Coaches under pressure, Justin Holbrook, Gold Coast Titans, Adam O’Brien, Newcastle Knights, winning percentage, wins, losses, future, statistics

The Knights face the Broncos, Roosters and Penrith and Bulldogs, while the Titans are up against the Tigers, Broncos, Raiders and Dolphins.

O’Brien guided the Knights from 11th in 2019 to consecutive seventh-placed finishes in his first two seasons, but they failed to win a finals game and slumped back to 14th last year.

Holbrook took the Titans from the wooden spoon to 9th in his first 12 months and then clinched a drought-breaking finals berth in 2021, but the club slipped back to 13th last season.

Of current coaches who have been in charge since at least 2020, O’Brien’s winning record of 41% only sits above Holbrook’s 36%.

There have been 11 coaches sacked since 2019 and six of them had a better winning record when they were marched than Holbrook’s current tally.

But the most alarming statistic for Holbrooks is his side’s inability to close out games; they sit second in the competition for first-half points and last for second-half points.

NRL great Gorden Tallis works for the Titans which he described as a “loyal organisation”, but conceded those numbers are alarming.

“I think the roster is better than where we are at the moment, there is absolutely no doubt,” Tallis said.

“The fade away at the end, I can’t put my finger on it. They bought Kieran Foran for that situation, we were up 26 points against the Dolphins.

“That game you can win and even Kieran tried a short kick off, so there’s something they are trying to address.”

O’Brien isn’t faring much better on the winning front will be worried knowing Paul McGregor (52%), Paul Green (52%) and John Morris (47%) were all sacked with stronger records than his.

If the Knights lose to the Broncos and Roosters over the next fortnight then O’Brien will also fall below Stephen Kearney (40.5%).

Newcastle are also facing salary cap pressure which could see one of their best players, Tyson Frizell, squeezed out amid reports Ponga will earn $1.5 million next season.

It’s not just the draw mounting pressure on Holbrook and O’Brien, it’s also the Dragons dragging their feet on appointing their next coach.

St George Illawarra currently have their pick of the best available coaches and assistants, with premiership winners Shane Flanagan, Des Hasler and Michael Maguire all on the market.

If they still haven’t appointed someone in the next 10 days and the Knights or Titans cop back-to-back bad losses, it could see their boards pounce ahead of the Dragons.

“If the Dragons wait much longer there could be two more clubs looking for coaches in the next month and they’ll find themselves in a bidding war,” former Knights player Alex McKinnon wrote in his foxsports.com.au column this week.

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