Newcastle manager Adam O’Brien has launched an impassioned defense of his coaching credentials after the Knights slumped to their eighth home defeat in nine games against the Bulldogs.
The 24-10 defeat ensured the Knights still had the worst defensive record in the NRL after 20 rounds, but O’Brien used his history with grand final sides in the Storm and Roosters as proof he knows how to change things
“It’s hard for me, too,” O’Brien said.
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“Before I got this job here I took part in four grand finals.
“I know how these teams prepared. I know the systems they used defensively.
“You don’t unlearn this knowledge. Applying it and fixing it will clearly take time.
“We can talk about one area of that defense week in and week out and we can fix it in seven days, but then we’re going to drop another area of our defense.
“It’s going to take some time and I know some people don’t want to wait that long, but it is.”
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Adam O’Brien, coach of the Newcastle Knights. Source: FOX SPORTS
O’Brien believes if the Knights had reached the finals this season they would have papered over the cracks of a deeper problem within the team.
“I’ve seen how teams prepare in these four grand finals,” O’Brien said.
“How the players acted. How the club prepares. How it works.
“I’ve seen all that stuff and I haven’t unlearned it, but it’s going to take a while.
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“We have the right people on the job. We just have to have a plan and we have to coach it and we hope to look back on this season as a year that helped us grow.
“If we had made it to the final this year, we would have been stuck with a problem that is still there.
“We have to hold on and work our way out.”