This article doesn't chime with that scenario...but who knows?
'Nathan made me the player I am now': Ponga
Wed 21 Aug 2019, 04:38 PM
It was business as usual for Newcastle players on Wednesday as they trained for the first time since learning coach Nathan Brown would leave the club at the end of the season.
Starting with a win against Wests Tigers at Campbelltown on Saturday, captain Mitchell Pearce said the Knights want to create a “fairytale finish” to their topsy-turvy season and star fullback Kalyn Ponga revealed Brown had “made me the player I am right now”.
“I guess the timing’s not right – I don’t know why it happened now – but this is the way it is, we’ve got to look past that and get the job done,” Ponga said.
“We trained pretty good today. Everything was the same, our preparation’s going to be the same, he’s still our coach, so it was pretty good out there. It didn’t feel any different.”
Ponga was eating lunch with team-mates when he first became aware of Brown’s impending departure on Tuesday, then their soon-to-be former coach addressed players before fronting a media conference on Wednesday morning.
Brown: Life isn't full of fairytales
“I was pretty shocked at the time but we’re in a professional sport, we’re professional athletes and we have to move on to this week and the next three [games],” Ponga said.
“I was pretty young and naïve and didn’t know much of my trade but he put confidence in me, a lot of leadership and accountability, and he’s been a good man for my family, so I respect him a lot.”
Ponga played two seasons under Paul Green at North Queensland before Brown signed the then 19-year-old prodigy to a lucrative four-year deal with Newcastle.
“Browny’s still here, and while he’s been here he’s been good to me, he’s respected me, and he’s made me the player I am right now,” Ponga said.
