If the Knights have made the decision to part ways with Adam O’Brien, they need to either lock in current assistant Blake Green his successor — or let the head coach go now and go to market.

My frustrations with Newcastle in recent years has never been with the team or the football department. It’s always been with the decision makers.

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Like O’Brien said himself, the players have not given up, they are still competing, playing for the badge and working hard. It’s honourable.

But you change a club’s recruitment department consistently — with the latest and albeit great recruitment boss being Peter O’Sullivan — and any coach would struggle.

Each brings their own unique spin on what a squad should look like, which leaves a jigsaw that O’Brien has to solve with pieces that simply don’t fit.

It’s also easy to make a definitive call on performances when we look at results from year to year. That one number, where they sit on the ladder, doesn’t take in a myriad of factors.

The Knights have been decimated by injuries, they’ve been front and centre in the headlines, and they’ve lost several tight games.

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Instead, if we look squad to squad, there’s some green shoots. The spine of Kalyn Ponga, Fletcher Sharpe and Dylan Brown is dangerous and many clubs would love to have that trio.

Meanwhile, Newcastle’s backline of Dane Gagai, Dominic Young, Bradman Best and Greg Marzhew is star-studded — when fit and firing.

It’s also one thing signing big-name players, but O’Sullivan has a track record of recruiting underneath and getting bang for buck in his forward pack.

You only need to look as far as the Dolphins for evidence of that.

Without the likes of Tom Gilbert, Tom Flegler, Daniel Saifiti and Max Plath, arguably their most important forwards, they are still delivering.

Kurt Donoghoe is almost undroppable moving forward, while Oryn Keeley, Connelly Lemuelu, Ray Stone, Harrison Graham and Josh Kerr have all been great.

Depth — that’s what O’Sullivan is trying to create at the Knights by signing players like Lachlan Crouch and Peter Hola.

Throw in the mix some promising young guns like Jermaine McEwen and Thomas Cant and there’s a forward pack there that can build on this season.

There’s a lot of positives to take from this side, if you can look ahead and past what has been a disappointing season.

Which leads us to the club’s current predicament.

If the Knights have already made their decision regarding O’Brien, he should barge into the higher-ups’ office and tell them he is leaving now.

There’s no benefit in him seeing out his tenure if that decision has been made.

From here, the Knights’ next move is telling.

If they keep their cards close to their chest and have him see out the year, current assistant Blake Green will be the likely coach in 2026.

Should they be wanting to go to market to find their next head coach, Newcastle need to sack O’Brien now. Sit him down and tell him ‘you’re free to go’.

Newcastle then get the upper hand in the coaching market and can sign who they want, not who is left.

They need time to go through their processes, interview, meet and then decide on who is the next figurehead of a proud rugby league town.

Pressure is on both Todd Payten and Des Hasler, so the Knights will be desperate not to be feeding off their coaching scraps.

That is, unless they already have given Green a tap on the shoulder.

Green has been the club’s attacking coach, which has been the aspect of their game that has struggled in 2025. But that’s not a fair marker of how we can judge him.

He’s working with what he’s got, which isn’t much after a host of injuries. The same could be said for O’Brien.

O’Brien’s departure would also give him a big opportunity to seek out another role at a rival club, potentially becoming an assistant in the NRL.

But amidst all of this, there’s a figure lurking in the background in Isaac Moses.

The infamous player agent manages both O’Brien and Green, so is he aware of what is happening and the decisions being made?

If O’Brien is departing, is Moses already shoring up another gig for his client, behind his back, which then clears the path for Green?

There’s so many moving pieces here, especially when you consider how transparent Moses is being with both of his clients.

I’d go as far to say that level differs depending on which party he’d be speaking to.

As for Ponga, simply put, his announcement was great.

For Knights fans, he has committed, we take him for his word and there’s two more years of one of the NRL’s best players playing for Newcastle.

It also benefits him, positioning him nicely for a move to potentially Perth Bears, PNG or the R360 competition when his current contract runs out.

But equally, he could strike up a fearsome combination with Sharpe and Brown and be desperate to remain at the Knights.

Coming out and making his stance clear was the right move.

WHY A LEOPARD SHOULDN’T CHANGE ITS SPOTS

Should Green get the Knights head coaching job, or anyone else for that matter who has worked their way into a position within the game — please don’t change what got you there.

People in rugby league get their job because of their creativity, or they have a different perspective, or a new brand or style of play.

A point of difference in their respective field.

But I’ve seen it too much of late, that those same people who have worked so hard to get into their new role, quickly change their identity to conform.

They freeze because they don’t want that fresh new job taken away from them. I urge Green, and everyone in the game, to stay true to the reason he has been appointed in the first place.

For example, it’d be a travesty if the Walker brothers, Ben and Shane, landed a head coaching gig and scrapped the short drop-outs and groundbreaking style that put them in the frame.

IS THE NRL GETTING STALE?

While the Knights situation is an interesting one, watching some of the game’s best sides is not.

That’s not a criticism of the likes of the Panthers, Storm, Raiders and Bulldogs. They’ve simply adapted a style of play that delivers consistent results this year.

But it’s boring. Is that what we want the game to look like?

You ask the question to the fans, was anyone happy with the product of Origin this year? The answer is no.

The NRL is losing its flair, it’s sanitised and it’s boring.

Aggression in defence is now penalised, the Bunker slows down a game that has been modified to be sped up and kickers can’t be touched.

So the good teams adapt, they play at such a high speed and benefit from the ball being in play. They drown their opponents.

In turn, they drown the enjoyment out of what could be a thrilling contest. Again, this isn’t a criticism of our competition’s best teams.

From a rugby league purist’s perspective, it’s good to watch. A strategic masterclass, which Penrith have been able to deliver in their last four premierships.

My criticism is aimed at the NRL powerbrokers who have introduced a host of rules that have killed some of the magic that rugby league provides.

What kind of product do we want? I want a fast-paced, entertaining and tough brand of football rid of the excess impact of referees.

But as it stands, rugby league is taking a turn that I believe is wrong.