Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Adam O'Brien hasn't quite finished furnishing his new office. Hanging from the walls are the obligatory nods to Newcastle icons Allan McMahon and Michael Hagan. "The culture coach there, a premiership winner there and I'm waiting for Mal Reilly's to go up," O'Brien says of the framed photos hanging in his new digs. There is room for one more artwork and he has commissioned Kalyn Ponga to produce it. Turns out Ponga and fellow playmakers Connor Watson and Tex Hoy are just as creative off the field as on it. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "He's quite artistic, [Ponga] and Tex Hoy," O'Brien says. "They're into photography, they have plenty of interests outside of footy. They get some drone footage and then go home and develop the prints. They're into that stuff and I enjoy that. "I've sent [Ponga] on a project. I want him to find something unique in Newcastle and to put one [artwork] in here and one at home. He and Tex and Connor are trying to find something that incorporates all of Newcastle.


"It can be anything. He said, 'Do you want a canvas? Do you want a print?' "I said to go and surprise me. They are off doing that on their weekends for me. It will be a reminder when they come in here every day that they have contributed to my office and contributed to my house. "It's not just me coming and doing stuff for them, they're actually doing some stuff for me." It has only been a month since O'Brien officially started work in the Hunter, but already he has formed bonds with his charges. He has arrived having completed a long apprenticeship that has resulted in him being involved in the past four NRL grand finals. Putting in the hours: Adam O'Brien says his Knights squad will rely on hard work. Credit:Jonathan Carroll The Knights are now his team, a blank canvas, and the first brush strokes will reflect all he has learnt from mentors Brad Arthur, Craig Bellamy and Trent Robinson. He is of the belief that teams are generally "a reflection of a head coach's character". So how does he hope the personality of the Knights will be described under his watch?


"I would like to say hard working," he says. "I don't have the profile and all of the answers, but I've got a work ethic to turn up and give it my best every day. "I know I have to base everything on working hard, I have to outwork the other guy." It is an ethic forged growing up in Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast as the son of a publican. "As long as I can remember I was around the old man's feet behind the bar," he recalls. "My school holidays were spent rolling kegs into cellars and stacking pallets in the bottle shop. I was always working with my dad." Footy was his first love, but it was only in the latter stages of his playing career that coaching at the elite level crossed his mind. O'Brien had worked as a sales rep for a liquor company while playing in Cairns and probably would have ended up in the hospitality industry if not for his big break with the Storm. I know I have to base everything on working hard, I have to outwork the other guy. Knights coach Adam O'Brien "I'm terrible with my hands in terms of doing any handyman stuff around the house," he says. "My wife Sharon does most of that. The only subject I was any good at at school was English. I used to like Rugby League Week and I'd say to my mum when I was a younger bloke, 'I'll be a journalist, I could write about [league] and still be involved in the game'.


"It didn't last. She reminds me all of the time. When I'm whinging about you lot [journalists], she reminds me that I wanted to be one." Instead, O'Brien is the subject of one of the most interesting storylines of the 2020 season. He will soon be in the opposing coach's box to some of his closest mates and mentors, including Bellamy, Arthur, Robinson and Anthony Seibold. Each of them has left an impression. He played under captain-coach Arthur at Batemans Bay Tigers before following him to Cairns and then the Storm. They enjoyed success at every stop and remain close, to the point where O'Brien is godfather to the Parrmatta mentor's daughter, Charlotte. Like half-a-dozen top-line coaches, he was a graduate of league's finest finishing school, the Bellamy academy, before becoming an assistant to Robinson. "Craig is the new [Bill] Belichick [legendary NFL coach], he doesn't just develop players but also coaches and people," O'Brien says. "The golden point game where Latrell [Mitchell] kicked the field goal this year down in Melbourne, that was the first time I coached against them. Master and apprentice: Adam O'Brien and Craig Bellamy during their time together at the Storm. Credit:Getty "I'll admit, that was really weird for me. I was sick in the guts all day. I'm not playing, but you've still got a deep level of [investment]."


Which is why leaving Melbourne was so difficult. Before departing for the Roosters, he was made a Storm life member. At the presentation, an emotional O'Brien said: "To Bellyache, to Craig, I owe my life to you ... I'm not ashamed to say that I love you very much and I will be loyal to you for the rest of my life." "That shows the mark of Craig," O'Brien says when asked about that moment. "I go in there six weeks before that night and have to tell him I'm going to his arch-rivals. His response is to make me a life member. That response shows the type of man he is. "It was emotional. I'm completely humbled now. They're the club that first gave me a start at coaching." In an altogether different way, leaving Bondi Junction was just as awkward. He had been at the Roosters for less than a year when the Newcastle gig came up. After being linked to just about every available head-coaching job in recent years, the Knights seemed the best fit. "That's why I jumped at this one," he says. "You can wait an entire lifetime and never really get one that feels right. I thought this one was. Knights coaching staff from left, Rory Kostjasyn, Scott Dureau, Adam O'Brien, David Furner, Willie Peters and Eric Smith. Credit:Simone De Peak "I'm really satisfied with the roster – that's one thing I will make clear. I won't be whinging we don't have the players. It's definitely not [a rebuild].

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