Newcastle reject coach Nathan Brown’s offer to quit Knights immediately
Nathan Brown will see out his final two games as Newcastle coach despite offering to quit immediately in the wake of a player fall out in the loss to the Wests Tigers.
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Under-siege coach Nathan Brown offered to stand down immediately from the Newcastle Knights on Monday because he feared he’d lost the dressing sheds.
Brown told skipper Mitchell Pearce and senior players after the 46-4 capitulation to the Wests Tigers on Saturday night that he was prepared to walk away if they felt it was best for the team.
With no feedback from the players by Monday morning, Brown took it as a vote of no confidence because no one had told him he should stay.
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He called a meeting with chief executive Phil Gardner and offered to step down straight away rather than coach for the final two games against the Titans on old boy’s day this weekend and then the Panthers.
His successor, Adam O’Brien, is expected to be announced in the next week, but he will stay as a Roosters assistant until the end of the season.
The Daily Telegraph understands his relationship with the players had reached breaking point.
Eventually Gardner talked Brown into staying and the coach texted The Daily Telegraph: “I’m finishing the season.”
Despite not contacting Brown to support him, Pearce finally broke his silence at a press conference on Monday to address the weekend debacle in Campbelltown.
“We let our coach down, we let out fans down and it’s totally unacceptable,” Pearce said.
“All the criticism of our performance is warranted. There’s no excuse from our end about the week around the coach. We need to hold ourselves accountable.”
Pearce’s leadership has come under fire since the Knights crashed out of contention over the weekend.
“As a captain I let the boys down on the weekend,” Pearce said. “I need to take responsibility and lead from the front.
“As a captain I wasn’t good enough and as a team we weren’t good enough. We let each other down.
“As a group we’re all responsible. It’s an emotional time and we’re all hurting.”
Maroons State of Origin forward Tim Glasby spoke of the team’s poor performance and accusations the players had thrown in the towel.
“Sometimes the harder you try the harder it gets,” he said, “The attitude wasn’t there and we’re lacking resilience in tough periods.
“What happened to Browny last week was in the background but when we ran onto the field we were still thinking about trying to make the eight.”
He emphasised how important it was to win back supporters on old boys’ day this weekend.
“It means a lot to the playing group so we have a lot of pride to play for,” he said.