Yesterday wasn’t the result we wanted. Hell, even losing by one isn’t what we wanted.
We wanted to celebrate Easter adding a victory but sadly, we didn’t get that. I know I said before Nathan Brown is the right guy and then totally flipped and said I’m losing my faith in him.
How does a full strength side lose to a team missing three of their best forwards and a young rising talent? Forget Freddie Kruger, that was a hellacious nightmare. I’d personally pick Freddie.
David Klemmer of the Newcastle Knights. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
To the players, Nathan Brown brought you together not for the pay cheque but to win games and show that the Newcastle Knights are a force to be reckoned with. Whether Nathan Brown ends up as the coach or not by season’s end, all we want is for you to add on to the platform those old Knights legends built.
The Johns brothers, Paul Harragon, Billy Peden, Danny Buderus, Robbie O’Davis, Mark Sargent and Tony Butterfield to say but a few.
They paved the path and built the platform. All we ask is for you to put your own pieces to it. Show why you are going to be another Knights legend future generations will be speaking of, whether supporters or future players.
Players like Mitchell Pearce, Kalyn Ponga, Connor Watson and David Klemmer have a chance to do this.
Show them what playing in the jersey means to them as well as it does for you. Maybe one day, those legends I mentioned before should go to a training session and perhaps give the boys a hard lesson on being a Knight.
A message for the fans. Think of why you became a Knights fan in the first place. I became a fan in the first place because of Andrew Johns then I realised they played for the town.
Those players bled red and blue just as much as we did. The passion they put in their jerseys and the Knights was virtually unmatchable by any team.
Some individual players with other teams for sure but not any teams in unison. I know many of us are frustrated and so am I but we can’t give up on them now.
Our support is what the players need and as time goes on, they’ll repay the favour.
Yesterday, we gifted three tries and bombed two of our own. Had none of that happened, by the chronological timeline we would have won.
Sadly it doesn’t work that way. I don’t know whether or not Nathan Brown will keep his job and I don’t know whether we’ll make the finals.
I’m not a time traveler and this isn’t Back to the Future or Quantum Leap but we all are behind the team as we have been especially during the rebuilding stages.
Now for the players and the supporters. We’re behind you all and we are cheering you on.
Whether you are a player, a member of the coaching staff or supporter, you’re a member of the team. They win on the field, we win and if they lose, we lose.
We got the second-biggest average crowd attendance to Brisbane and in comparison per capita, we’re doing a damn good job considering the fact Newcastle is virtually a country town.
It shows we are the most passionate supporters in the NRL. We are never going to give up on the team. We have all walked the road, fought the battle and paid our part in rebuild.
Forming a finals team on the field is different then on paper. Our past legends formed a platform for what it means to play for Newcastle. Now, not only do our players need to add onto it, they need to form their own platform for why the modern age Newcastle Knights are a finals team.
Boys, you can do it!
terrance
Guest
Adrian is a ''Roar Pro'' so he was always going to be naive. Very naive. Thinking ''...they play for the town''! Utter rubbish. They play for whoever pays them the most. Full stop. If you only had a decade or so (if that) to make as much money as possible (or earn an above average wage) to set you and your family up for life whilst in the process getting your body beaten up and worn down so badly that it will affect you later in life, you'd do the same. And that's before you have to deal with the media, social media nuffies and then, worst of all, the fatuous fans.
PGNEWC
Roar Rookie
Second Last chance -- he should have gone a couple a weeks back -- Whats wrong with the west group their usually more ruthless than this-- he doesn't need any more chances get rid of him today
Paul
Roar Guru
Adrian, there's been so much hype around the incoming players and expectations of at least a finals spot, I've no doubt it's affecting key people in the Club mentally and this means players, officals and coaches are down in confidence. If I was Brown, I'd given everyone a couple of days off to go away and think abut what they want to achieve from the rest of the season. They then get back together on Thursday and work on the demise of the Eels and move on from there. You've rightly pointed out how loyal Knights fans are, well the same fans need to dial back the expectations and simply support the team each week. This side will win games, it has too many good players not to, it just needs to learn how this group can win.
peeeko
Roar Guru
"Nathan Brown brought you together not for the pay cheque but to win games and show that the Newcastle Knights are a force to be reckoned with." exceptthat they were brought together for a pay cheque. your appeal for players to want to be Knights legends like Peden, Butterfield and Seargent is a little naiave
Chris.P.Bacon
Guest
"I can smell the desperation in that piece through my laptop"....hahaha.....that's a wonderful line BA!
BA Sports
Roar Guru
I can smell the desperation in that piece through my laptop. That game will either be the low point and turning marker for the season, or the second last nail in Brown's coffin. He can't survive if they are beaten comprehensibly next week.
Insider
Roar Rookie
Many Knights players have already proved they are exceptional footballers. Unfortunately Mr Brown has yet to prove he has the ability to coach at NRL level. If you believe that Robbo, Belly, Bennett, Hasler even Madge could do a better job then your answer is clear. For the sake of the most loyal fans I’ve ever seen you must sign a decent coach. Tim Sheens would be a good start
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
The Knights are starting to look a bit like another version of the Raiders and Eels. Teams who had a lovely little golden spell on the back of a great crop of juniors largely, who were expected to be forces to be reckoned with on a regular basis. None of these teams have been able to find a half or five eight since they won titles and after signing Pearce and putting Ponga in the role it seemed the Knights had solved the problem but it was a mirage. If they don't fire up soon Brown will need to go because the players will have little faith in his abilities , whether he has those abilities or not.