The Championship has been thriving with talent this season whether it be former Hull FC, Castleford Tigers and Leeds Rhinos playmaker Luke Gale who starred for Keighley or the likes of World Cup stars such as Halifax Panthers’ Lachlan Walmsley.
Regardless it’s been evident that the level of quality in the second division has taken a sharp and steep rise of late.
The side who have the most quality available to them this season has been Featherstone Rovers with Sean Long’s side having recruited extremely well.
Those signings have included PNG prop and World Cup star Mackenzie Yei whilst they’ve also utilised the loan system to draw in Super League talent.
That’s including Albert Vete from Castleford Tigers as well as youngsters such as Riley Dean from Warrington Wolves, who has currently been starting on loan for Castleford in Super League.
Undoubtedly the division is getting stronger but one man who was at Featherstone two seasons ago was arguably one of the competition’s best.
There was plenty of impressive players at Leigh Centurions last season such as Blake Ferguson, Nene Macdonald and Lachlan Lam but the 2021 season saw Rovers with a star spine player who brought sheer class to the competition.
That man was Fa’amanu Brown with the key playmaker featuring 25 times for Rovers and notching up 16 tries.
His contributions that season saw Featherstone win 19 of their 21 games as they finished second behind Toulouse Olympique.
That was the COVID interrupted season and therefore promotion was determined on percentage of wins, but with Toulouse having won all 14 of their games compared to Rovers winning 19 of 21, it was the French outfit who were promoted.
Unsurprisingly Brown didn’t stay with Rovers and opted for a return to the NRL with Canterbury Bulldogs where he struggled to make the desired impact.
The Samoa international has now found a new club and will link up with former Man of Steel Jackson Hastings.
That’s because he’s signed for Newcastle Knights with the club announcing the signing via their website.
“The Newcastle Knights have signed utility Fa’amanu Brown for the remainder of the 2023 National Rugby League season.
“Brown, 28, has made the move to the Hunter to fill the final top 30 roster spot, providing the Knights with good experience and coverage for any potential injuries and suspensions as we head into the back end of the season.”
The Knights currently sit ninth, just outside the playoffs, but Brown will operate as cover should any of the teams starting spine get injured in their efforts to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
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