Holbrook took over from Adam O\u2019Brien after agreeing to a three-year deal with the club earlier in the week and was in the Hunter for his first day on the job on Friday. <\/p>\n
One of his first tasks was to speak at an introductory press conference, where Holbrook fielded questions about Brown\u2019s role at the club, his expectations for the side in 2026 and Newcastle\u2019s junior development among other topics. <\/p>\n
WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n Of course, Holbrook wasn\u2019t in charge when Brown was given a 10-year deal worth more than $13 million so naturally that was one of the bigger talking points on Friday. <\/p>\n The former Titans and St Helens coach told reporters he thought Brown was an \u201cexcellent\u201d signing and one that would allow the Knights to have some much-needed continuity in the spine.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we know up here over the last few years, unfortunately they\u2019ve had to chop and change in that area,\u201d Holbrook said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think it was a good strategic decision by the club to lock someone (in).\u201d<\/p>\n As for the length of the deal specifically, Holbrook said a player of Brown\u2019s calibre is hard to sign in the first place so getting him on a long-term contract was an added bonus.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not many strike players in the game, and when they are, they\u2019re generally locked up, so they\u2019re hard to get out of their current clubs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that it is such a long-term deal, for myself as coach now, is great knowing you don\u2019t have to worry about that area.\u201d<\/p>\n Matty backs Holbrook to fix Newcastle | 00:52<\/p>\n Holbrook called Brown a \u201cclassy player\u201d with his \u201cbest years ahead of him\u201d, but as for where exactly he will play, Newcastle\u2019s new coach was leaving the door open to his latest recruit starting at either halfback or five-eighth.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t worked out exactly how we\u2019re playing yet, that\u2019s going to happen over the pre-season,\u201d Holbrook said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut to have him at seven or six, I\u2019ve obviously come from the Roosters where you\u2019ve got Sammy Walker playing with Sandon Smith or Hugo Savala who\u2019s seven or six.<\/p>\n \u201cIt depends on your style of play.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter whether he is wearing number seven on his back or six, but he could easily be halfback and steer the side, I have no issue with that at all. I love the way he plays.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of us working out how they\u2019re going to compliment each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Holbrook did concede though that given the uncertainty surrounding the halves over the past few seasons at the Knights, it would be important to lock down a permanent position for Brown as soon as possible. <\/p>\n But with Brown set to represent New Zealand at the end of the year, it will be a shortened pre-season for the now former Eels playmaker, which will only make settling on a halves combination more challenging for Holbrook.<\/p>\n \u201cI might not get him until January but that\u2019s fine, there\u2019s a lot of elite players in our game,\u201d the new Knights coach added. <\/p>\n \u201c… He is going to be playing one of the two, and I\u2019m really looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Holbrook confirmed as Knights coach | 01:45<\/p>\n Another option in the halves for Holbrook is the versatile Sandon Smith, although the former Rooster is likely to instead start at hooker for the Knights.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether he plays nine or seven, he is tough enough to play nine and skilful enough to play seven,\u201d Holbrook said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we need some juggling, or one of those players are out, I\u2019m really confident we\u2019re not going to miss a beat there.\u201d<\/p>\n Holbrook said he hopes the Knights will be challenging for a return to the finals immediately, but just as important is strengthening the club\u2019s junior development pathways. <\/p>\n That is particularly true given the criticism Newcastle has come under for the local talent that has walked out the door in recent years, with club legend Matty Johns among those to tee off.<\/p>\n ‘World of pain’ Knights look to 2026 | 00:34<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve got to coach the coaches in the lower grades,\u201d Johns said on SEN Radio earlier in the week.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve got to get a red-hot recruitment guy because honestly, you see kids and you go, \u2018I haven\u2019t heard of this bloke coming through\u2019 like a Kurt Donoghoe and then someone will say, \u2018He was in the Knights system and they let him go\u2019 and you go, \u2018How do you let this kid go?\u2019. <\/p>\n \u201cTom Starling, Zac Hosking, Hudson Young, Joe Tapine. Honestly, it keeps going on… I don\u2019t know what dopes are in charge there.\u201d<\/p>\n Holbrook, a former Knights player himself, said junior retention has been \u201cprobably the most talked about topic I\u2019ve discussed this week\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery club knows that if you can develop your own, you don\u2019t have to buy players in,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cIt helps in every facet \u2014 salary cap, the connection to the club. If you\u2019ve got them in your own nursery then it\u2019s family, it\u2019s community.<\/p>\n \u201cThe good thing is that\u2019s already improving, that\u2019s already getting addressed and it\u2019s probably the most talked about topic I\u2019ve discussed this week.<\/p>\n \u201cBut once I spoke to the staff here and the investment they\u2019re putting into that area, I\u2019m the lucky one who hopefully reaps the reward of that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt always takes time. Things that need fixing, you can\u2019t fix them instantly in a lot of those cases.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I am excited by what the club has already let them know about what is already happening in that area and it\u2019s obvious it\u2019s what we\u2019ve got to get right.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Incoming Knights coach Justin Holbrook fronted media for the first time on Friday, opening up about his plans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-155768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n