Brown hits the ground running
The new Warriors coach finishes his 14 days in isolation tonight and can’t wait to start working with the team. David Long reports.
WHENWarriors coach Nathan Brown gets out of managed isolation tonight, there’s no doubt in his mind about what he wants to do first.
The new coach of the club is close to completing his two weeks in a New Zealand managed isolation facility and will soon get to taste freedom, but that won’t be the only thing he plans on tasting.
‘‘I’m going to have a piece of fish to be honest,’’ Brown told Sunday News from the hotel room he’s called home for the past fortnight.
‘‘I haven’t had a piece of fish for a couple of weeks and I usually have it a few times a week.
‘‘I like fish and seafood, but in isolation you don’t get the luxury of that, so that’s something I’d really like to do.’’
Brown has decided to come to New Zealand for the first part of pre-season and it means he’ll be separated from his family for Christmas.
The 47-year-old could have stayed in Australia and been with around a third of the Warriors squad, who are Australia-based.
But instead he decided to come to Auckland, do the two weeks in quarantine, then head back to Australia with all the Kiwi players and staff on January 4, for at least five months.
‘‘Being the head coach, you need to be where the main part of our squad is, which is New Zealand,’’ Brown said.
‘‘We’ve all got to make sacrifices and at this stage I’ve got to sacrifice a fair chunk of time away from my family, as a lot of the New Zealand-based players did last year.
‘‘I don’t think it would have been a good look if I based myself in Kiama when the players put themselves through what they did last year.
‘‘I think it’s best to be here, where two-thirds of the team is based and where hopefully we’re all going to be based, sooner rather than later.
‘‘As I’ve said, we’ve all got to make sacrifices at some stage and if the head coach can’t make sacrifices, you can’t expect anyone else to.’’ While Brown will be in Auckland, his assistants, Justin Morgan and Craig Hodges, will run the Australian preseason camp and like those training at Mt Smart Stadium, they’ll have all the support staff they need. ‘‘We’ve got a strength and conditioning person, a physio and a kit man/strapper type person, so we’ve got it all covered for the number of players we’ll have there,’’ Brown said.
‘‘There’s been a lot of organisation and time going into it. But it is a unique set-up where you’ve got a third of the squad in one country and two-thirds in another one.
‘‘But this was certainly the best option, rather than making people isolate.’’
Younger players started preseason training last week, while for some of those in the top 30, preparations for next season start tomorrow.
It’s still generally the younger players, but David Fusitu’a and Ken Maumalowill be back as they started their allotted break, when they returned to New Zealand towards the end of the season.
Brown’s game plan for next season will stay under wraps this side of Christmas and he says it’s about individual improvements for the players.
‘‘Over the first five weeks, there’s not going to be any team work or building any combinations,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s going to be more about core skill and physical development.
‘‘With smaller squad numbers, it does give you an opportunity for players to work on their game more, whether it be core skill or position individual.
‘‘So hopefully, we can use these first five weeks as a positive, rather than a negative. It’s going to be different to what the other clubs will be doing, but we feel we’ll get good results.’’
We’ve all got to make sacrifices at some stage and if the head coach can’t make sacrifices, you can’t expect anyone else to.’ NATHAN BROWN