Newcastle Knights star fullback Kalyn Ponga has held on to Zero Tackle's NRL Finals MVP crown for 2026, despite the Hunter-based club coming up short in the grand final.

The Knights were gallant throughout the contest, but ultimately fell short by a single point to the Sydney Roosters on Sunday evening.

Heading into the weekend, Ponga was ahead of Mark Nawaqanitawase by a single vote, and heading out of the weekend, that's the way it remains.

Both players total 20 out of a possible 40 votes counted for double in the decider.

James Tedesco also surged late, polling 36 to finish third, while Naufahu Whyte's 26 was enough to get him into fourth spot. There were no other players in the top ten - or moving into the top ten - who polled.

Tedesco was voted best on ground by three of our four judges, with Whyte winning the other top spot.

Nawaqanitawase was voted in the top five by three judges, but the fourth was a miss, and cost him the overall crown, while Salesi Foketi, Lindsay Collins and Spencer Leniu were the other three players to feature anywhere in the voting.

In every game of the finals, Zero Tackle founder Matt Clements, writers Dan Nichols and Leo Twemlow, and I, as editor, have voted on a 5-4-3-2-1 process, with those votes then doubled for the grand final.

Here are the votes and leaderboard.

Matt Clements

5 - James Tedesco
4 - Mark Nawaqanitawase
3 - Naufahu Whyte
2 - Kalyn Ponga
1 - Salesi Foketi

Daniel Nichols

5 - James Tedesco
4 - Mark Nawaqanitawase
3 - Kalyn Ponga
2 - Salesi Foketi
1 - Naufahu Whyte

Scott Pryde

5 - James Tedesco
4 - Naufahu Whyte
3 - Salesi Foketi
2 - Mark Nawaqanitawase
1 - Kalyn Ponga

Leo Twemlow

5 - Naufahu Whyte
4 - Kalyn Ponga
3 - James Tedesco
2 - Lindsay Collins
1 - Spencer Leniu

Top Ten

Click here to view the full leaderboard.