Johns: The left-field option the Knights should consider for coach

Matty Johns believes that the Newcastle Knights need to ensure that they complete an extensive search to replace coach Adam O’Brien for the 2026 season.

On Thursday morning, the Knights and O’Brien mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the 2025 season.

O’Brien has coached the side since 2020, having taken them to finals in four of those seasons.

During that time, he was only able to take them beyond the first week of finals once and following a dismal year this season, which sees them sit 16th on the ladder, O’Brien no longer wanted to be a distraction.

Johns was asked on SEN 1170's The Run Home about who he believes will inherit O’Brien’s position at Newcastle.

His belief is that they need to interview far and wide for their next coach and shouldn’t necessarily pick one of their assistants without proper due diligence.

“They cannot just hand the job to somebody,” he elaborated.

“You get rare coaches that come along, but they’re not available.

“But I think the candidates here, there was talk that Blake Green is the frontrunner and that at one point, they were saying that it’s his job. That’s crazy.

“You just don’t hand someone who is inexperienced like Blake without having gone through a whole interview and sitting down with other guys and examining what they can do.

“And with Blake’s situation, he was the attack coach.

“They’re looking at having the worst attack since 1998.”

This, in Johns' opinion should see the Knights consider looking at a left field option.

“A bloke that never ever gets spoken about and I’m not saying he is the right man for the job here…but John Strange has coached the Roosters’ NRLW (side),” he said.

“I’ve said to people before that if I was at a club, when I’m looking to have some sort of coach, whether it’s a right-hand man to someone, mate, I honestly hear that many good things about him.

“Tactically, he is very good, and regardless of whether it's NRLW or NRL, it’s coaching.

“The principles are all the same.”   

But at this stage, Johns feels the two best candidates would be Willie Peters and Justin Holbrook.

"They would be the two I put the circle around and would think from my angle would be the favourites." 

O’Brien will coach out the remainder of the year. Their next match is against Cronulla this Sunday at Sharks Stadium.