Newcastle-bound Brown gifts Knights NRL wooden spoon
George Clarke |
Outgoing Parramatta five-eighth Dylan Brown gained a first-hand glimpse of the mess he’ll be paid $14 million to fix after he helped condemn future employers Newcastle to the wooden spoon in a 66-10 humiliation.
In his 142nd and final Eels game before moving to Newcastle on a 10-year deal that is the richest in NRL history, Brown scored the opening try as Parra embarrassed the Knights.
Newcastle, in coach Adam O’Brien’s last game at the helm, struggled to match the intensity of the Eels, who raced to a 34-4 halftime lead at CommBank Stadium and never looked back.
O’Brien announced late last month he would leave his contract two years ahead of its expiry, but Sunday’s performance proved simply changing the coach will not fix the Knights’ issues.
“That was a tough one to watch, I can’t stick a ribbon on that, the people of our town they don’t put up with that bullshit,” a frustrated O’Brien said.
“Parramatta were good from the first ruck and we were way off.
“The pain and disappointment will ease for these boys, and there are greener shoots, better days ahead, but right now, I can’t lie, I’m bitterly disappointed.”
Newcastle finished with 58 missed tackles, lacked power up the middle and had no answer to an Eels side that was more than happy to throw the ball around.
After Brown’s second minute opener, Mitchell Moses bagged a first-half hat-trick and was followed over the line by Matt Doorey and hooker Ryley Smith.
Newcastle’s only first-half try came when Jermaine McEwen dived on a grubber kick to the in-goal.
But things grow only worse for Newcastle as halfback Jack Cogger and fullback Fletcher Hunt went off in the first half and did not return after failing head injury assessments.
Halftime was only a pause in the onslaught as the free-flowing Eels continued to run amok against a makeshift Knights side.
Parramatta began the second half with a bang, cruising over for three tries in the first 10 minutes courtesy of Junior Paulo and a Josh Addo-Carr double.
Winger Greg Marzhew briefly stemmed the bleeding for the Knights with a well-taken try in the left corner but it was a mere consolation as Newcastle finished the season with their first wooden spoon since 2017.
Addo-Carr completed his hat-trick, with Tallyn Da Silva and Will Penisini crashing over in the final 10 minutes to condemn the Knights to the third-largest defeat in their history and bring the curtain down on Brown’s Eels career.
Parramatta finished Jason Ryles’ first season 11th on the ladder with 10 wins, putting together an encouraging run of form to finish the year strongly.
“It was 46-6 at halftime (in round one) away to Melbourne, it was something I won’t forget until the day I die,” Ryles.
“If you’d said I’d get 10 wins … I’d agree with you.
“For me, we’re on a journey and this is to be continued, we need to get back in good shape so we can give ourselves a chance to get better.”
AAP
