He's promised the world but delivered an atlas.
- PETER PETERS
VETERAN media pundit Peter Peters has highlighted the scrutiny Adam O'Brien is facing this season by declaring the Newcastle Knights coach will be lucky to retain his job if his team don't reach the finals.
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Speaking yesterday on his weekly Big Sports Breakfast radio segment, the long-time commentator and former Rugby League Week editor was asked which coaches he felt were under the most pressure heading into 2023.
The first name he mentioned was O'Brien, now preparing for his fourth campaign as Newcastle's head tactician.
Peters acknowledged that O'Brien steered Newcastle into the finals in his first two seasons at the helm but described last year, when they won only six games and finished 14th, as "a disaster".
He said Knights fans were traditionally "forgiving" but anything less than a play-off berth would leave O'Brien vulnerable.
In perhaps his most damning statement, the Manly stalwart - who has rarely had a good word to say about Newcastle - said O'Brien had "promised the world but delivered an atlas".
The other coach Peters believes is on thin ice is Anthony Griffin, under whom St George Illawarra have finished 11th and 10th in the past two seasons.
Four NRL head coaches - Nathan Brown (Warriors), Michael Maguire (Wests Tigers), Trent Barrett (Canterbury) and Des Hasler (Manly) - were sacked or resigned last year.
O'Brien is under contract to the Knights until the end of 2024 and club management continued to publicly back him last year, despite the dramatic decline in his team's performance.
After 70 games in the hot seat, O'Brien has won 29 (41.4 per cent).
His predecessor, Brown (25.5 per cent), is the only long-term Newcastle coach with a lower strike rate.
In saying that, O'Brien, Warren Ryan and Michael Hagan are the only Knights coaches to have qualified for the play-offs in their first two seasons.
Meanwhile, Knights director of football Peter Parr expects to resume negotiations with Dominic Young's agent this week.
The towering winger is back into pre-season training after returning from representing England at the recent World Cup.
The 21-year-old is reportedly one of the most sought-after free agents in the game, but Parr was confident of keeping him at the Knights, who first identified the flyer when he was an unknown who had played only two Super League games for Huddersfield.
"We're looking to progress our talks around Dom," Parr said.
"We know there's some interest around him but that's the nature of the game. We'll be doing everything we can to keep him at the club."
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