Michael Ennis knows the Knights well having grown up in Newcastle and making his NRL debut for the club back in 2003.

He also knows that the club’s next head coach has a “huge” job ahead of them that extends well beyond just preparing 17 players each week.

As such he’s weighed in on the ‘coaching contenders’ conversation and suggested three potential successors to Adam O’Brien, who will finish up at the end of the season.

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Current Knights assistant Blake Green has been touted as a frontrunner given he’s been a part of the coaching set-up since 2021. But Ennis believes Justin Holbrook — who has also been linked to the role — as well as Dean Young and Matt King could be a good fit for Newcastle.

The Knights’ powerbrokers will dive straight into their search for a new coach after O’Brien’s exit was confirmed on Thursday morning in a press conference.

Green will be considered for the role and while Ennis doesn’t know a whole lot about the 38-year-old in a coaching capacity he does know that he’s “highly regarded” in the Hunter.

Holbrook will also come into contention and would bring with him three-and-half years of head coaching experience in the NRL and three years in the Super League, which includes a premiership with St Helens. He also started his NRL playing career at the Knights back in 1999.

Knights part ways with O’Brien | 03:19

“Justin’s had great experience both in the NRL and over in the Super League and has spent time in Newcastle so he knows the area,” Ennis told foxsports.com.au.

But the two fresh names that Ennis has thrown forward are King and Young.

King carved out a successful playing career with over 100 NRL games for the Storm and Rabbitohs as well as well as 100-plus Super League games for Warrington. He also represented New South Wales and Australia.

He’s tipped by many to also one day carve out a successful coaching career after serving apprenticeships with the Rabbitohs and Roosters, while also being brought into the NSW Origin coaching set-up.

“Matt’s obviously had great experience at both Souths and the Roosters. But he also grew up on the Central Coast, which is a stone’s throw from Newcastle and a smaller but similar region in terms of coastal NSW that absolutely live and breathe rugby league as well,” Ennis said.

“We’ve seen plenty of contributors out of the Central Coast filter through the NRL — Ethan Strange is one of those at the moment.”

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Then there’s Dean Young, who has been banging on the door of head coaching gigs for a couple of years now.

Young is a Dragons legend with over 200 NRL games — and a premiership — to his name. He’s also been working as an assistant coach for 10 years via two stints with the Dragons and one with the Cowboys.

“Dean comes highly regarded as well,” Ennis said.

“He was brought into the Origin arena this year a NSW assistant. But Dean comes from the Illawarra, and the Illawarra is, in my opinion, almost a mirror of Newcastle — steel city, hardworking, tough area but absolutely love their rugby league.

“I go back to my early days, our country championships when we’d travel through the bush playing all those different teams, we’d always meet the Central Coast and Illawarra in the finals. That’s just how it panned out.

“That Illawarra area has been such a rich nursery as well so Dean’s come through that and has had great experience at the Dragons, took over there in an interim role before going to the Cowboys and now coming back. So he’s worked with some good programs and good coaches.”

Young is contracted to the Dragons as an assistant until the end of 2027, but has a clause that allows him to leave early should he be offered a head coach role elsewhere.

‘Why would you not come to work?’ | 10:11

A change of coach can often cause disruption, uncertainty and sometimes bad blood. But the amicable nature in which O’Brien and the Knights have planned their split has created a positive “opportunity to restart and refresh,” according to Ennis.

“To bring in a new coach and new staff it can really freshen it up, revitalise it and reset the program,” he said.

“And it’s an exciting time for the club. They’re going to Vegas next year, which is such a great way to start the year for a club.

“Dylan Brown — one of the elite halves of the competition — arrives and Kalyn will be back from injury so it’ll be a new coach and fresh start without the speculation.

“Because it feels like it’s been for the last pre-season or two where everyone has asked ‘where are Newcastle going to get to this year? Is there pressure on Adam O’Brien?’ They head into their pre-season with a fresh mindset.”

In saying that though, Ennis warned there’s another layer to being a head coach in a town that is “completely consumed and thrives on rugby league” that the successor will have to understand.

“In terms of the job, it’s a huge one,” he said.

“I was lucky enough to grow up in Newcastle and every single piece grass on a Saturday morning was littered with kids playing rugby league — if you didn’t play rugby league it was almost like they raised their eyebrow at you.

“You’ve only got to go back and look at the inaugural season to where we are now, the amount of people that are either playing for Newcastle or for other NRL clubs that came through that system and pathways — it’s just such a great breeding ground for rugby league.

“That’s a big part of what I feel is the responsibility of the head coach of Newcastle — the community and the pathways.

“A winning Newcastle side has a major impact on our competition. Turning on the TV and seeing a full house at Newcastle, knowing that they’re going to compete with the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos just makes the competition so much healthier.”