Ponga was born in Port Hedland, Western Australia, to parents from New Zealand, and is of Māori descent by way of his father's ancestry.

[3] He spent an early portion of his life in Newman, Western Australia, before moving to Mount Isa, Queensland, at the age of two.

Later on the year Ponga represented Australia in the under 18s touch football at the 2015 Youth Trans Tasman series.

[17] In August, he made his NYC debut for the Cowboys, coming off the bench in his side's 50-6 victory over the Parramatta Eels in Round 20.

In October, he was invited to train with the New Zealand national team in preparation for their tour of Great Britain.

[22] On 16 September, Ponga made his NRL debut on the wing against the Brisbane Broncos in the finals, replacing the injured Antonio Winterstein.

Ponga was short from scoring his first NRL try in the 16th minute of the game making a break on the wing getting taken down by Broncos Lock Corey Parker.

On 17 November, when North Queensland returned to pre-season training, head coach Paul Green confirmed the reports and his disappointment saying the contract was in the cooling off period.

[33] In round 1 of the 2018 season, he made his debut for the Knights in their 19-18 golden point extra-time win over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, scoring a try and kicking three goals.

[39] Ponga attracted controversy late in the season with his response to the media after coach Nathan Brown departed the club, saying "I was at lunch having a nice strawberry thickshake, so I wasn't too sad.

[42] In round 6 of the 2021 NRL season, Ponga scored two tries in a man of the match performance as Newcastle defeated Cronulla-Sutherland 26-22.

[43] In round 16 against North Queensland, Ponga put in a man of the match performance and scored two tries in Newcastle's 38-0 victory.

[46] On 13 July, Ponga put in a man-of-the-match performance in Game 3, the decider of the 2022 State of Origin series, in a Queensland side missing regular five-eighth Cameron Munster.

On 15 August, it was revealed that Ponga and teammate Kurt Mann had been ejected from a pub after being found intoxicated in a toilet cubicle by security staff.

[48][49] In round 2 of the 2023 NRL season, Ponga was taken from the field with a head concussion after just 90 seconds in Newcastle's 14-12 victory over the Wests Tigers.

Despite a slow start, Ponga regained form as the Knights went on to win 9 straight games heading in to the finals, raising them from 14th to 5th on the ladder.

[53] In the week following a narrow 24-22 loss to the Sydney Roosters in round 6, it was reported that Ponga was suffering from a hip injury.

Ponga was named in the squad to play the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in round 7 despite carrying a noticeable limp during the warmup.