nib Newcastle Knights coach Nathan Brown spoke to the media at the launch of the 2017 Voice for Mining Family Day.
In the Club's fifth year partnering with NSW mining he said mining continues to be a big part of the Hunter community.
“I wasn’t aware until I moved to Newcastle how big mining was and how big it’s part is, in the community,” Brown added.
“The Knights are probably a community club more than any other club in the NRL so the community needs the mines and the team certainly needs the town, so they all work hand in hand.”
Despite being a battle to get off the bottom of the ladder against the Wests Tigers on Sunday, Brown knows it’s a very important game to win.
“We have picked up the last two spoons and the Tigers have never had one so it is very important for us to do well,” Brown stated.
“If we can keep coming to training and working hard and find some small improvements not only as individuals but as a group, I’m sure some wins will come.
“We have lost so many games by a fine margin and when we put ourselves in a decent position, luck will come our way and we’ll improve in some areas.”
At this stage in the season he’s certain his players know it’s not just about competing.
“They no longer feel satisfied with just competing, they want to win and I think that will help us push forward a bit,” commented Brown.
Brown believes the Club’s new signing will help in their pursuit of more wins this season once he’s recovered from a hamstring injury.
“Shaun Kenny-Dowall has been training by himself, he has a slight hamstring injury so I’m not sure if he will be available for selection next week or the week after,” Brown explained.
“Any player that comes into our squad with a wealth of experience, they bring a lot to the table straight away.
“We wouldn’t have wanted to bring him in if he wasn’t going to contribute in that area.
“We had a video session with him yesterday and he spoke up straight away... we have Jamie (Buhrer) and Rory (Kostjasyn) contributing a lot there and now Shaun can do the same.”
The Knights coach admits there’s also a lot of things happening in the background to recruit players next year.
“A lot of positive things and there will be big changes in our squad next year with a fair bit of quality added,” he said.
“The team will take a fairly significant change but there’s still a lot of work to go yet.”
