As a halfback in Newcastle at the turn of the century, first-grade opportunities were scarce for Justin Holbrook.

“I only played a couple of games, it was mainly reserve grade. Joey was the halfback,” Holbrook recalled of his time as the understudy to Andrew Johns.

Now Holbrook has the opportunity to make a greater mark on the Knights after being installed as the replacement for outgoing coach Adam O’Brien.

The first order of business for Holbrook will be deciding whether to hand the No.7 jersey that Johns made famous to the biggest investment the club has ever made: $13 million recruit Dylan Brown.

“I don’t want to say things are definite because I want to get up there and meet everyone first,” said Holbrook in his first interview since he beat the likes of Blake Green, Dean Young and

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