Mitch Barnett's journey from 'a bit mad' to the leadership group at the Knights

Brendan Bradford

Mitch Barnett's journey from 'a bit mad' to the leadership group at the Knights image

Mitch Barnett went through some dark times on and off the field in his first couple of years at the Knights.

The Taree-born forward lost the first 12 NRL games he played as the Knights collected two wooden spoons, but he has since emerged as one of Newcastle’s leaders as the club transitions from a rebuilding phase to becoming a genuine finals contender.

The 27-year-old says both of his Newcastle coaches – Nathan Brown and Adam O’Brien – have played a huge part in his personal turnaround.

Barnett was on a two-year contract at the Raiders, where he made his NRL debut, before Brown helped him move to the Hunter in 2016. 

“I owe a lot to Brownie. He got me up here, gave me an opportunity and believed in me,” Barnett told Sporting News after beating Brown’s Warriors side on Friday.

“I actually still keep in contact with him a bit because he helped me settle down off the field a lot as well.

“I was a bit mad off the field, getting myself into trouble – especially in my early teens. It just took me a while to mature.”

His connection with Brown is so strong that the coach was a guest at Barnett’s wedding in 2018.

Now at the helm of the Warriors, Brown speaks glowingly of Barnett, thinking back to those darks days when the Knights won a combined five games in two seasons in 2016 and 2017.

“They played in the hardest times of any kids I’ve ever seen in first grade,” Brown said of Barnet and the Saifiti brothers, Daniel and Jacob.

“The Knights basically had a reserve grade side and those three kids were first graders. I had to tell them that first grade’s actually a lot easier than what you blokes have come through."

Under O’Brien, the Knights are now taking the next steps on the path toward the top half of the ladder.

There's a long way to go, but it's been some journey already, says Barnett.

“Early on, we were just looking at not getting flogged – especially when I first came here,” he said.

“Later when we got a few good signings, we had to learn to win.

“Adam’s come in, ripped into us and made us a lot fitter. Now you just see blokes mature and getting years under their belts.

“We’re in the same positions but we’re now learning now how to win.”

There might be bigger, more experienced and more skillful players at the Knights, but Barnett is at the forefront of that change in approach and change in mindset.

He was named in Newcastle’s 2021 leadership group alongside Daniel Saifiti, Kalyn Ponga, Blake Green and Jayden Brailey, but you get the feeling his impact will come off the field as much as on it.

“I’ve got an alright story to tell kids of what not to do coming through, and I do take great pride in doing that,” he said.

“I just made the wrong decisions when I was younger, plain and simple – like a lot of kids do. But I had to learn the hard way.

“I was very lucky with some of my incidents. I won’t go into any depth with them, but I was very lucky with some of them."

Barnett was given a reminder last year that the journey will continue to be anything but straightforward when he was accused of using a racial slur during a match against the Titans. 

Devastating at the time, Barnett - who has always maintained his innocence - says it was a learning experience. 

“That was very disappointing. It’s a sensitive subject, but I didn’t do anything wrong – I didn’t say what I was accused of saying,” he said.

“That’s not me.

“You can ask any of the boys or anyone who knows me, they know I’m not like that. That really hurt to have that accusation against me.

“At the same time, it was a massive learning curve knowing that things can turn like that. I took a big lesson out of it.”

For now, Barnett wants to continue using his own experiences to help the next generation of players coming through the Knights. 

“We’ve got a good bunch of young kids coming through and I want to play a part in bringing the club forward for the next 10 or 20 years," he said. 

"The club's in a good position at the moment, and it might only be one kid that I can help. 

“But if I can play a small part in a kid making the right decisions in life, mate, that’s my job done.”

 

Brendan Bradford