Newly appointed Newcastle Knights’ head coach Nathan Brown addressed the media at Hunter Stadium following the official announcement he would be at the helm of the Club for the next three years.
From his initial appraisal, one of the Club’s significant strengths is the support the team has in the wider community.
“The local area is your key to your success,” Brown said.
“The town itself is obviously a rugby league town which is great.
“It’s a place where the town and the team need each other."
Two areas of Brown’s main focus as he settles into the new role are developing young players and drawing on talent from the local area.
“There’s a huge junior base across the North Coast and the Hunter Valley," Brown added.
“The big key is to build from the bottom up and introduce some good young players.
“Hopefully over three years time we gain some consistency and have got a squad that’s consistent and a good young squad that’s built up with a good portion of local players and also some people from outside."
Brown, who will relocate to Newcastle with his family, believes his extensive experience as a head coach and his ability to bring the best out of developing players are some of the strengths he will bring to the role.
“I’d like to think it’s my experience. I’ve worked at three different clubs and every club I’ve worked at I’ve introduced young players,” he said.
Brown says he will review the playing roster in order to make decisions on a plan moving into 2016.
“The key for us is to look at our strengths and not worry so much about what’s happening at the other Clubs,” he said.
“Once we work out what roster we have we’ll know what our strengths are.
“There are some good young kids there that probably have to play a lot more footy to gain their experience.
“Over time we will evolve into a style of footy that best suits the personnel we have.
“There’s some good young talented players who have started to play first grade and that gives you scope to start to build the team around.
“Then there’s experienced players there who are sort of middle aged who can offer a lot."
Brown acknowledged the season hadn’t been ideal for the Club but believes the challenges can be overcome.
“Different Clubs at different stages have different challenges,” he said.
“We want a team that the town’s happy that they are competing hard.
“You’re not going to win all the time but you can certainly put in a good effort.”
It was also announced on Wednesday Danny Buderus will continue his involvement with the Knights.
“Whatever Danny wants to do, I’m sure he’ll contribute very well,” he said.
“He’s a local legend and a local player who actually wore the jumper with pride on all occasions."
Brown hopes the players will continue to draw inspiration and passion from the celebrated NRL great.
“That’s probably a key for a lot of the young players coming through now to understand the players from 10-12 years ago and what Newcastle meant to them,” he concluded.
