Under-fire Knights CEO Phil Gardner has defended his handling of Nathan Brown's damaging departure from the club, claiming he had been "blindsided" by the coach's decision last week to fall on his own sword.
After a tumultuous week for the Knights, Brown's four-year stint as coach officially came to an end yesterday when he and the club decided to part ways with two games left in the season.
The side's embarrassing 46-4 loss to Wests Tigers on Saturday night had left Brown's position untenable.
But after initially rejecting his offer to walk away on Sunday, Gardner had a change of heart on Monday night after another discussion with his coach and the pair finally agreed it was in the best interests of the club if he left immediately.
Assistant coach Kristian Woolf, set to be appointed coach of English Super League club St Helens, has assumed control of the side in an interim capacity for the final two games.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Newcastle Herald [on page 38], Gardner claimed Brown's sudden decision last week to walk away from the job had "blindsided" him.
Gardner also denies the club is responsible for undermining Brown's position over the past two months and claims player list manager Troy Pezet had not secretly met with Sydney Roosters assistant coach Adam O'Brien, who is certain to be appointed as Brown's replacement.
"I've seen a lot of things reported in the media in the last week or so and very little of it is true," Gardner said.
"There is a whole player manager feud going on out there and they are the ones fueling the media. If they [the media] are taking their information from player managers, it's a fair bet most is not accurate."
Gardner also addresses speculation over the future of star fullback Kalyn Ponga and admits the new Knights coach won't be signed to an open-ended deal like the one Brown was contracted to.
Meanwhile, suggestions of a split in the playing group over the departure of Brown were yesterday denied by captain Mitchell Pearce.
"There is no split among the players. I don't know who is putting that out there?" he said.
"The whole situation has been really difficult for everyone - really tough. We just need to come out on the weekend and play well and try and get a big win for our fans."
READ MORE ON THE NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS:
-
Under-fire Knights boss opens up on Nathan Brown's departure
- Knights vow to repay fans for trying times
- Robert Dillon: Was this the Newcastle Knights' worst-ever performance?
- Knights suffer humiliating 46-4 loss to Wests Tigers
- Sporting Declaration: Will the pain the Knights endured under Nathan Brown pay dividends?
