Matty Johns: Dylan Brown deal is a display of weakness by the Newcastle Knights not one of strength
Newcastle’s mega-deal with Dylan Brown will result in 12 months of scrutiny for the playmaker, but it is the Knights administration that should be put under the blowtorch, writes MATTY JOHNS.
Opinion
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There was a time when players were desperate to play for Newcastle. Not just to play for the club, but to represent the people and the city.
The 10-year, $13 million deal to convince Dylan Brown to join the Knights is symbolic of the total mismanagement of the club in the last 20 years.
Even Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of generosity, would find the deal given to Brown almost impossible to reject.
For Brown, his family and future loved ones, it’s life changing. Good on him.
The constant scrutiny on Brown‘s performances for Parramatta this season — and the praise or criticism it draws — will be directed mainly toward his future employers.
The signing of Brown is a good one, but the size and length of the contract is crazy. It shows the pressure the Knights were under to land a big name after missing out on others, and losing a future star, prop Leo Thompson, to Canterbury.
The deal is very much based on potential, the potential that one day Brown can become a centrepiece playmaker who dictates matches and decides their outcomes.
He may fulfil that potential, he may not.
A lot of the bewilderment, in a lot of ways, has nothing to do with Brown, and to be honest, probably not everything to do with current administration.
For the Knights’ old boys, we find it mind blowing that the club would have to pay this exorbitant deal and still have to convince the player to come.
BROWN’S PLAYMAKING BURDEN
Brown’s performances over the next month will be analysed and scrutinised more than any player in my time in rugby league.
Signing the richest deal in rugby league history brings that pressure. And for Brown, there’s plenty of it.
It’s not just the size of his contract, but being able to step up and prove to Eels supporters that he’s all in for this season, and of course, primarily, get the team winning.
Without Mitchell Moses, Brown has been unable to elevate his game and cover the loss of his halfback.
In fact, his performance has deteriorated.
The pressure and responsibility seems to burden the young playmaker and drag him away from his strength — running the football and tormenting defenders.
When you’re the central playmaker, you need to be more than an instinctive, reactive runner; you have to communicate the intentions of a set of six, push fatigued players into position, produce the right kick at the right time and sense when to increase and decrease the tempo of the game.
For a player whose game has always been based on speed and physicality, that tactical transition is immense.
STEPPING INTO THE SEVEN FURNACE
On Sunday, coincidently, he’s up against a player who knows a fair bit about the pressure and requirements of stepping up from deputy to sheriff, Jarome Luai.
Last Friday, Luai’s Wests Tigers debut performance received mixed reviews. There was certainly plenty of ring rust, but I saw enough to believe he will be every bit the player the Tigers need him to be in 2025.
Creatively, he was almost operating solo, without the man with whom he will form the strongest, most important combination, hooker Apisai Koroisau.
Lachlan Galvin went in and out of the contest, a young six still finding his NRL legs. But there’s no doubt that halves combination will develop quickly.
Luai was strong in the first half, setting up the Tigers’ only try and saving one.
In the second half, playing behind a pack which had lost its superiority in yardage, his impact lessened and a kick error of a matter of inches gave the Knights a seven-tackle set, which led to them scoring a crucial try on their way to a 10-8 victory.
In coming weeks, Luai will have the Tigers looking like a completely different team.
A CASE FOR THE DEFENCE
While the stats say the Tigers missed 68 tackles, they only conceded two tries.
I was really impressed with their defensive attitude, signalling a significant lift in desire. While the defensive energy was there, individual technique and communication contributed to the Tigers missing vital tackles in the second half which cost them victory
With Koroisau and fullback Jahream Bula returning on Sunday, expect a performance which will give Tigers supporters a surge of optimism.
EELS’ STATE OF SHOCK
On the Eels’ first-up performance, coach Jason Ryles shouldn’t have wasted his time poring through the tape of his young team being put to the sword in that 56-18 demolition.
All the missed tackles, miscommunication and attacking confusion stems from being in a total state of shock.
The Melbourne Storm exploded out of the sheds with a whirlwind of speed, skill and defensive ferocity.
Like a fighter stepping into the ring with the great Muhammad Ali for the first time, the young Eels’ heads were spinning.
No amount of sitting on the couch watching Jahrome Hughes, Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Harry Grant strut their stuff on Friday night football could ever prepare them for the real thing.
For a rookie it’s an awful experience, but a valuable one.
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