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Find your Sport Nation frequencyHughes shares injury insight as Ponga closes in on Kiwis return
Sport Nation • November 5th, 2026 10:14 am
Jahrome Hughes | Photo: Robbie Stephenson/AAP
Kiwis halfback Jahrome Hughes is drawing on experience of a rapid return from a fractured arm as fullback Kalyn Ponga prepares to follow suit and return in this weekend's World Cup semi-final against Tonga.
Ponga fractured his arm and underwent surgery following the World Cup opener against Australia on October 16, and has been named in the reserves for Saturday’s clash, giving Stacey Jones the opportunity to move him back into the No. 1 jersey if this weeks training goes to plan.
Hughes knows firsthand the challenges of recovering from the injury, having suffered a fractured left forearm in round 27 of 2025.
Initially fearing his season was finished, Hughes made a rapid recovery in just 22 days, returning in the preliminary final for the Melbourne Storm.
He says confidence in the injured arm is crucial before making a return to the field.
“He's got to have confidence in his arm and feel right. You don't want him going out there and having to worry about his arm the whole game because that will take away from his game.
“That's one thing for me. I told KP that as well,” Hughes explained.
Ponga has been progressing well through training this week, with Hughes and medical staff encouraged by the steps he has taken towards a potential return.
“He's trained really well this week. We had another good session today, so that's another step closer to playing.
“There's a lot of moving parts to it, obviously a lot of physio, a lot of rehab movements that you got to get through to get the arm going again and the wrist as well, because it gets stiffened up after surgery.
“He's spent a lot of time with our physios the last couple weeks. So, they're doing a great job within our medical team.”
Kalyn Ponga | Photo: James Gourley/Photosport
Following Melbourne's qualifying final victory, Hughes had an extra week to prepare for his return.
“We had the week off because the boys won that final. We had a full opposed session and I just wanted to go full out, no restrictions, I wanted to get a full contact session.
“I was able to do that and that just gave me all the confidence in the world that a week later I'll be able to my job right on the field.
“Getting that full contact session really helped me going into the next game.”
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