New Warriors coach frustrated he can’t meet players
NATHAN Brown won’t meet half of his playing squad until next month after it was confirmed the Warriors are moving back to Australia.
In his return to the NRL coaching furnace, Brown has been struck by his first hurdle, with 14 players set to train out of Kiama, on the NSW South Coast, before joining the rest of the team in Tamworth on January 3.
The training program of the 14 Australian-based players who are split from the rest of the Auckland-based players will be overseen by assistant Justin Morgan.
Stability and consistency in his team’s preparation is what Brown would have been hoping for in order to achieve his mission of turning the Warriors into a premiership force.
But unwilling to gamble on the potential closure of international borders between New Zealand and Australia due to COVID-19, the Warriors have confirmed they will call Tamworth home to begin the New Year before shifting to the Central Coast for the first four rounds from March until May.
“Our priority is to ensure we do all we can to enable our team to be as well prepared as it can be for 2021,” Warriors chief executive Cameron George said.
“It’s a football decision that needs to be made now. We can’t afford to speculate about what might or might not happen any longer. We need clarity for our players, staff and families.”
Brown conceded the situation was far from perfect in his desire to embed his own coaching style and standards on the group.
“It’s not ideal having the squad split with one group in Auckland and another in Kiama but it has been the only option open to us,” he said.
The club’s first two home games — against Gold Coast and Newcastle — will now be played at Central Coast Stadium, in Gosford, after originally being allocated to Mount Smart Stadium when the 2021 draw was released last week. The Warriors will remain in Australia for their away games against Canberra and the Sydney Roosters in the third and fourth rounds.
“It’s not what we want to do but it’s what we have to do,” George said.