How Adam O'Brien came of age as Newcastle Knights coach

It might be a cliche, but it's hard to argue with the logic. And going by that time-honoured rationale, Adam O'Brien's tenure as Knights coach should continue for a good while yet.

During a season in which he has been forced to deal with personal heartache and intense pressure, O'Brien has kept his cool and come of age as a coach, and he has now largely rebuilt the team he inherited from Nathan Brown at the end of 2019 and reshaped it in his own image.

Before a ball had been kicked or a tackle made in this campaign, O'Brien's position was under scrutiny after Newcastle's disappointing 14th-placed finish last year.

There was speculation that if he did not deliver early results, he might not see out the season.

But his own future was the least of O'Brien's concerns. His mother, Maree, was battling cancer, and he spent many weeks travelling between training sessions and her bed in Royal North Shore Hospital, before she passed away in April.

"It was a tough period of my life," he told the Newcastle Herald.

"But I think Mum probably helped me with that.

"She understood that the boys needed me, and I need the boys.

"I didn't share a lot with the playing group. I didn't think that was fair on them.

"Especially with the younger ones.

"The older guys probably knew that there stuff going on, but this was the place that I could come and park stuff for a while and come in and do my job every day."

O'Brien was soon reminded of the cut-throat realities of coaching in the NRL when Justin Holbrook (Gold Coast) and Anthony Griffin (St George Illawarra) were sacked within days of each other mid-season.

The general consensus was that if Newcastle's results didn't improve, O'Brien's head would be next to roll.

As he said at the time: "We're getting to the point where, let's be honest, we need to win footy games.

"I understand that usually if you're not in the top eight, then it's hunting season for you.

"I've probably been separated from the herd a little bit more now.

"I get that there's a target on me but sitting around worrying about it all day is not going to help the footy team. It won't help the players."

Now, after a remarkable mid-season turnaround that has delivered a record-equalling nine consecutive wins, fifth position and a home final against Canberra, it no longer of a question of whether the Knights will extend his deal, but for how much longer they will re-sign him.

"People were probably looking at our results and the ladder and thinking we weren't travelling well, even though I was confident we were," O'Brien said.

"But it's a results-driven business ... first and foremost, I want to ride with this team as far as we can this year, and after that I'm taking my wife on a well-earned break.

"We've still got some stuff to do regarding Mum, and once we've done that, I'll sit down with the boss and see what he wants to do."

With the benefit of hindsight, O'Brien accepts that the harsh lessons of last season have been a blessing in disguise.

After serving his apprenticeship at both Melbourne and the Roosters, then reaching the finals in his first two seasons at Newcastle, it was his first real experience of frustration and failure.

"Let's be honest," he said.

"It was a hard season to go through last year, and I knew there were adjustments we had to make.

"In hindsight, I probably look back on last year not as a year we needed to have, but certainly we've got something out of what we went through.

"When I came here, success was never going to happen overnight.

"We made finals in the first couple of years but obviously last year we dipped.

"We're back there now and I'm pretty proud that in in three of my four seasons here, we've competed in the finals."

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