consistent game time in crucial play-making positions ahead of him up in Townsville. The Cowboys might not have been able to offer Ponga similar cash to Newcastle right now, yet if Ponga stayed and proved himself as an NRL fullback/half in the next 18 months, it's a certainty that the Cowboys would have rewarded him handsomely.

This season the Cowboys will roll out their standard play-making trio of Coote, Thurston and Michael Morgan. It's a trio that compliments each other extremely well and while Coote may not have the dynamic running game of other fullbacks, he is a gifted kicker with his left boot and can pass as good as Morgan. Morgan runs the right edge, Coote tends to operate down the left and the greatest footy player we have ever seen in Thurston does what he wants - sounds good to me.

There is no room for Ponga in that trio and unless there is injury, suspension or Origin duty, it's hard to see Ponga getting a run in any of those positions. That's only amplified by the fact that Ponga won't be there beyond this season, so there's no need to blood him into a key NRL play-making position for Newcastle's gain.

What could make everything even more difficult for Ponga this season is that he's played NRL on the wing and the Cowboys already have Kyle Feldt and Antonio Winterstein there. Chuck in Gideon Gela-Mosby and the Cowboys not only have two starting wingers but a young lad who has impressed as a winger in Under 20s.

Feldt and Winterstein don't have the skill or footwork of Ponga, they do however perfectly suit the needs of the Cowboys as they are rarely driven back in a tackle. Feldt is massive and is as close to resembling Corey Oates as anyone in the NRL while Winterstein is a powerful runner of the footy. Ponga might catch the eye when running against a scrambled defensive line or with a bit of space, but put Feldt and Winterstein up against Ponga in terms of charging at a kick-chase line and I'm taking Feldt/Winterstein.

The Cowboys don't need Feldt and Winterstein to do much else - to do what Ponga can do - because they've got the wizard named Thurston further in-field. Other teams in the NRL need Ponga right now because they lack the creativity or x-factor that he offers. The Cowboys have a recipe and Thurston's ability to pull the strings behind a forward pack led by Taumalolo and Scott is unquestionable. Much of that starts with the graft of Feldt and Winterstein.

If Ponga was willing to wait a few seasons, all those play-making duties and the future of the Cowboys would have fallen upon his shoulders. In signing that deal with Newcastle, Ponga has restricted himself to being a winger at the Cowboys this season (remember things change with injuries etc) and the Cowboys are nicely stocked with wingers who specifically do their job for their wizard.

Everything will obviously change when Ponga goes to Newcastle as he'll slot straight into an influential play-making position. This provides a bunch of intrigue to the Cowboys this season and their Under 20s games could hit similar levels to what we saw when LeBron James was playing in high school. If the Cowboys don't need Ponga, they have no duty to play him in the NRL and that'll make their U20s games incredibly fun to watch.