Born and raised for much of his life in Australia, Kalyn Ponga admits it's wasn't difficult choosing between the two nations vying for his services.
MORE: Brad Arthur gushes over 'unbelievable' Jarryd Hayne
While the Newcastle Knights recruit was born in Western Australia, he moved to New Zealand as an eight-year-old and after five years in the country, inevitably attracted their attention at representative level.
Having trained with the New Zealand national team in October of 2015, Ponga was then selected for both the Junior Kangaroos and Junior Kiwis in 2016 but opted not to play for either.
That decision kept his options open and Ponga concedes there was only ever going to be one choice.
"I was born here (Australia), went to school here. To be honest it wasn't that tough pledging my allegiance to Queensland and Australia," he said.
"People put pressure on me to make a decision when I had no reason to (in the past)."
Speaking from the Emerging Maroons camp, the potential of playing for Queensland was clearly a mitigating factor in his decision.
"It was an exciting moment for me to tell Kevvie (Walters), knowing I had the support from my family," he said.
Though signing a multi-million dollar contract with the Knights, Ponga has only played a handful of NRL games and is aware a Maroons debut is still some way off.
"I wouldn't say I am on the verge of Origin selection - there is still a lot of hard work ahead."
