NRL 2021: Q&A with New Zealand Warriors coach Nathan Brown

New Warriors coach Nathan Brown reveals his plans for 2021, which new recruit he expects big things from and talks RTS code hopping rumours.

After spending a year on the sidelines following his departure from Newcastle, new Warriors coach Nathan Brown finds himself back in the NRL at his third club.

The Warriors defied everyone’s expectations in 2020, managing to finish 10th while arguably facing more adversity than any other side in a COVID affected season.

Despite playing away from home, being apart from their families, having a coach sacked, a massive injury toll and players returning home mid-season, the Warriors just kept ploughing through.

If the Warriors can keep up that kind of fighting spirit and stay healthy, Nathan Brown will be hoping that his new side can go even better in 2021.

He opens up too about his time out of the game, how the Warriors are preparing for another disruptive season and whether this is his last chance as an NRL coach.

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The Warriors have officially unveiled new coach Nathan Brown.

You’re about to embark on your third NRL club as coach. Why are you a better coach now?

All the experiences you have along the way. You learn different things and coaching is the best experience you can have.

What is the big learning you take away from your time at Newcastle?

I got some great life experiences.

What are the similarities between the Warriors and the other clubs you have been with?

When you look at Newcastle and the Warriors they have their own identities in terms of their fan bases are a bit isolated. You’re not competing with another rugby league market. In New Zealand, rugby union is your No.1 sport but from a rugby league point of view you’re going to have good support if you get things right. In Newcastle you’d always get great support from the community.

During your time off, what have you learnt about yourself?

When you have a year out of the game you reflect. Every club I’ve been at I’ve picked up a couple of really good points and you think about things that weren’t bad but things I may have done differently. They have all had good learnings. With the year out I was able to watch the rule changes from a spectator’s point of view and not being in the thick of it has its advantages.

What did you make of the rule changes?

The product was a lot better. A couple of those rule changes, certainly helped the game as a spectacle. Obviously it created more fatigue, more spaces and gave the smaller players a greater opportunity.

The Warriors is obviously a big commitment. You have a young family and you’re moving to a new country. How will you balance that?

I’m very lucky I have a supportive family. As the kids get older it becomes a bit more disruptive for them. When they are 14-17 they start becoming emotionally attached to people and the community. When they were younger, moving was easier but it’s a great opportunity to live in another country and learn new cultures. We’ve been fortunate enough to do it a few times now. When they get older they will be well rounded. It’s a beautiful country New Zealand and Auckland is a lovely city. There are a lot of positives. It can be a little bit disruptive when they are in year 10-12 but life is full of surprises.

What attracted you to the Warriors position?

They have a squad with the youth coming through and the squad evolving there are some good growth in the squad. I have a good relationship with head of recruitment Peter O’Sullivan. It’s important head coaches and recruiters are on the same wavelength.

You have to feel lucky to be offered an opportunity. Limited coaches can pick or choose their job. You can’t sit out of the game for too long. Having one year out, I felt good off the back of that but if you having more than year out you’re forgotten and finished.

No one has really cracked the Warriors secret. What needs to happen to ensure their success?

We need to ensure we are providing a pathway to ensure we keep our best juniors. That is the key to success at any good sporting club. As a club the Warriors have already taken some great initiatives by joining the SG Ball competition. That was a really important move to keep the best young players and expose them to playing the best young players in Australia. That’s a great recruitment tool.

The club working with the New Zealand Rugby League and Auckland Rugby League is also important. A high performance Academy will not only help the international game but it should help the Warriors as well.

When the Warriors had success under Daniel Anderson and Ivan Cleary there was a big batch of really good Kiwi kids that came through at the same time. When you develop good young players it also brings experienced players to the club because they want to play with good players.

The Warriors endured arguably more hardship than any other NRL side in 2020.

What did you like about the Warriors on the field this year?

They overcame so many hurdles. Changing countries, not having families around for a fair period and then some players coming home for family reasons. The way they handled themselves was impressive. It was great to see the experienced players like Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Tohu Harris and Kodi Nikorima who have all represented New Zealand all show really good form which helps the younger players develop. The younger players developed quicker off the back of the senior players playing well.

It is going to be a tough challenge with the squads in two different countries during the pre-season, how do you balance that?

Staff need to be organised and you just have to have key focus points. We will have smaller groups of players and break it down from what we want to achieve within that. We won’t be looking to achieve what other clubs do in the first five weeks. You have to put plans in place which suits you.

With the squads being broken up there will be some positives too. We will be able to work with individual players and given them more individual attention which sometimes you don’t get to do as part of larger groups. We need to make sure we are well organised and well resourced.

You will be in New Zealand while a large chunk of the squad remains in Australia. How do you build rapport as a new coach with those players?

At the end of the day we will come together after Christmas and have a good six week block. What we achieve in the first period will be different. The coaches in New Zealand will build a rapport with that group and so will the ones in Australia. When we all come together it’ll be a bit new. Other clubs will be restricted too given how late the season finished so not a lot will be done by some of them before Christmas. It’ll all unfold for us but it’ll unfold just a bit later and differently.

There has been talk about Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and playing rugby. Are you confident he will remain with the club for the long haul?

He is with us for next year. Roger was the only player away from his family for the full season so he has gone away and is enjoying a break. He is playing next year and we all know how committed he is to the club. Where the future goes – we will wait and see.

New Warriors recruits Sean O'Sullivan, Addin Fonua Blake, Euan Aitken and Marcelo Montoya at training Source: Warriors.Kiwi

You’ve added plenty of new recruits. What can they add?

Any time you are buying players you are hoping they will make the squad better. When you’re outside the eight and trying to fight your way in there are two ways to do that – one is through recruitment and the other is individual development of the players within your squad. All the recruits will bring something.

A couple were bought before I came in and a couple have signed since. The pleasing thing is the club has had a plan in place for each of their recruits.

You oversaw the signing of Addin Founa-Blake how important is he to the team’s success?

He is a top-line player and one of the best in his position. He is coming into his prime and his best years are ahead of him. He makes any team better and he is going to help this club grow.

It’s obviously unknown what sort of travel restrictions will be in place next year? What scenarios have you planned for?

Our training period is locked in before Christmas. The Australian-based players will be in Kiama and the rest of the squad in Auckland. We are working through a number of plans after Christmas. In early December we will be making decisions on what our next three to six months look like and where our location will be. There will be a New Zealand plan in place which is obviously our preference.

At the end of the day it will be border restrictions and the governments who will determine what we do.

Who are some of the players you’re most looking forward to working with?

All of them

You are now at your third club. Do you feel like this is your last opportunity in the NRL?

Coaching wise I’ve been around for a long time and have plenty of experience. I’m still a relative young one from an age point of view. Any time you go to a club you want to be there for a fair period of time. My time in England changed that a bit because I was so far away from home but I could’ve stayed there longer.

You want to stay for a long period because it means you’ve had success and there is continuity among players and staff. I would like to here for a long period.

If you asked all the coaches who are starting at new clubs where they’d like to be in five or six years time and they’d like to be at the club they’ve just joined.