The Knights took me inside their rebuild. This is exactly what my club needs

Newcastle have lost their past seven games, by a combined margin of 157 points.

Their defence, the biggest calling card of the Adam O’Brien era, has leaked 250 points in those seven games. Unfortunately for Adam, it’s time to go.

Considering the Knights’ instability in the front office, the shortfalls in the roster and some of the club’s recruitment moves, I think he’s done a really good job.

Newcastle have been so reliant on Kalyn Ponga, and like a lot of clubs with one superstar in a key position, that has impacted their ability to recruit and build in other parts of their squad.

This season they’ve really struggled as injuries have hit hard – most notably to Kalyn and Fletcher Sharpe.

O’Brien has taken the Knights to four finals appearances in six seasons and will finish as the second-longest serving coach in Newcastle’s history behind Michael Hagan.

But injuries this year, and a lack of depth for so much of his tenure, have cost him in the end.

No more ‘purgatory’ signings

The first thing for Newcastle’s new coach is to fix up the club’s roster balance and recruitment.

The club has a habit of signing players on the fringe of first grade, who are a little above reserve-grade standard. I call them players in purgatory, meaning they are too good for reserve grade or NSW Cup, but not consistently good enough to play in the NRL.

These players are a critical part of any NRL club – they build out your roster, and everyone starts somewhere. But they should be local players who have come through your junior system. A good club doesn’t have to go out and recruit them.

Coalfields to the coast: Building from within

I’ve been vocal about Newcastle sorting out their junior pathways for a long time now and a few weeks ago I went and met with incoming chief executive Peter Parr and Chris James, the new general manager of football operations.

They talked me through the big changes the Knights are looking to implement in terms of capitalising on the talent that has been neglected for far too long. They’re talking about youth academies in the Hunter Valley and up on the Mid North Coast.

The focus will be on the Hunter Valley, north to Tamworth, across to Coffs Harbour on the coast, and then the biggest catchments, Newcastle itself and the Coalfields, where I’m from.

Getting the right coaches into the right positions in the juniors is the key to all of this, and encouraging Newcastle’s principles and style of play through every level – as the Penrith have done so well in western Sydney.

It doesn’t happen overnight. But it’s how a good club is built.

Sixes and sevens: what style best suits this spine?

And at the top level, I honestly don’t know who best suits the NRL coaching job.

I’ve spent plenty of time thinking about it, and I’m still not sure. Whether it’s a young coach with new ideas, or an old coach who has done the job before, I just don’t know.

This Knights side is such a tough one to work out. But what I do know is that taking charge at Newcastle is a massive challenge. Maybe the biggest challenge in the game right now.

Coaches always come under pressure – that’s just part of the NRL – but in a rugby league-mad town like Newcastle, that pressure is amplified like nothing else.

Whoever takes on the role has to understand that.

And the final priority has to be establishing loud and clear – exactly how this Knights side is going to play.

It has to be a game style that suits and accentuates the skills of Kalyn Ponga, Dylan Brown and Fletcher Sharpe – because they are your best players and take up so much of the salary cap.

The question mark still remains though – who plays dummy half in that spine? Phoenix Crossland is being transitioned into a ball-playing lock and Sandon Smith is on their radar, but they’re not the only club chasing him.

Then you have to work out the halfback and five-eighth roles between Brown and Sharpe. Whoever steps in as the Knights coach, the very first day on the job, you lock that in. You get everyone on the same page, playing the same style, and you spend the off-season sticking to it. Because Newcastle have spent the past two years chopping and changing their halves, and it’s only got them going backwards.

The premiership power rankings

At the other end of the table, I’ve got two sides as clear front-runners for this year’s grand final, and the rest playing catch up in my premiership power rankings.

Storm

Melbourne are my No.1 one premiership contender – we just need to see a full 80-minute performance from them. There are still question marks around Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s discipline and whether Craig Bellamy can trust him, and Jahrome Hughes’ shoulder, too. But if the Storm are fit, they win.

Raiders
A very dangerous footy team, absolutely flying with their unorthodox style of play and offloads from Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine. Ethan Strange and Kaeo Weekes thrive off the back of them, and they’re playing without fear or fear of making an error. I think we’re in for a Storm-Raiders grand final.

Bulldogs
They don’t have the X-factor or match-winning player yet, for mine. I look at Melbourne with Cameron Munster, Harry Grant and co and see another gear in them. I don’t see that with Canterbury. They’re a tough, hardworking, honest team, and they’re so fit and fast defensively. I see a premiership in them in the next two or three years, but not this year.

Warriors
I can’t see them winning a competition this year without Luke Metcalf or Mitchell Barnett. They’re a much more dangerous side with Wayde Egan at dummy half, and on their day they can trouble anyone, but I can’t see them winning the title.

Broncos
Same as the Warriors, injuries have hit at the wrong time. Adam Reynolds’ hamstring is a big worry and Ezra Mam is a huge loss for the year given the brilliance he brings to their attack. They’ve got to improve so much to beat Melbourne or Canberra.

Panthers
Penrith have played a lot of hard, physical footy, not just in the past few weeks but for the past five years. They’ve played so many finals, so much representative footy, so to be resting all their players this week, it’s a really smart move for mine.

I don’t think they can win this year. No team has won from outside the top four in the NRL era for a reason, because it takes a superhuman effort. But if any team can, it’s Penrith.

Sharks
It’s the same question mark over them as the past couple of years: can they win multiple big games in a row? I don’t see it.

Roosters, Dolphins and Sea Eagles
Sorry, no chance.

NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now