Win or lose, Newcastle Knights halfback Dylan Brown was always going to enjoy his first game against his old club Parramatta.
But Brown acknowledged that a 28-22 victory against the Eels at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday, in his 150th NRL appearance, was certainly sweeter than the alternative.
Having played the first 142 of those games for the Eels before joining the Knights this season, the 25-year-old Kiwi international still has many friends at Parramatta and enjoyed plenty of banter and back-and-forth with them during Newcastle’s fourth straight win.
"Honestly, everyone knows me as a pretty chill guy, and I don’t really take note of stuff like that, but I knew playing against the boys was going to be a lot of fun,” Brown told NRL.com.
“I enjoyed my time out there, and there were a few extra nerves coming up against my old club.”
Brown offloads in goal
Though his former halves partner Mitchell Moses missed the game because of a hamstring injury sustained at NSW training earlier in the week, Brown had fun swapping barbs with Eels fullback Isaiah Iongi and outside backs Sean Russell and Josh Addo-Carr.
“I was disappointed too that I didn’t get to play against Mitchy – that would have been fun – but he was out with injury,” Brown said.
“I was telling ‘Izzy’ (Iongi) he was the third-fastest fullback in the comp because Dylan Lucas out-ran him, but it was all good.
“Seany was talking a lot, and ‘Foxxy’ (Addo-Carr) was too but ‘Foxxy’ always does.
“It was all positive, though, there was nothing silly. I love that part of the game and it was awesome playing against my mates.”
Brown, who made 28 tackles against his old club, has now won six of the eight games he has played in the first season of his 10-year tenure at the Knights.
The footrace is on
Though the Eels ensured some nervous moments for Newcastle players and fans, challenging the home team all the way to the final siren, Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga was pleased they could celebrate Brown’s milestone game with a win.
“No doubt he would have probably pencilled that in. You always want to get one up on your old club,” Ponga said.
“I spoke during the week about the impact that Dyl Brown has had on us, even in a short period. Just the way he trains, the way he competes on and off the field, and the sort of person that he is.
“I was a bit worried at the end there, I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I’m just glad that we won.
“We won for him, 150 against his old club, so it’s definitely something he’ll remember.”
Brown said his partner, Bella, and family, friends and team-mates went out of their way to make a big deal of his 150th game, even though he tried to play it down.
“There was a bit more attention throughout the week, a lot of my family came, and we’re going to have dinner now,” Brown said.
“I’m not really a big celebration guy but my missus did a good job, and one of my best mates made some shirts as well, which was pretty cool. It was special, and I appreciate them for doing that.”
Pocketing another two points when the Knights were below their best was important, Brown said, but they would have to improve against the Storm in Melbourne next Friday as they chase their first win at AAMI Park since 2015.
“It was very ugly but we learnt a lot about ourselves there, and a lot of boys definitely stepped up,” Brown said.
“We needed to make some try-saving tackles ... and also our attack was a bit clunky.
“We’re getting into that part of the season during Origin where players are out, players are backing up, not backing up, and this is where teams can come in and get those sneaky two points.
“So for us to get those wins throughout the year in this weird part of the season, it’s definitely important.
“Beating Melbourne is hard, regardless of what team you are and regardless of the way they’ve been playing, so it’s going to be tough.
“The boys haven’t won down there [since 2015] so if anything, that will be extra drive for us to play better. Just like Parra today were underdogs, I feel like that’s the mentality we’re going to take into next week.
“I’ve had like one win there in my whole career, which is pretty sad. I’ve definitely been pumped down there a few times, so we’ll try to switch that around this week.”
