Wayne Bennett has a simple message for his former NRL club at Newcastle.
Don't give up on coach Nathan Brown.
Bennett's Brisbane sent the Knights to a seventh-straight loss on Saturday night, just two weeks after Newcastle chairman Brian McGuigan piled pressure on Brown and his tenure.
But Bennett, who coached the Knights between 2012 and 2014, said retaining Brown's services was crucial to turning the embattled club around.
"They've got to go more time with Nathan," Bennett said.
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"He's done a lot of things right here, Newcastle is not going to solve their problems by bringing a new coach in.
"At least he's laid a format here where they are playing pretty well ... they're just not getting the wins.
"No one else is going to get the wins here. There are new players coming, he has strengthened what he has got."
Bennett lamented the loss of star centre Dane Gagai for the club, who has signed with South Sydney for next season.
But he admitted both centre Tautau Moga and forward Herman Ese'ese would leave Brisbane for Newcastle next year, joining fellow Knights recruits Kalyn Ponga, Aidan Guerra and Shaun Kenny-Dowall.
Brown is still contracted until the end of next year.
When he replaced Rick Stone at the beginning of last season, Brown vowed he would not take any shortcuts on the revival of the club, and warned the problems would take seasons to fix.
And while Saturday's 34-22 loss took them a step closer to their third-straight wooden spoon, but there have been clear signs of improvement this season.
The Knights have led at halftime in seven of their 15 losses, compared to last season where they won just eight of 48 halves across the season.
"There's a lot of young players in the team with not a lot of first-grade experience," Bennett said.
"But if Nathan stays there and they stay there, they get a few more players in the club and don't lose any of their quality players then that's the best chance they've got of turning it around."
