Nathan Brown has nine games to prove he should be retained as Knights coach after a loss Newcastle chairman Brian McGuigan has labelled "a catastrophe".

Brown's joyless 18-month tenure hit a new low on Sunday when his team were humbled 33-12 by Wests Tigers in a game many were describing as a wooden-spoon decider.

The demoralising defeat left Newcastle last on the ladder, two wins adrift of the Tigers, and in danger of becoming the first team to collect a hat-trick of wooden spoons since now-defunct Gold Coast Seagulls in 1993.

Brown's record since taking the reins at Newcastle – three wins, one draw and 35 losses – is the worst of any coach in rugby league's full-time professional era, which kicked off with the Super League war in 1995.