Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ

Warriors axe Brown, Jones interim coach

By AAP
The sun has set on Nathan Brown's coaching stint at the Warriors. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Nathan Brown has coached his last game for the Warriors, with the NRL club parting ways with the veteran coach.

ADVERTISEMENT

Former Warriors coach Tony Kemp has warned the club faces an uphill battle to attract a new coach after Nathan Brown became the fifth mentor in 10 years to leave the club.

Brown’s tenure as coach was terminated early on Tuesday morning, following a meeting in the aftermath of the club’s fifth straight loss.

Related

New Zealand great Stacey Jones has been appointed on an interim basis, having only taken up the assistant’s role at the end of last season.

Brown had been contracted at the Warriors until the end of next year, but had already told officials he did not want to move back to New Zealand long-term and could not commit beyond that.

Ultimately though, the club’s poor start to 2022 and Saturday night’s horror outing against Manly meant officials decided to move immediately.
“We fully appreciate his position and the call he has made,” CEO Cameron George said.

“Given those circumstances we agreed we needed to make an immediate change.”

The decision leaves Brown’s career at a crossroads, having previously coached both St George Illawarra and Newcastle in the NRL.

ADVERTISEMENT

Brown becomes the second coach to go in the NRL this year, after Trent Barrett’s exit from Canterbury last month.

Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire also remains in the firing line, with the joint-venture’s mid-season probe pushed back a week due to an ill Tim Sheens.

If he is axed by the Tigers, Maguire could potentially loom as an option for the Warriors given he currently has the Kiwis job.

Tonga coach Kristian Woolf would be another genuine contender, while Cameron Ciraldo and Jason Ryles are considered the next coaches in waiting as NRL assistants.

ADVERTISEMENT

The likes of Shane Flanagan and Paul Green are also hoping to get back into the coaching game.

Whether any of that group would choose to take charge of the Warriors is another story.

Related

The Warriors have now gone through five full-time coaches in the past 10 years, while Todd Payten also spent the best part of a season in charge in an interim role before knocking them back for North Queensland.

They have also endured a bad run ahead of next year’s move back to New Zealand after COVID, with Matt Lodge, Euan Aitken and Kodi Nikorima all exiting the club.

“It looks like we have a structure that people don’t want to be associated with,” former coach Kemp told radio station SEN.

“It comes on the back of a number of things.

“It shows there is a weak underbelly at the club currently and the people who run the club need to sort it out.”

Kemp claimed the club needed change at the top, with owner Mark Robinson taking a backward step.

“If he doesn’t step out of what is going on at the moment, I can’t see a coach of any calibre saying I am going to come and set something up,” Kemp said.

“That’s just not going to work.

“Our average coach gets a couple of years to rebuild it all again, and try and get some success in the club.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | Episode 6

Sam Warburton | The Big Jim Show | Full Episode

Japan Rugby League One | Sungoliath v Eagles | Full Match Replay

Japan Rugby League One | Spears v Wild Knights | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 10 | Six Nations Final Round Review

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | How can New Zealand rugby beat this Ireland team

Beyond 80 | Episode 5

Rugby Europe Men's Championship Final | Georgia v Portugal | Full Match Replay

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

B
Bull Shark 1 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

29 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Sharks captain Mbonambi addresses controversial incident with referee Sharks captain Mbonambi addresses controversial incident with referee
Search