There are some (this scribe included) who are of the view that the Knights’ roster is so poor, that coach Nathan Brown deserves to see out his tenure, regardless of how embarrassingly bad they’ve been since his arrival. Apparently you can’t count Knights chairperson Brian McGuigan among those people.
According to the Newcastle Herald, McGuigan has publically put the Knights coach on notice, declaring their hammering at the hands of the Tigers “unacceptable”, and adding that Brown has “got to carry the can”.
“After a period of grace, unless things are improving, we have to do something about it,” McGuigan said. “If things are out of control, then the board has to make decisions about the direction we’re taking.”
“He’s the man that’s got to carry the can… it’s just not good enough. The community expects better.”
“Yesterday I lost faith, and I’m now expressing it openly and frankly, because the community expects more of us.”
While we’d agree that the Knights are awful (nobody in their right mind would argue with that), we wouldn’t agree that things aren’t improving, and even less that Brown should “carry the can”.
Besides the obvious measure, results – in which their 2 wins are an improvement, as sad as that may be – our own VOA Ratings show a dramatic improvement from 2016, in which they ranked dead last in both categories (they’re still toward the bottom, but they’ve improved by around 60% in both categories).
Secondly, as rubbish as the Knights still are, why is Brown responsible for the rabble of ordinary footballers he’s been forced to work with? The decline in the playing squad didn’t start with the arrival of Brown; it’s been entirely overseen by CEO Matt Gidley, who’s been in charge since June 2011.
Under Gidley’s watch, the number of players they’ve let go who have gone on to become successful at other clubs is staggering. They include: Zane Tetevano, Joey Leilua, Joseph Tapine, Tyrone Roberts, Akuila Uate, Korbin Sims, and now you can add Dane Gagai to the list. And that’s without counting the players who were already household names before arriving in the Hunter, like Darius Boyd and Beau Scott. The buck for the Knights’ inability to retain decent talent shouldn’t stop with Brown – it should stop with Gidley.
In any case, it ultimately may not matter. Wests Group are in the process of buying the Knights from the NRL, and in the event that the sale goes through, Brown’s future would then be decided by that board instead.
And they may decide to clean them out from the top.
Well said Joel.
How can they put Brownie on notice…!!! The players (most of them – there are some exceptions) need to take a hard look at themselves!
I thought the basic idea of the game is to run the ball forward as far as you can and score points if possible. After Sundays game against the Tigers, a lot of the team needs to go back to the very basics! if there was a statistic for running sideways and/or backwards (they have stats on everything else) the Knights would be way in front. So many players were running sideways! It was embarrassing to say the least, and a lot of the fans on the day who paid good money to watch our beloved side, were getting peaved off with some colourful language being shouted out.
A lot of our players need to grow some heart and throw themselves into the game like the one of our greats in Paul the chief Harrigan! What a leader and inspiration to the team he was. Very few of our players do what the Chief was able to do on game day. No where near it…
As for the board, well surely they need to be under the microscope. How can Brian McGuigan make such a statement like he has about putting Brownie on notice! McGuigan should not even be on the board, let alone having anything to do with the Knights! He should go back to his grapes and drink some more red wine while watching them on television! What has this very well off vigneron done for our club except line his very heavy pockets!!!???
Yes I think Matt Gidley has had his time also. As much of a great player he was for our team, its time for a change at the top. Preferably not an ex player either. Some of the players he has let go is now beyond a joke and comprehension.
Give Nathan Brown a decent chance to re build this great team of ours to a competitive force like we used to have. We have to move on from the Smith, Bennett and Tinkler environment that poisoned our club for so long which we are still recovering from.
The sooner Wests Leagues club takes over, the better it will be. Just as long as there is no hangover from the Super League days. Thats another story……
Couldn’t have put it any better myself, Garry (and believe me, I tried).
Of all the problems with the Knights, Nathan Brown isn’t one of them (and even if he were, how could you judge him on the rabble he’s been given to work with?).
Even with just a couple of wins, they’re markedly better than they were in 2016, and will be better again next year (though as you point out, they’ll never be competitive until they attract some decent forwards, the pack’s been pathetic for two years). There probably are cases of blokes not putting in, but in fairness to many of the players, most of them are out of their depth, and wouldn’t make first grade at any other club.
The Knights badly need a change in direction at the top, and hopefully that comes with the sale to Wests Group. If any other club had lurched from crisis to crisis like the Knights, it’s hard to imagine that their CEO would remain in place (and if it were the Eels, they’d have sacked their board three times over by now, lol).
Good on you for sticking by your team. As a long-suffering Panthers fan, I completely understand the frustration, but also know how quickly it can turn around when you finally get some decent leadership at the club.
Thanks for visiting the site.