Why $13 million Dylan Brown signing can bring glory years back to Newcastle Knights

On the surface, a $13m deal for Dylan Brown borders on madness. However, the Knights have secured a playmaker with a ceiling for elite status and a partner-in-crime for Kalyn Ponga. He could be worth every cent, writes PETER BADEL.

Brilliant or a bloody brain explosion?

Only the fullness of time will tell if Newcastle’s record-breaking deal for Dylan Brown is money well spent but the Knights should be applauded for having the gumption to pull off a poaching raid that could change the direction of their club.

On the surface, their $13 million contract for Brown — officially the richest deal in the NRL’s 117-year history — borders on madness.

Brown is a very good playmaker but the reality is the Eels pivot hasn’t quite yet satisfied the definition of a franchise player.

Nathan Cleary is a franchise player. Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Darren Lockyer were franchise players. Bona fide match-winners who delivered at the highest levels of the game and, perhaps most importantly, boasted premiership rings on their resume.

Brown has won a Pacific Championships series with New Zealand but the Eels ace has yet to win premiership, nor fully convinced he possesses the consistency to deliver for Parramatta – or the Knights – on a weekly basis.

In his glorious opportunity for Parramatta in the 2022 grand final, Brown and Mitchell Moses flopped miserably as the Eels were whipped by Penrith 28-12 on the big stage.

Brilliant? Or brain explosion from the Knights?

But desperate clubs do desperate things and the Knights, mired in a 24-year title drought, have thrown their chips in on a player they believe can be a blue-chip investment.

In rugby league, timing is everything and Brown became a free agent at the perfect time.

There are 21 other playmakers off-contract this season. Most would be lucky to play NRL consistently let alone steer a club to a premiership. Others, such as champion playmakers Adam Reynolds, Daly Cherry-Evans and Cody Walker, are on the verge of retirement.

At 24, Brown is entering his prime years. He is the best rising playmaker on the open market by the length of an Andrew Johns spiral pass.

The Knights are throwing all their chips at Dylan Brown. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

For too long, the Knights have basically been a one-man band and Kalyn Ponga, as special as he is, will never lead Newcastle to a premiership with the current roster.

Ponga urgently needs a partner-in-crime to form a one-two playmaking punch to make the Knights a genuine top-four contender.

Signing Brown gives them a chance at bringing the glory years back to Newcastle.

Newcastle’s $1.3 million-a-season offer may be regarded as overs, but if Brown continues his development on a positive trajectory, it will be fair market value for a player with the skill set to be among the code’s true elite in the coming years.

The $1 million-plus deals are only a problem if the recipient (hello David Fifita) isn’t firing.

If Brown fires, it won’t be a talking point.

Ironically, Knights football boss, Peter Parr, was the man who helped broker Jason Taumalolo’s then-record 10-year, $9.5 million deal at the Cowboys in 2017.

The deal has come under scrutiny, but on balance, Taumalolo has largely delivered. He is the greatest forward in Cowboys history, a premiership and Dally M winner and a magnet for other players who took less to stay at North Queensland to play alongside him.

Brown could be a big-money flop – or he could also prove to be one of the greatest signings in Newcastle history.

If Brown and Ponga lift the NRL trophy in coming seasons and send the Steel City into meltdown, Newcastle’s mega bucks will be worth every cent.