Newcastle has welcomed in so many former Roosters over the years it could rebrand as a battery cage.

Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Aiden Guerra enjoyed quality time at the Knights after premiership years at the Tri-Colours, as did Adam O’Brien who served six years as head coach after a stint under Trent Robinson.

Then again, Mitchell Pearce departed in shame and Connor Watson took a paycut just to return to Bondi, so the re-homing program hasn’t been entirely free of buyer’s regret.

But despite this mixed bag for the Knights, they may have finally lured a prize bird.

A former utility for both Newcastle and the Roosters across a 17 game first grade career, the expectations on new coach Justin Holbrook when he arrived in Steel City for 2026 were stoutly meh.

Even though battling years of entrenched mediocrity on the Gold Coast served as the perfect preparation for a job at the Knights, Newcastle was in such a grim state after last season’s wooden spoon that Holbrook would’ve been given a pass mark if Newcastle merely finished 2026 with dignity and Kalyn Ponga.

But despite being tipped to struggle, the former St Helens coach has not only restored the city’s hope, but also its soul.

After a gap year in the warm bosom at Easts following his termination from the Titans, Holbrook has left egg on the Gold Coast’s face by engineering a Knights resurrection as inexplicable as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley being revived on a handful of toenails in Alien.

And while he’s primarily being celebrated for igniting an attack that was hypnotically boring last year, it’s the consistency he’s instilled that excites the diehards most.

Holbrook’s system has stood up to its fair share of injuries and suspensions this year to produce spirited and organised performances regardless of availability.

Unlike former Knights sides, this team beats the teams it should beat and competes with those it shouldn’t, and best of all, doesn’t beat itself.

This was plain to see in the elimination final against Souths, with the Knights so injury hit before kickoff that Holbrook could’ve channeled Ripley and literally fielded a team of fingernails because, let’s be frank, it might’ve been easier to recognise.

Missing a cavalcade including Jacob Saifiti, Trey Mooney and Dylan Lucas, Holbrook finagled a spare parts front row of backrower Tyson Frizell and 20 year old Cody Hopwood along with rookie edges of Jermaine McEwen and the firey Francis Manuleleua, the 22 year old Kiwi who’d only two weeks earlier dislocated his elbow.

It had casual fans reaching for Wikipedia, but the no-name Knights were still too busy for Wayne Bennett’s side in a famous 20-10 boilover bearing all the hallmarks of the club’s beloved teams of yore.

Prior to the club’s marginal existence of the 2010’s and beyond, the Novocastrian club thrived on blokes who not only played for the region but also their supper.

The forward pack’s output against Souths was as gritty as Marc Glanville, Tony Butterfield and Billy Peden down a mineshaft, thus proving Holbrook’s side is more than just a backline that hums like a barbershop quartet.

And with these two qualities combined, it could be an era beckoning that blends Newcastle’s unassuming grit with plenty of new sexiness, kinda like Pat Rafter in a pair of spray-on Wrangler’s.

Better yet, the new coach has wasted no time breaking the former regime’s habit of simply making up the numbers.

While O’Brien’s departure in 2025 was an amicable uncoupling, his tenure at Newcastle was dogged by a stench around his finals record he simply couldn’t clear.

Kinda like the viral blue/gold dress, nobody could agree on whether four finals appearances in six seasons made him a success or if the 1-4 record it produced made it a lemon.

But ultimately, it was the distinct lack of top four time that thrummed O’Brien’s tenure with the same biorhythms of the scrimpy existence Newcastle was trying to leave behind.

And while one Rabbit doesn’t make a stew, Holbrook may have cracked this ceiling in the space of 12 months and one Allianz heist.