Nathan Brown knows the expectations placed on Newcastle this season will be greater than at any point since Andrew Johns’ retirement some 12 years ago.
But after three years in charge of the Knights and rebuilding the NRL club from the ground up, he’s confident his players are ready for it.
Despite having not reached the play-offs since 2013, 16 members of Brown’s squad have played finals a combined 96 games between them.
That’s enough to rank them eighth in terms of finals experience, with six of his men having played grand finals and owning five premierships.
“A lot of our recruitment strategy when we started out was bringing people from clubs who had been around winning,” Brown told AAP.
“Because obviously our younger blokes had been around tough times for a while. And in our first couple of years it only got tougher.
“So you get blokes from good clubs who know what winning looks like is important. And from management and good luck we’ve even been able to get a couple of young ones.
“Kalyn (Ponga) was at the Cowboys for a couple of years, Connor (Watson) was at the Roosters … young blokes who have played semi-final football who know what winning looks like for our home grown players.”
With known try-scorers out wide in Jesse Ramien and the returning Tautau Moga, so much of what Newcastle do in 2019 will depend on Ponga’s move to five-eighth.
Arguably their biggest-name player since Johns, his move has the potential to ignite Newcastle with more ball in his hands.
However it comes with several challenges, not the least of which being that he, Watson and Mitchell Pearce played just three games together in the spine last year.
“For us an our club it probably does suit us because Connor’s best position is probably fullback,” Brown said.
“We can make it work either way.
“KP was very happy with the move, and the style of football isn’t going to change. And learning new things for his teammates is a good challenge for him.”
Danny Levi is expected to complete that spine at hooker for the opening four months until Slade Griffin returns from knee surgery, but it’s elsewhere in the pack Newcastle have made the biggest leaps forward.
David Klemmer’s signing is arguably the missing piece of their puzzle, with real size and power up front after he averaged 174 metres a game last year for Canterbury.
James Gavet also offers real size and impact off the bench alongside Herman Ese’Ese, while Tim Glasby is a known winner from the Storm who will tighten the Knights’ defence after they leaked the 11th most tries through the middle last year and had the competition’s second-worst defence overall.
“With Timmy Glasby you get a bloke who understands the basic fundamentals of the game,” Brown said.
“He has played in the past three grand finals.
“He brings a lot more than playing to the club, and the impact he has had on some of younger forwards has been great.”
KNIGHTS
Finishes over the past three seasons: 2018 – 11th, 2017 – 16th, 2016 – 16th
Coach: Nathan Brown
Captains: Mitchell Pearce and Jamie Buhrer
Key gains: James Gavet (Warriors), Tim Glasby (Storm), David Klemmer (Bulldogs), Jesse Ramien (Sharks), Edrick Lee (Sharks), Kurt Mann (Dragons).
Key losses: Chris Heighington, Jacob Lillyman (retired).
Best team: 1. Connor Watson, 2. Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 3. Jesse Ramien, 4. Tautau Moga, 5. Edrick Lee, 6. Kalyn Ponga, 7. Mitchell Pearce, 8. David Klemmer, 9. Slade Griffin, 10. Tim Glasby, 11. Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 12 Aidan Guerra, 13. Mitchell Barnett, 14. Kurt Mann, 15. Daniel Saifiti, 16. Herman Ese’Ese, 17 James Gavet.
Predicted finish: 5th