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Find your Sport Nation frequencyJohns: O’Brien has taken the Knights as far as he can
Nicholas Quinlan • July 18th, 2025 5:55 pm
Matty Johns believes that the Newcastle Knights should move on from coach Adam O’Brien at the end of the season.
It has been a difficult season for the Knights, who started the season off winning their first two games.
But from there, they have only managed to win another four games for the rest of the season, which has seen Newcastle slip to 13th on the ladder.
Having made finals in four of the last five seasons, their poor form this year has correlated with additional pressure being placed on O’Brien, which has led to reports that he will part ways with the club at the end of the season.
It has also seen rumours float of their star fullback, Kalyn Ponga, leaving the club; however, he responded on Instagram, saying he was committed to the club.
Johns, who played 177 games for the Knights, feels that O’Brien has got as much out of the list as he can.
“If you look at the job that Adam has done, and he has actually achieved what they were after,” Johns told SEN’s Morning Glory with Matty Johns.
“He stabilised the club. Let’s remember they three-peated with the wooden spoon, then the two years before he arrived, they were 11th and 11th.
“His job when he arrived (in 2020) was: stabilise the club, stabilise the team and turn us into a regular finals team.
“He has done that, but there’s a feeling he’s taken the side as far as he can, and that’s a fair call.”
With the news of O’Brien leaving, this has opened the door to who could be the next coach of the Knights.
Potential contenders for the Newcastle job include his assistant coach, Blake Green, current Queensland and Cronulla coach Josh Hannay, and former Parramatta coach Brad Arthur.
But Johns thinks that the Knights should consider a left-field option within their own assistant ranks.
“The guy who is not being spoken about is an English guy called Brian McDermott,” Johns said.
“Brian McDermott has been at the club for a couple of years. Until he arrived, their defence was horrendous, and I think he has turned them into the 5th or 6th best defensive side in the competition this year.
“Defensively, he has done remarkably well, but the problem is with the football; they’re toothless.
“He’s really highly respected, Brian, amongst the players, his methods are pretty simple and let’s face it, in Newcastle history we’ve had a fair bit of success with an English coach (in Malcolm Reilly).”
The Knights have a tough assignment on Sunday afternoon as they face the New Zealand Warriors in Newcastle.
