Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n The now Knights coach told The Courier Mail at the time that he felt \u201cawful\u201d and was \u201ctotally gutted\u201d by the mid-season axing, having lifted the club from last place to ninth in his first year in charge.<\/p>\n Holbrook then guided the Titans to the finals in his second season but was denied much of a chance to build on that result, axed in 2023 after an indifferent 6-7 start to the year.<\/p>\n Then Titans owner Rebecca Frizelle told Fox League\u2019s Face-to-Face at the time that the club needed a \u201chard edge\u201d, hiring a proven premiership winner in Des Hasler before doubling down on their bold strategic plan: to win four premierships by 2030.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich sounds huge,\u201d she added. \u201cTwo for the women and two for the men.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, it\u2019s already 2026 and while they came up just short of winning a NRLW title in 2023, the men\u2019s team fell well short of expectations under Hasler with two-straight finishes inside the bottom four.<\/p>\n Less than a month after Hasler was axed by the Titans, Holbrook was unveiled as the new head coach of the Knights following two years with the Roosters as their attack coach.<\/p>\n Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n Justin Holbrook has improved the Knights\u2019 attack ten-fold.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n The task was in many ways just as daunting as the one he faced when he first took over at the Gold Coast. <\/p>\n Although unlike the Titans, the Knights had been a regular fixture in finals football before a disastrous 2025 season which saw them claim the wooden spoon for the first time since 2017.<\/p>\n The arrival of marquee recruit Dylan Brown on a 10-year, $13 million contract along with the return of a healthy Kalyn Ponga gave Newcastle fans hope. But it all hinged on the new coach.<\/p>\n And based on early results, the Holbrook-coached Knights look to be a resounding success.<\/p>\n More than anything, the club\u2019s turnaround from wooden spooners to top eight contenders under Holbrook has been a lesson in reinvention rather than transformation. <\/p>\n Sure, there was the player turnover you would expect from a club that fell well short of expectations. Leo Thompson, Jayden Brailey and Kai Pearce-Paul were among the bigger names to leave along with depth pieces in Jack Cogger and Jack Hetherington. <\/p>\n Brown, meanwhile, headlined a relatively short list of new faces which also included Sandon Smith and Trey Mooney.<\/p>\n But the bigger challenge for Holbrook was finding consistency in a spine that had constantly been chopped and changed under O\u2019Brien\u2019s watch, along with also getting the most out of a young forward pack led by Jacob Saifiti and Tyson Frizell. <\/p>\n The change has been dramatic, and it will be there for his former club to see when the Knights face the Titans at Magic Round on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n Knights inflict misery on winless Drags | 01:22<\/p>\n INSIDE THE MIND OF HOLBROOK… AND HIS \u2018BIGGEST STRENGTH\u2019<\/p>\n Few players know Holbrook better than Roosters and South Sydney legend Luke Keary, who was coached by him as an assistant at the Tricolours during a long period of success. <\/p>\n Keary revealed the key to Holbrook\u2019s coaching philosophy is keeping \u201ceverything so simple\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBut he has an amazing eye for what you\u2019re good at,\u201d Keary added, speaking to foxsports.com.au. <\/p>\n \u201cI felt like he knew my game sometimes better than I did and then he put you in the positions and set up things around each person to make you play your best. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd he said it in the pre-grame on the weekend, we don\u2019t play a traditional style because the guys I\u2019ve got need to play to their strengths… it was exactly like what he did with us twice when I was there with him.\u201d <\/p>\n Holbrook\u2019s ability to adapt and re-invent his style depending on the team and the players he is working with also stood out to Keary across two stints at the Roosters under Robinson. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was different both times I was with him,\u201d Keary said.<\/p>\n Holbrook has transformed the Knights. Ian Hitchcock\/Getty Images\/AFPSource: AFP<\/p>\n \u201cWhat he\u2019s gone and done up there (at Newcastle) is different to how he set up the Roosters.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a very good coach… he\u2019s not like Trent Robinson in that he doesn\u2019t overcomplicate anything. He\u2019s just simple, knows people\u2019s strengths, knows what they\u2019re good at, knows what they\u2019re not good at and then knows how to play into that. That\u2019s his biggest strength.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, of course, coaching is not that simple. If it was as easy, anyone could do it. But as Keary went on to explain, there is \u201can art\u201d to getting the best out of each individual player while also creating a cohesive unit out of those different strengths.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know so much and they\u2019re very intelligent and smart and they see a lot of things that we don\u2019t disclose, but then how they convey that message to the team and different individuals and knowing when to give more information, when to pull back, when to just keep it really basic and when to actually dig into different stuff. He\u2019s very good at it,\u201d Keary said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe information he gave you was very deliberate and for a reason. Where as it can be difficult as a coach to know how much, what not to give, what to give, how not to overload. He had a very good sense of it.\u201d <\/p>\n MORE NRL NEWS<\/p>\n CRAWLEY: Roosters rumour Cleary call can\u2019t kill\u2026 and two coaches now feeling heat<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018ALARM BELLS\u2019: Six words that sparked Panthers exodus and nine stars who could go<\/a><\/p>\n Phoenix Crossland is in great form. (Photo by Jeremy Ng\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n HOW HOLBROOK FOUND THE FIX TO \u2018DIFFICULT PUZZLE\u2019<\/p>\n That is particularly handy for a Knights team that has in previous years struggled to find its identity with so many moving parts in the key positions.<\/p>\n Newcastle is certainly not short on attacking threats this year with Ponga at the back, Brown at seven and speedster Fletcher Sharpe alongside him in the halves.<\/p>\n It was a \u201cdifficult puzzle to solve\u201d as club legend Matty Johns put it earlier this week.<\/p>\n Holbrook, however, has found the right formula to get the most out of all three by varying who is at first, second and third receiver in attacking territory. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very fluid and he loves to let (Mat) Croker play with the ball in midfield,\u201d Keary said. <\/p>\n \u201cThen when it gets up into good ball, his best players have their hands on the ball more than anyone else.\u201d <\/p>\n Of course, the risk is that strategy could end up leaving the players confused in their roles and result in a disorganised attack. <\/p>\n Instead, Holbrook has empowered his playmakers to chime in and out of plays as they unfold.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve obviously set it up really well where those guys aren\u2019t in each other\u2019s way and it\u2019s not clunky,\u201d Keary said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt looks fluid, which is hard to do. We speak about different spines and giving them time. This is a full new spine and they\u2019ve hit the ground running, with injuries too.\u201d <\/p>\n Holbrook is enjoying life at Newcastle. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n That fine balance is perhaps best illustrated in the play of Brown, who is on the kind of contract that normally requires having your hands on the ball at all times.<\/p>\n Instead, Johns\u2019 favourite part of the 25-year-old\u2019s game at the moment is the way he picks and chooses his moments to chime in and out of plays.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the weekend Kalyn was on song and Fletcher was doing his thing and you just see him take a sort of half-step back,\u201d Johns said on \u2018Matty and Cronk\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cNot disappearing out of the contest. When I say a half-step back, just feeding early (ball) and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean Brown isn\u2019t engaging the line though. In fact, Brown is averaging 10.3 line engagements per game. For context, Dally M leader Nathan Cleary averages 12.6. <\/p>\n Brown is digging into the line just enough to bring the defence in, but not too far as to take space away from Ponga to work his magic on the outside. <\/p>\n Premiership-winning halfback Cooper Cronk has seen a similar improvement in Newcastle\u2019s attack under Holbrook this year, declaring there is a \u201cperfect timing\u201d to their passing game.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re getting an advantage line and pushing forward and then looking to play,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n Knights slay Dragons in Wollongong | 03:16<\/p>\n THE INCREDIBLE NUMBERS BEHIND NEWCASTLE\u2019S RISE<\/p>\n The eye test certainly tells the story. But the numbers do too.<\/p>\n In 2025 the Knights scored just 338 points, with NRL 360 co-host Braith Anasta calling their attack a \u201cnightmare\u201d at the time.<\/p>\n This season they already have 276 in just 10 games, going from an NRL-worst 14.08 points per game last year to 27.6. <\/p>\n That number ranks seventh-best in the league and would have been even higher had they not lost Ponga and Brown to injuries earlier in the season.<\/p>\n The Knights have been particularly lethal from inside their own half this year, leading the NRL in long-range tries with 13. In fact, they already have seven more tries than they did last year from outside the red zone.<\/p>\n Interestingly, the Knights have averaged almost identical run metres while they have been tackled fewer times in the opposition 20, which if anything speaks to how much more clinical they have been in capitalising on their opportunities.<\/p>\n That is also born out in Fox Sports Lab\u2019s Expected Set Points data, which found the Knights scored only 66 per cent of the points the average team would have with the possession they had in 2025. <\/p>\n This year, that figure has jumped all the way up to 135 per cent. Only Souths and Penrith have performed better so far this season.<\/p>\n It also highlights how dangerous the likes of Sharpe and Ponga can be in open space, which has been a more common sight in this year\u2019s faster version of the competition.<\/p>\n The main beneficiaries of the Knights\u2019 improved attack has been their wingers with Greg Marzhew crossing for five against the Dragons to take his 2026 tally to 13 in just nine games, compared to just six tries in 18 games last season. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Dom Young has scored 11 tries in 10 games after scoring four in 10 games last season following his mid-season switch back to the club from the Roosters. <\/p>\n Newcastle\u2019s turnaround in numbers in 2026 vs 2025<\/p>\n Points: 27.6 (7th) vs 14.08 (17th) <\/p>\n Tries: 5 (5th) vs 2.54 (17th) <\/p>\n Linebreaks: 5.9 (4th) vs 4.29 (13th) <\/p>\n Red zone ratio*: 7.4 (3rd) vs 13.8 (17th)<\/p>\n *The number of tackles inside the opposition 20 on average needed to score a try<\/p>\n The Knights have turned things around. (Photo by Jeremy Ng\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n THE PONGA FACTOR<\/p>\n There was no bigger stamp of approval for Holbrook than Ponga\u2019s decision to ink a landmark extension last month, which keeps him at the Hunter until at least the end of 2030.<\/p>\n In a statement confirming the news, Ponga declared that he wants to win a premiership at Newcastle.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I want to do it so badly,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n \u201cJustin has created an environment that everyone wants to be a part of, come in every day and learn and train and get better.\u201d<\/p>\n The proof of Holbrook\u2019s magic touch as a coach is in Ponga\u2019s return to his best despite an injury-disrupted start to the season, with the Knights fullback averaging a league-high 2.3 linebreak assists per game.<\/p>\n Johns said Ponga has entered the 2026 season with \u201csome serious fire in the belly\u201d and the evidence has been there for everyone to see.<\/p>\n Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/p>\n Kalyn Ponga is back to his best and playing multiple positions.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s really got his head on,\u201d the legendary Knight added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way he\u2019s leading the side \u2014 he\u2019s just invested, he is chipping blokes if they\u2019re not doing the right thing on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n The little things, like the way Ponga is getting around his teammates after every positive play or even error, has also stood out to Cronk and to him, that is in part a reflection of the culture Holbrook has already built in his short time at the club. <\/p>\n \u201cHe is high-fiving, he\u2019s a captain of this team, he\u2019s leading by example but also by spirit and whatever Justin Holbrook has done to instil or embed this confidence (and) belief \u2014 Kalyn Ponga is executing that better than anyone from Newcastle,\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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