Barrett was ushered out the back door at Belmore after a forlorn 34-game tenure that produced just five wins.

Given his stints with Manly and Canterbury have both ended in similar fashion, the consensus of opinion appears to be that Barrett will struggle to find another job in the NRL.

And if that proves to be the case, it highlights the longevity of Brown, Barrett's former teammate and coach at St George Illawarra.

While Barrett's winning strike rate at the Bulldogs (14.7 per cent) left him without a leg to stand on, it should perhaps be noted that Brown's record in his first 34 games in charge of the Knights was even worse.

In that time, Newcastle delivered only three wins and a draw and endured a club-record 19-game losing streak, followed almost immediately by a further seven successive defeats.

Yet Brown not only saw it to the end of his initial three-year deal, he earned an extension and was deep into his fourth campaign before the gravy train ground to a halt.

In all, he coached Newcastle for 94 games - more than anyone except premiership winners Michael Hagan and Mal Reilly - for 24 wins at a success rate of 25.5 per cent.

In fairness to Brown, it can be argued that the Knights improved, season by season, on his watch. That was perhaps inevitable, given that the starting point was the single, solitary win they secured in 2016, his first year at the helm.

In 2017 they won four games, in 2018 they won nine, then in 2019 they had nine victories under Brown and grabbed a 10th under his stopgap replacement, Kristian Woolf, who assumed the hot seat for the final two games after Brown's departure.

Improvement, of course, would appear the only logical option when you're starting from rock bottom.

It was certainly enough for Brown to earn a reputation as a man capable of "rebuilding" a club, even though some might suggest his modus operandi was as basic as cleaning out the roster and paying whatever was required for replacements he believed could do a better job.

Barrett adopted a similar strategy at Canterbury, who finished last in his first year (after running 12th, 12th and 15th in the previous three seasons), before a spending spree that attracted new recruits including Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Burton, Tevita Pangai Jnr, Matt Dufty, Paul Vaughan and Brent Naden.

Despite the influx of imports, the Bulldogs continued to flatline. Unfortunately for Barrett, he was not afforded the same unprecedented leeway Brown received in Newcastle.

Brown, meanwhile, spent only a season on the sidelines before securing a three-year deal with the Warriors, whom he has steered to 12 wins from 34 games thus far (35.3 per cent).

As was the case when he was at the Knights, Brown has largely been given the benefit of the doubt for circumstances outside of his control.

At Newcastle, the club was under interim ownership of the NRL and in a state of flux after the demise of Nathan Tinkler.

The Warriors have spent the past three seasons as nomads because of COVID.

Nonetheless, there were no such excuses during Brown's six seasons in charge of the Dragons.

The Dragons had a strong roster that at one point included eight Australian internationals, and while Brown steered them into the play-offs in four of his six seasons, it wasn't until after he was replaced by Wayne Bennett that they were able to win a premiership.

Whether or not Brown is a good coach, I honestly can't say. The point I'm trying to make is that he is now in his 12th NRL season, boasts a 41.6 per cent success rate after 279 games, and is yet to take a team to a grand final - although he did win a Super League title with St Helens.

I can't think of many coaches who have lasted so long in such a cut-throat industry with such an underwhelming record.

His successor, Adam O'Brien, can only hope he engenders similarly staunch support from Newcastle's management.

Under O'Brien, the Knights have twice qualified seventh in the finals, before sliding to 15th this season after losing eight of their past nine games.

Unlike Brown, O'Brien can't really point to statistics to illustrate the progress his team is making.

The Knights' winning percentage, points scored and points conceded have all deteriorated since O'Brien's first season at the helm.

This year Newcastle have been cruelled by injuries, but by the same token, they were close to full strength against Brisbane (minus Adam Reynolds) on Thursday and were still outgunned 36-12, albeit after some costly video-refereeing calls.

With 13 games to play, Newcastle will probably need nine more wins to have any hope of reaching the play-offs. It's not impossible, but only the ultimate diehards will give them anything more than Buckley's chance.

The next step towards that unlikely goal will be against Brown's Warriors in Redcliffe next Saturday.

Knights CEO Philip Gardner told the Newcastle Herald recently that O'Brien was "under no pressure whatsoever", but if the losses continue to mount, who knows what might transpire?

All that can be said for sure is not every coach is as blessed as Nathan Brown.

Just ask Trent Barrett.