Nathan Brown says decision to play five rookies won’t backfire

NEW Knights coach Natha Brown is confident his decision to blood five rookies against Gold Coast won’t backfire and will bring out the best out of his veterans

Nathan Brown feels the heat at training. Picture by Peter Lorimer

NEWCASTLE coach Nathan Brown is confident his decision to blood five rookies against Gold Coast won’t backfire and will bring out the best in his senior playing group.

Despite boasting the NRL’s oldest player in co-captain Jeremy Smith, the Knights will field the youngest squad in the competition against the Titans.

It will be Brown’s first taste of NRL coaching for eight years but while he admits he can’t accurately predict how his young players will handle the occasion, he expects the older heads in the team to provide the example.

“After a below par start to the week, the boys have trained really well and I’m confident we are ready for it,” Brown said after the team’s captains’ run on Saturday.

“You don’t always know what you are going to get with some of the young blokes but provided there is plenty of commitment and effort there, I’ll be happy.”

Asked had his selection shocks provided some of his senior players with a wake-up call, Brown said:

“The response from the senior boys has been good. They are making all the right noises so we’ll see how we go up there.”

Backrower Robbie Rochow believes the makeup of the squad was no real surprise internally.

“We knew earlier on in the pre-season (there would be rookies),” he said.

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“I think there were 13 or 14 players of our 30 plus player squad that hadn’t played a game of NRL.

“So I think we knew round one there would be a few debutants and that’s our group at the moment.”

“We want them to do the best they can. I’m really excited for those boys to taste NRL and hopefully us older fellas can perform well for them.”

Rochow says the Knights will go into the game with an uncomplicated game plan to try and come out on top in the battle at the ruck.

The Knights will look to Robbie Rochow for leadership.

“For us, it’s a matter of being simple, aggressive and targeting their middle and not so much their edges,” he said.

“Being round one, we just have to keep it simple. Save some energy where we can and have some when we attack down their end.

“The game looks like there will be less breaks and it is going to be tough for the 80 minute type players but I’m really looking forward to it.

“If we control the ball and tackle well, it will make our job a lot easier. If that gets away from us, it will be tough.”

Originally published as Nathan Brown says decision to play five rookies won’t backfire