Dylan Brown will be key for the Kiwis against Samoa.
Kiwis half Dylan Brown is back in the international arena – and has a definite point to prove.
It feels like Brown has been almost the forgotten man of the Kiwis squad this week, which is a crazy scenario given he signed the biggest contract in NRL history just over six months ago. That was back in March, when Brown inked a monster 10-year contract with Newcastle, worth a reported $14.5 million and starting from the 2026 season.
The move – and the scale of the deal – was the subject of wall-to-wall coverage in Australian media for a few days and ended a long association with the Parramatta Eels, Brown having first left New Zealand as a 15-year-old to pursue his league dream.
But the storylines this week have centred on others, like Kieran Foran’s swansong, Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s return and possible code switch, Erin Clark’s rise, Joseph Tapine’s impressive Raiders season and Xavier Willison’s introduction. That might be a reflection of Brown’s weird 2025 campaign, as the Eels nosedived, before Brown almost disappeared from view.
Parramatta had a miserable season, with just four victories from 17 matches by mid-July, before a mini-revival where they won five of their last seven games to at least avoid the wooden spoon.
In a struggling team, Brown managed five tries and 11 try assists before being moved aside, as coach Jason Ryles looked to the future. In the last eight games of the season, Brown only had one match in the halves – ironically against Newcastle. In that period he was used at hooker, had three matches in the centres and spent the rest of the time in reserve grade.
It was an unusual scenario for a player who had helped guide the Eels to a grand final in 2022, which at the time was the culmination of four straight playoff campaigns for the famed club.
Brown, who accumulated 142 games for the Eels across seven seasons, also had to endure consistent criticism of the Newcastle deal – which only seemed to get louder as Parramatta’s campaign worsened – from league luminaries and media pundits.
However, speaking to the Herald ahead of tomorrow’s test against Samoa, the 25-year-old is in a good space.
“It wasn’t too bad,” says Brown when asked about the fallout from his Knights mega move. “Everyone inside of the club was pretty good. There might have been things said, or spoken about outside of our club that may have looked as if there was dramas there, but it was all pretty good.
“Everything was clear from [Jason Ryles] about [why] I wasn’t playing and it was obviously because I wasn’t part of the future and that’s what he needed to focus on. I played all over the park, learned a few new things and I had a bit of fun.”
He also has a new appreciation for those wider out in the backline.
“I earned a lot of respect for centres,” Brown said with a smile. “It’s not as easy as I thought, nowhere near as easy as I thought, probably 10 times harder than playing half in terms of strength and the things they have got to do off the ball.”
Brown is feeling good physically – “I’ve had a little holiday and [am] ready to go again” – which is a positive sign for the Kiwis, given his importance.
Across his short international career, Brown has been at the forefront of New Zealand’s best moments. He starred on debut against Tonga in 2022 – a convincing 26-6 win – then backed that up at the subsequent World Cup, one of the better performers in the narrow semifinal defeat to the Kangaroos.
Then came the 2023 Pacific Championships campaign, with the thumping win over Samoa at Eden Park, followed by the epic 30-0 triumph over Australia in the final in Hamilton. All of those were with Jahrome Hughes beside him, before both halves missed last year’s Pacific Championships campaign, which featured losses to the Kangaroos and Tonga around a sole victory over Papua New Guinea.
With the luckless Hughes sidelined again, Brown will be beside veteran Foran, who is playing his final campaign after making his international debut way back in 2009.
“He’s been around for a long time and there’s a reason why,” said Brown. “He’s achieved some great things and he’s one of the best. I’m honoured to play alongside him; he’s the old bull and I’m always learning so it’s good to have him around.”
Though Brown is expected to take on the main playmaker role at the Knights, he is happy to be secondary on this occasion.
“Everyone knows ‘Foz’ is the general, that’s his role and I’m sticking to the footy that I usually play, so I’ll be the six and he is the seven,” said Brown.
With his running game, kicking skills and solid defence, Brown will be key to the Kiwis’ spine and overall gameplan. The Kiwis are slight favourites, given their history and greater experience, but it won’t be easy against a formidable Samoa team who will have massive crowd support.
“They’re a good side,” said Brown. “They’ve got a lot of premiership winning players in their team and outstanding players across the park. [But] we have been together for a while now and we get a lot of confidence from each other. So it’s going to be a great contest.”
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.