Nathan Brown’s time as Newcastle head coach is done. We all know what he did, so there’s no point repeating it. Things are going to be different now.
I know us Knights supporters want success and believe we’ll get there, but it’s not going to happen in the blink of an eye. Next year, could we make the finals? Perhaps.
I’ll let the results give a good judgement before I start making my claims – they’ve come back to haunt me enough times this year.
So now we’re going from Nathan Brown to Adam O’Brien. Nathan Brown did his duty so he saw no need to stick around. Adam O’Brien will have a different duty – to bring a winning attitude to the team.
It’s not as simple as you think but all you need is a mindset focussed on success at all cost. Put it in your mind that you’re unstoppable and you become unstoppable. Reality is, you always have been but you didn’t know it.
The mind is the most powerful weapon. If O’Brien can make the Knights players feel that way, they will have – without a doubt – a better 2020 season.
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
The transition from Nathan Brown to Adam O’Brien is rather similar to Genesis’ transition from Peter Gabriel to Phil Collins. Despite Genesis being successful in the Peter Gabriel era they never topped the charts in the UK, whereas during the Phil Collins era Genesis had five chart-topping consecutive albums, from Duke to We Can’t Dance.
I love how I just compared my favourite football team to my favourite band. Nathan Brown is Peter Gabriel and Adam O’Brien is Phil Collins.
Nathan Brown rebuilt the team just like how Peter Gabriel built the platform for Genesis, and Adam O’Brien’s goal for the Knights is to get more success by making the finals consistently just like the already mentioned success Phil Collins brought to the English band.
That being said, Genesis’ first album with Phil Collins doing the vocal work was A Trick of the Tail – which didn’t top the charts so if we don’t make the finals next year, just show some patience.
Back on topic for the Knights – overall and outright, this year we scored more and conceded less. We had a better season than our last three, and to make it even better we got the team.
Let’s do a checklist – the team? Tick. The right coaching? Tick. The right mindset? Tick and cross.
I gave the right mindset both because at times this season, we did and we didn’t have it.
There were some games our boys played and they fell asleep having a comfortable lead, only to either choke or just scrape through with the win. Simply put, defending your lead is important but so is extending it.
Roarers, how do you think the Knights will go moving from Brown to O’Brien?
Zavjalova
Roar Rookie
Could be. The jury will be out next year that’s for sure
The King of the World
Roar Guru
I love both eras of Genesis (I didn’t mind Ray Wilson). The old school prog Genesis did was eccentric but I was comparing their success to their albums success. Firth of Fifth will forever be the best song they ever did even though Land of Confusion is my favourite.
Chris.P.Bacon
Guest
"Nathan Brown is Peter Gabriel and Adam O’Brien is Phil Collins..."... Damn Adrian, if that's the case then the Knights are in for some tough times buddy. Comparing the great prog-rock Genesis (of PG) with classics like 'Selling England ..." and " The Lamb Lies Down..." to the nonsense fluff of a post PG Genesis is borderline sacrilegious. I can only imagine that the huge loss to the Tigers has caused some minor disturbance to your cerebral cortex (....which is involved in thinking, reasoning and judgement). If your comparison is near the money you can expect Adam O'Brien to be a very bog average coach who'll bring nothing but disappointment to the Knights. (wow, even putting that drummer in the same sentence as Peter Gabriel is disrespectful son.....) ;)
Bluester
Roar Rookie
"The mind is the most powerful weapon." Except if its weak to begin with as is the case in Mitchell Pearce. He is simply too weak minded to be the true professional needed to lead a team like the Knights. Instead of looking towards 2019 with the professional attitude needed given the expectations of the season, Pearce was partying hard most of last off season and taking others down that path, SKD to name one. If you want someone to lead a drinking session Pearce is your man, if you want someone to lead your team to the NRL finals...well, just look at 2019.
Mr T
Roar Rookie
O’Brien will no doubt have some work to do. But the addition of Jayden Brailey definitely adds some stability to a spine which already contains Pearce and Ponga. Throw in an origin front row pairing of Klemmer and Saifiti and there is definitely a squad to work with. However, I believe they are AT LEAST 3-4 players short of being a top 4 contender. Besides Ponga, they’re back 5 doesn’t pose much of a threat compared to the good sides and they need more quality in the pack. Whether O’Brien is up to the challenge, only time will tell.
Max oower
Guest
You really have no idea if Adam is going to be a good coach or not. As for your Genesis comparison , totally unrelated and irrelevant