NRL 2022: Warriors backing coach Nathan Brown amid speculation he’s facing the axe
The spotlight didn’t take long to shift from Trent Barrett and the Bulldogs, with Nathan Brown the latest coach being speculated as under pressure.
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The New Zealand Warriors are privately backing coach Nathan Brown amid renewed speculation he is at risk of becoming the next coach on the chopping block.
Senior Warriors executives managed the phone calls of journalists on Wednesday by dismissing a rumour circulating across the game that Brown had been read the Riot Act earlier this week by club owner Mark Robinson and CEO Cameron George.
The 11th-placed Warriors have lost four of their past five matches after starting the season with a 3-2 record.
They travel to Sydney on Saturday to tackle St George-Illawarra at Jubilee Stadium.
The Warriors didn’t deny George and Robinson had held a robust discussion earlier this week about the status of the club’s current fortunes, future plans and development pathways.
But Brown’s position as head coach after 15 months in charge wasn’t up for debate.
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Conceding their discontent with results and the inconsistency of their season so far, the Warriors are backing Brown, believing no other coach has dealt with more turmoil.
Brown has coached a team based out of three different locations — Central Coast, Sunshine Coast and Redcliffe — during his tenure and the Warriors believe the head coach deserves to be part of the club’s return season home in New Zealand in 2023.
The club are also pointing to Brown’s recruitment for 2023 and beyond which includes Manly’s Dylan Walker, Parramatta forward Marata Niukore, Sharks utility Luke Metcalf and Knights forward Mitch Barnett.
George was on his way home to Auckland on Wednesday ahead of meetings to prepare for the club’s first home game in three years in round 16 against the Wests Tigers.
While admitting he had heard the rumour about Brown, he said he didn’t feel the need to speak publicly except to confirm the coach was safe.
Unlike other NRL clubs, the Warriors aren’t reliant upon a board to make decisions. Robinson does the hiring and firing.
“I think he’s (Brown) got the right nature, he’s definitely very talented at coaching and he’s got to have the right team behind him too,’’ Robinson told Newshub only last week.
Brown spoke to the press on Wednesday ahead of the club’s important clash with the Dragons.
He underlined the Warriors issues of failing to achieve a complete 80-minute performance this season.
“The last three weeks we’ve certainly been disappointed,’’ Brown said.
“We thought we were making decent progress before that and the big key for us is trying to get some consistency across the board and two halves of footy together.
“We haven’t nailed two good halves.
“We‘re one win out of the eight and the challenge for us is to make sure we’re one of the teams pushing forward so that when we do go back to New Zealand (in round 16) we go home and the fans have a team to watch that’s playing consistent footy.’’
Brown said centre Euan Aitken (concussion) would return while Chanel Harris-Tevita (ruptured testicle) needed to pass a medical test on Thursday.
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Originally published as NRL 2022: Warriors backing coach Nathan Brown amid speculation he’s facing the axe
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