Like a kid counting the days until Christmas, Adam O’Brien knows he’ll have to wait to unwrap a shiny new toy named Dylan Brown.
Meanwhile, the Newcastle Knights coach can only play with what he’s got, and on the evidence of their 26-12 win against the Dolphins on Thursday night, there already appears enough in his toy box to keep the people of Newcastle entertained for a while yet.
After their season-opening 10-8 win against Wests Tigers, the Knights are now two from two.
All the talk this week has been about Brown and his unprecedented 10-year contract, but Newcastle’s players have plenty they want to achieve in this campaign.
Speaking after the win, O’Brien said while there was excitement about recruiting Brown, his priority had been preparing his team to play the Dolphins.
“We’re 12 months away from this happening,” O’Brien said of the Brown signing.
“We’ve got a team in there that I think showed pretty clearly that they’re going to fight hard all year this year. We want to achieve something special with this group that’s in there ... we’re fully committed to this season. I don’t want to look too far down the track.”
Kalyn Ponga proved too good for the Dolphins.Credit: Getty Images
O’Brien said Brown’s priority is “with Parramatta right now” and Newcastle’s focus was on their own incumbent players.
While there has been plenty of scrutiny surrounding Brown’s massive 10-year deal, O’Brien said: “At the end of the day, we’re happy with our purchase.”
Whatever Brown brings to the table can wait until next year. O’Brien didn’t even want to discuss the subject at his pre-match press briefing on Wednesday. He’s all about the here and now.
He will no doubt be delighted with his players’ resolve.
Newcastle grabbed the initiative in the early exchanges and raced to a 20-0 lead after only 27 minutes, before conceding a soft try to Mark Nicholls to make it 20-6 at half-time.
Winger James Schiller, who joined Newcastle from Canberra at the end of last season, finished off the first two tries after some slick ball movement from the home side.
In between Schiller’s two tries, the Dolphins were denied by the video referee, receiving a no-try ruling when Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow flashed over, only for replays to reveal an obstruction in the ruck.
Knights centres Bradman Best and Dane Gagai then posted their first tries of the season, before Isaiya Katoa stepped and jinked to put Nicholls over and reduce the deficit.
In-form back-rower Dylan Lucas scored next for Newcastle five minutes after the break, leaving the Dolphins 26-6 in arrears and playing catch-up football.
A Katoa try in the 67th minute, when he stepped and dummied his way through the middle of Newcastle’s ruck, narrowed the margin. But the Knights steadied to close out the game.
The match started with an explosive collision when twin brothers Daniel and Jacob Saifiti clashed for the first time in the NRL.
Daniel took the kick-off return for the Dolphins, in his first game against his former club, and Jacob was immediately on the scene to crunch him.
Daniel was also on the receiving end of a 69th-minute shoulder charge that resulted in Knights back-rower Kai Pearce-Paul copping 10 minutes in the sin-bin. Pearce-Paul will be waiting nervously to learn if he is facing a suspension.
While the Knights will be buoyant after their best start to a season since 2022, the Dolphins are 0-2 after opening with a 16-14 loss to South Sydney last week.
After spending the week preparing for the game in Newcastle, having escaped the tropical cyclone Alfred big wet, the Dolphins will no doubt be relieved to get home.
