The offhand remark that sealed Mike Brown's Harlequins' exit

A comment made by a member of Harlequins management during a contract talk with Mike Brown helped seal his departure from the club last year.

The Harlequins record appearances holder was told he was no longer needed after 14 years at the club in 2021, a decision that threw the former England fullback.

Brown had already agreed a deal with Dean Richards to join Newcastle Falcons at that stage, but met with Harlequins’ to hear them out. However, a comment from one of those at the table sealed his decision to stand by his new contract with the Falcons and the club he’d spent his entire career at.

Mike Brown | Rugby Roots

Mike Brown | Rugby Roots

“I had a whole in my cartilage that kept me out for 11 months. While I was injured, I think Gussie [then Harlequins head coach Paul Gustard] thought it was a good time to re-sign me but also do a bit with their salary cap and budget, so I had one year left and they wanted me to split it over two years, so they had more budget for those two years, and then add a little bit on top.

“And I declined because that little bit added on top was way lower than what I felt my contribution – when fit – would be, on and off the field.

“I said to him [Gustard] that I’d rather come back, show that I’m fit, and get back into the starting team and show that I hadn’t dipped in terms of my performance.

“So that was like a year before [leaving] and I was injured all through Covid. When I came back every performance marker, my stats, GPS, my levels of performance didn’t dip off. So it was the last year of my contract and we were chasing them about renewing. I was still starting every week.

“The team wasn’t doing so well at the time but still, my numbers were good.

“I got brought in by Gussie finally and was told there was nothing for me and that was it. It was a short, to-the-point meeting. It obviously hit me quite hard and it hurt a bit. I’m stunned because I was still playing every week and he’s still picking me.

“I think they had it in their head, I think it came from Gussie, I’m yet to find out, that or someone higher up, that was an age thing and they’re trying to bring down the average age, which is fine but I still think there were places for people like me and Danny [Care].

That decision was made by the Gustard, but after the head coach’s mid-season departure, Brown found himself once again at the negotiating table with Quins management, who wanted him to stay.

“He [Gustard] moved on because we weren’t playing so well. Then the team changed the style and went back to our Harlequins identity, and that paid off in the end.”

“They saw how I played towards the end of the season and then re-offered but by that time I’d already signed with Newcastle and Dean [Richards]. Out of respect for them, I couldn’t tear up that contract.

“Harlequins came to me with an offer. But the way they put the offer down, and some of the words that were said in the meeting with some of them. One of the individuals said to me that I should just accept this offer, even though it was lower than what Newcastle had offered me, although it wasn’t about money at that stage anyway. His words were ‘you should accept this offer, because you’ve been overpaid for the last few years’.

“I found that very disrespectful as I’m the most capped Harlequin of all time. My average minutes [per game] up that point, were 79. I’d played 351 games by the end of the season and my average minutes were 79.

“I think I’ve more than paid back the club.

“And I’ve been paid really well by them,” he added. “And thankful for the opportunity to play Premiership through Harlequins… For someone to say that hurt a lot. I think the fact that everything had gone on, the fact that I’d already signed with Newcastle, and I couldn’t ring Deano and rip up a contract, as much as maybe it would have been easier for me to stay. I obviously still love the club.

“When someone says that to you… I’m the type of person that when someone lets you down, it’s very hard for you to win me back over. Hearing things like that didn’t help the situation.”

Brown is now looking for a new club after Newcastle decided not to take up the option of an additional year with the 36-year-old.