Newcastle re-sign Jamaica international

Drew Darbyshire 18 Dec 2019 11:35 AM

Jamaica international Joe Brown has put pen to paper on a new deal with Newcastle for 2020.

The 32-year-old is Thunder’s all-time appearance holder, having scored 47 tries in 201 appearances for the club. He has earned 12 caps for the Reggae Warriors.

Brown will also take on a coaching role with Newcastle next season, with the centre helping lead the club’s reserve side.

Thunder coach Simon Finnigan said: “Browny has always been good on the field for us.

“This year he was really consistent and when he was in he played well and he certainly adds value to our squad. Off the field, he is brilliant. He has been at the club a long time and is good for the group so it was an easy decision to keep him in.

“Having someone from within our set up who knows how we play to help with the reserves is good. It is an opportunity for him to see if coaching is an ambition that is right for him once he has finished playing.”

Brown added: “I’m looking forward to it, we’ve got a good squad put together and there are a lot of young lads coming up.

“That reserves competition is probably going to be a bit tougher than some League 1 games and I think it’s going to be great competition for the lads in there.

“It’s a good challenge and in years past if you’re not playing, you can only do so much on the training field. This year, you can play in the reserves and show Finny and Denis (Betts, director of rugby) what you can do and it gives them a headache and more competition with the lads that are playing in the first-team.”