Triple premiership winner Luke Keary has declared former teammate Sandon Smith is “the only option” to play halfback for Newcastle alongside fell recruit Dylan Brown.
After a few seasons of chopping and changing in the halves, new coach Justin Holbrook has to live by the nonsensical meme and stick with his six and seven, with the added bonus of having worked with Smith as the Roosters’ attack coach.
With Jack Cogger gone and uncertainty around where Fletcher Sharpe will play in 2026, Smith and Brown loom as the most obvious pairing for a team that had the worst attack last year.
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Smith played exclusively at five-eighth for the Roosters in 2025 but has played plenty of games in the No. 7 jersey, while Brown is fresh off an incredible Pacific Championships campaign where he starred in every game for New Zealand.
Sharpe is the other option following his successful stint in the halves last year before he suffered a gruesome season-ending injury, but he might have to shift to the wing as Holbrook searches for his most potent combination.
“He (Smith) will be their seven,” Keary said on the Kayo Sports NRL podcast, with suggestions he could play dummy-half in 2026.
“You look through their roster, and in my eyes, he’s the only option.
“We saw Dylan Brown with Kieran (veteran playmaker Kieran Foran) in the Pacific Champs, and he’s one of the best sixes in the comp (who) probably should have won the Golden Boot at the end of the year.
“Sandon is an out and out seven, and I think it’s perfect for them. Sandon comes after a bit of a tough year, but I thought he showed some really good signs.
“He now gets to play beside a guy on (more than) $10m who everyone is going to be talking about. He can just go and do his job.
“He’ll get the team around, he likes to play up in front of shape, he’ll have his hands on the ball and he’ll kick them into really good spots.
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“On the other side, Dylan doesn’t have the weight of the seven (on his back), he doesn’t have Andrew Johns’ jersey. He still has the price tag … but he’ll get to play exactly the same as he did at Parramatta when he was in form.
“I think it works perfectly for them and takes the pressure off them. The only question is the Fletcher Sharpe situation and where he plays, because the talent is there and he has to play. It’s where Justin fits him into this puzzle.”
There had been calls for Brown to play halfback after he signed the richest deal in rugby league history to leave the Eels, but Keary doesn’t want to see the five-eighth burdened with more pressure than necessary.
Brown spent time at halfback while Parramatta star Mitch Moses was out injured, but it took away from his strengths.
It’s why Keary wants to see him given the freedom of playing in his preferred position on the left after an incredible campaign for the Kiwis that had him fall agonisingly short of the Golden Boot Award as the best international player of 2025.
“Every time (Moses got hurt) Dylan had to move to seven,” Keary said.
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“We played them a heap of times when he moved from the left to the right to play seven. I had to do it a few times in my career and it’s an uncomfortable feeling for a natural five-eighth who plays a similar style (to what I did) to then move over and control the team.
“You lose your eyes and it’s an uncomfortable feeling. I know exactly how he felt, and I know he would have felt so free during the Pacific Championships to have Kieran up in front playing on the ball.
“He was the second half (for New Zealand) and he’s going to be the second half on a lot of money, but he’s probably going to have the most impact out of all of them.”
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