Sporting Declaration: Garth Brennan will not be easily replaced as Newcastle Knights pathways manager

I liked Garth from the first time I crossed paths with him, more than a decade ago, but what I liked even more was his story.

Brenno was a good, honest footballer but no superstar. Good enough to play lower grades for the Knights and to make hundreds of appearance in the Newcastle Rugby League, winning first-grade premierships with Wests and Waratah-Mayfield.

But not quite good enough to take the step up to NRL level, at least not for his home-town team.

That didn't stop him loving the Knights and wanting to become involved, and when an opportunity arose as an assistant coach of their Harold Matthews (under-16) team, he jumped at it.

He rose up through the ranks from under-16s to under-18s and was eventually offered the reins of Newcastle's National Youth Competition (under-20) team, as well as an assistant's position on Rick Stone's coaching staff.

This required a full-time commitment, so Brennan had a big decision to make, given he was also forging a successful career as a police prosecutor.

He chose the fickle, ruthless industry of professional rugby league ahead of a guaranteed, long-term future in the force.

A couple of years down the track, he could have been forgiven for regretting that decision after learning he would not be retained by incoming head coach Wayne Bennett, despite becoming the first man to steer the Knights into the NYC play-offs. (A feat, incidentally, that was beyond even the great Trent Robinson).

Garth's disappointment did not last long.

He was soon contacted by Penrith football manager Phil Gould, who threw him a lifeline and offered him a chance to coach Penrith's under-20s.

Rather than relocate his young family, Brennan spent the next six seasons commuting between his home in Stockton and the foot of the Blue Mountains.

In that time he won an NYC coach of the year award, an under-20s title, two reserve-grade premierships and an NRL State Championship, when his Panthers beat the Queensland Cup champions, PNG Hunters.

Along the way, Bennett left the Knights when the gravy train crashed and then Stone, in his second incarnation as Newcastle coach, was sacked.

At the time, I wrote columns backing Brennan to succeed Stone, but instead the club went for a more experienced option in Nathan Brown. I still reckon Garth would have been a great choice, and if he was given as much leeway as Brown to rebuild the joint from the ground up, who knows what he could have achieved.

Instead he landed his first head-coaching role at Gold Coast Titans, who, like the Giants, Seagulls and Chargers before them, had a reputation suggesting only the bravest of men would dare occupy their hot seat.

Sure enough, a season-and-a-half later, Brennan had joined the long list to have been chewed up and spat out after a stint on the Glitter Strip.

He returned to his home town, consoled by the knowledge that he is one of only a handful of Novocastrians in history to have coached at the highest level, and kicked off a new career in real estate.

And he would have been happy enough to continue in that game until he fielded a call last September from Knights CEO Phil Gardner, who proceeded to offer him the position of Newcastle's pathways manager.

I remember texting Garth, congratulating him on his appointment, and telling him he'd be a perfect fit for the job. I couldn't think of anyone who would be better qualified.

Not only had he coached at every level from juniors up to the NRL - helping bring through players like Boyd Cordner, Isaah Yeo, Regan Campbell-Gillard, Waqa Blake, James Roberts, Dallin Watene-Zalezniak, Moeaki Fotuaika and AJ Brimson in the process - but he knows the lie of the land around the Newcastle RL as well as anyone.

So it was with surprise, and disappointment, that I learned last week Brennan and the Knights had parted company, after a union of only nine months.

Brenno was diplomatic, explaining that he and others inside the club were not "on the same page" and perhaps the best outcome was for him to move on. The recent death of his father also prompted him to reassess his priorities in life.

I'm not privy to what went on behind the scenes, but what I can say with confidence is that it's a shame.

For mine, if the Knights are ever going to return to the glory days that delivered premierships in 1997 and 2001, then junior development has to be an absolute priority.

Some clubs, such as the Roosters in recent times and Cronulla, back in 2016, are able to build empires with strategic recruitment.

Others, as Penrith and now North Queensland are showing, base their success around home-grown talent.

I have no doubt which model suits Newcastle better.

Other than the head coach, the pathways manager is, in my opinion, perhaps the most important person in the whole organisation.

I assume the Knights will conduct appropriate due diligence before settling on a replacement for Brennan. Whoever they choose, he will have big shoes to fill.