THE question may well have evolved in the space of 80 minutes. From "will the Knights keep Adam O'Brien", to "how long will they keep him?"
After Saturday's 26-18 triumph against Melbourne Storm, all the speculation about O'Brien's future has become - to borrow one of his favourite sayings - an 'irrelevant narrative".
While the coach is facing an end-of-season review, it is hard to see why any change in direction would even be a talking point, given the undeniable improvement in performances, culminating in Saturday's breakthrough win over the Storm.
O'Brien is contracted for another season, and come the final whistle in this campaign, Knights officials are almost certain to be discussing the duration of his next deal, not whether they should move him on.
If there were any concerns about his job security, amid rumours linking the Knights to the likes of Des Hasler, Michael Maguire, John Morris and Josh Hannay, they have surely been allayed by Newcastle's recent results.
By every metric, the Knights are clearly a better team than they were last year.
With six rounds still to play, Newcastle have already won eight games, plus a draw, compared to six wins last year. They are scoring more points per game (24 points) than last year (15) and conceding fewer (27 compared to 21). Those statistics would suggest they are a 15-points-per-game better side than they were 12 months ago, and O'Brien deserves enormous credit for the turnaround.
He's shown what he's made of this year, getting the Knights back on track after the disappointment and dramas of 2022, despite dealing with the behind-the-scenes heartache of losing his mother to cancer earlier in the season.
And his team are obviously playing for him.
What's more, they are growing in confidence after successive wins against Canterbury (66-0), Wests Tigers (34-18) and now the Storm.
In contrast, at the corresponding point of last season, the Knights were performing an uncanny impersonation of a dead duck.
Having effectively crashed and burned in the finals race by mid-season, they won only one of their final 10 games to finish a lacklustre 14th on the competition ladder.
O'Brien was just lucky that he had some credit in the bank, having steered Newcastle into the finals in his first two attempts.
With a new-look roster and several key additions to his support staff, O'Brien kicked off 2023 as one of three coaches under the microscope, along with Anthony Griffin (St George Illawarra) and Justin Holbrook (Gold Coast).
Griffin and Holbrook have both since been discarded, and barely a month ago it appeared O'Brien might be destined for a similar fate, after consecutive losses to Brisbane, Sydney Roosters and Penrith left Newcastle languishing near the foot of the points table.
The big wins against the Bulldogs and Tigers eased some pressure but were also no real cause for celebration, given their status as long-term easybeats.
Saturday's victory against Melbourne, however, might well prove to be a defining moment in O'Brien's career.
While the coach refused to publicly pay any heed to the fact Newcastle had lost their previous 11 games against the Storm, somehow he had to convince players who had never beaten Melbourne in multiple attempts that they were capable of doing so.
Whether they can springboard from such a performance and continue their run all the way into the finals remains to be seen.
With six games to go - against Canberra (away), Dolphins (away), Canterbury (home), South Sydney (home), Cronulla (home) and St George Illawarra (away) - there is precious little room for error, as there are nine teams who have banked at least two wins more than Newcastle.
In all likelihood, the Knights will need to win at least four of their remaining games, and even five wins might not be enough.
The odds are stacked against them, but so too were they at 12-0 down after only eight minutes against Melbourne.
Regardless of whether the Knights qualify for the finals, if they compete as hard in their next six games as they have in the first 18, season 2023 will be widely regarded as a success. Indeed, with an ounce of luck in a few tight games, the Knights may well have already entrenched themselves in the top eight.
Suddenly, it appears a no-brainer. Barring some inexplicable implosion in the next few weeks, O'Brien's future with the Knights now looks safe and sound.
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