Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien has defended his decision to keep high-profile halfback Jackson Hastings in reserve grade despite the Knights spiralling through a five-game losing streak that's yielded an ice cold 36 points in total.
Hastings, reportedly earning around $800,000 per season, has now spent multiple weeks in NSW Cup as the Knights' attack continues to misfire.
While pressure mounts externally for change in the halves, O'Brien has resisted the temptation to recall the veteran playmaker, suggesting it would look like they were pinning the club's structural issues and turnaround hopes on one man.
โI think it would be unfair on Jackson to think that he's the one that can come in and fix all of those things,โ O'Brien said on Thursday, via the AAP.
โThere's a number of other variables and I'm comfortable with the crew that we've had at the moment.โ
Newcastle will persist with Fletcher Sharpe at five-eighth alongside Jack Cogger for their clash against South Sydney, with the coach backing their effort despite the results.
โWe haven't got the result yet but you can see it's not through lack of effort,โ O'Brien added.
Hastings was a central figure in the Knights' surge to fifth place back in 2023, their best finish since the Andrew Johns era.
But off-field rumours of his divisiveness have swirled ever since his omission, even though O'Brien continues to choose not to engage with that narrative.
Instead, he subtly alluded to last year's criticism over selection volatility, suggesting he's now being hammered for showing consistency.
โThere was a fair bit of talk last year that I chopped and changed and now there's probably a bit of talk that I'm not chopping and changing. It's hard to please.โ
