Knights’ coach Adam O’Brien has opened up on the signing of Dylan Brown — and apologised for the way he handled a press conference 24 hours earlier.
O’Brien, along with Kalyn Ponga, also hit back at rumours the star fullback is not happy at the Knights.
The pair fronted the media after the Knights’ 26-12 win over the Dolphins in which Ponga starred with three try assists, four linebreak assists and 100 running metres.
Watch your team in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership. Stream every round LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play, on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
After reflecting on the game the line of questioning turned to Brown, who has signed 10-year deal said to be around $13 million — which would make it the richest deal in NRL history.
Naturally there was a lot of curiosity around the deal when O’Brien did his press conference at captain’s run on Wednesday but the coach shut down any attempt to talk about the Eels five-eighth.
O’Brien revealed on Thursday night that the NRL’s 10-day cooling off period played a role in that, as well as his conscious effort not to cause a distraction ahead of the Dolphins game — particularly for his current halves Fletcher Sharpe and Jack Cogger.
Woolf disappointed with winless start | 03:58
“That’s what the whole thing was about. (I was) copping a little bit for not talking about Dylan Brown but my number one job yesterday was to not talk about next year when these guys are 24 hours out from playing,” O’Brien said.
“I apologise if the media felt disrespected. I don’t want to make your job harder, I know it is your job to report on news and it is newsworthy — I get it.
“But what might’ve come across as being disrespectful was coming from a place of respect. I was respecting the process of a 10-day cooling off period, I was respecting Parramatta. The last thing Parramatta want me doing during that period is talk about how we’re going to play their player.
“There’ll be a point in time where we’ll need to talk about Dylan but yesterday wasn’t that.
“I know the red and blue army were mentioned (on Wednesday)… I know them pretty well, they’d be really disappointed if I was talking about next year when we had a game tonight.
“They’ve been through all that stuff before, they don’t want to hear about rebuilds and all of that stuff. They want to win now and so do we and I want to make sure we’re doing our best to do that.
“That’s the reason for not commenting yesterday. I probably didn’t handle it well by straight-batting it and I apologise for that but I don’t apologise for shifting focus on what was the most important thing for us — tonight.
“We met with Dylan, he knows how I feel about him and he’s got a good understanding of how we’ll play him. But his priority is Parramatta right now and ours is that current group that are in there now.”
MORE NRL NEWS
MCKINNON: NRL must act to stop multi-millionaire madness; Hynes’ halves days over
DAILY: Roosters urged to give Radley month off; Sharks’ crazy 40,000km schedule
WHISPERS: Souths target Dragons flyer amid crisis in move too fast-track Tigers’ switch
WAR CHEST: Knights’ gain could prove Tigers’ pain with Luai linked to Eels
Although the Knights are yet to officially announce the deal, Brown confirmed in a press conference earlier this week that the deal is indeed for 10 years — and for “a lot of money.”
The contract has sparked a lot of opinions with many questioning the length and price. When asked if he finds the commentary disappointing, O’Brien said: “I imagine it would be (disappointing) for Dylan…”
“At the end of the day we’re happy with our purchase and it’s up to me to make sure that we get this right,” he added.
“It won’t be up to Dylan, it won’t be up to Kalyn. He needed some help and we’ve got an obligation to if a player of his expertise comes on the market and we’re in a situation where we can get him then so we should because that’s what this town deserves.”
Ponga was asked about how excited it is that the club landed Brown but he wasn’t keen on going there.
“I thought we played well tonight,” he said before laughing and saying “everyone’s talking about… it’s pretty crazy.”
Kai Pearce-Paul binned after Saifiti hit | 00:33
Ponga did end up touching on the 2026 recruit though.
“I’m excited for him, I’m excited for the club but putting energy towards it isn’t going to help us win next week or recover well tonight,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to him but he’s got a job to do and we’ve got a job to do — it’s 12 months away.”
O’Brien then took the opportunity to hose down the rumours suggesting Ponga isn’t happy at the club.
“The hardest thing for Kalyn is the constant speculation that he’s not happy here. His performances aren’t showing that whatsoever,” he said.
A Journalist asked Ponga if he’s settled, to which he hit back with: “How did I play? How did I look out there? I look happy don’t I?”
“It’s all part of the game, I understand it,” he added.
“It’s been a big part of my career but it’s not something I worry about, it’s not going to make me a better player.”
Discussion about this post