Why coaching wooden spooners Newcastle holds no fears for Holbrook

2 weeks ago 3

Newly appointed Newcastle coach Justin Holbrook is confident the lessons he learned at the Gold Coast Titans will help him reverse the fortunes of the NRL wooden spooners.

Holbrook spoke publicly on Friday for the first time since the Knights announced he had signed a three-year deal to replace Adam O’Brien.

The 49-year-old will take control of the NRL cellar dwellers after a season that delivered only six wins and ended with a 66-10 last-round hammering from Parramatta.

The last time Newcastle slumped to such a low ebb, it lasted for three years, when the club endured a hat-trick of spoons between 2015 and 2017. Holbrook is backing himself to avoid a similar fate.

There is a sense of deja vu about his challenge, as the Titans were also wooden spooners when he took charge ahead of the 2020 season. He improved them to ninth in his first year and then reached the finals 12 months later.

Results slipped in 2022, and Holbrook was sacked midway through 2023 with the Titans having won six of their 13 games that year.

Holbrook said, despite their disappointing 2025 campaign, the Knights have “only had the one bad year,” and he doesn’t feel compelled to “tip everything upside down” and start from scratch.

“I’m really confident,” Holbrook said.

“Last time I had my crack as a head coach, I took over the Titans, and they’d come last, and they’d had a couple of bad years prior … we came ninth up there and then eighth, so yeah, I’m confident we can get straight up there, up the ladder.

“I can’t predict where you’re going to come [on the ladder], but I’m no different from every other coach. You want to win the comp ... we definitely don’t want to be at the bottom again.”

Justin Holbrook will coach the Knights in 2026.

Having played five games for the Knights in 1999 and 2000, as understudy to rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns, Holbrook has an understanding of what Knights fans will expect from their side.

He is also familiar with the dynamics of coaching a one-team town after his time with the Titans and English heavyweights St Helens, whom he steered to the Super League title in 2019.

“There’s pressure at every club,” he said. “I know the one-team towns are a lot more, but I’m fine with that.

“Anyone that’s been over in England knows they’re very passionate over there, they live and die for their rugby league, so Newcastle’s not far beyond that. I understand that, but I’m excited by it.”

Dylan Brown shares a joke with his future Newcastle teammates.

One of the challenges for Holbrook will be how to fit former Parramatta playmaker Dylan Brown - who has signed a 10-year contract reportedly worth $1.3 million annually - into his backline.

The Kiwi international has played most of his career as a five-eighth, but Holbrook believes he is a “classy player” who has the skill set to potentially become an out-and-out halfback.

“I think he can definitely play halfback,” Holbrook said.

“He’s had the luxury of playing with Mitch Moses down at Parramatta, so look, I haven’t worked out exactly how we’re playing yet. That’s going to happen over the pre-season.

“It doesn’t matter whether he’s 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, so it’s just a matter of us working out how they’re going to complement each other.”

Holbrook said local talent would be crucial for the Knights to realise their potential. Both Newcastle’s premierships, in 1997 and 2001, were founded on home-grown products.

“Every club knows that if you can develop your own, you don’t have to buy players in,” Holbrook said.

“It helps in every facet, salary cap, the connection to the club if you’ve got them in your own nursery, then it’s family, it’s community … but it always takes time.

“Things that need fixing, you can’t fix them instantly in a lot of those cases.

“But I am excited about what the club has already let me know about that’s happening in that area, and it’s obvious it’s what we’ve got to get right.”

Having spent the past two seasons as Trent Robinson’s assistant at the Roosters, Holbrook was looking forward to re-occupying the hot seat in a head-coaching capacity.

Win one of 10 double passes to the 2025 NRL grand final. Click here for details and to enter the competition, exclusive to Sydney Morning Herald subscribers.