Taste of freedom beckons for coach
The new Warriors coach finishes isolation tonight and can’t wait to start working with the team. By
Long.
When Warriors coach Nathan Brown gets out of managed isolation tonight, he’ll be looking to catch up on a culinary treat he’s been missing out on. .
The club’s new coach is close to completing his two weeks in managed isolation 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 the Sunday Star Times from the hotel room he’s called home for the past fortnight.
He’s partial to fish and seafood but coming over the Tasman means missing out, temporarily. It’s not on offer in isolation.
But that’s not the biggest sacrifice – coming to New Zealand for the first part of pre-season 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 your 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.’’
While Brown will be in Auckland, his assistants, Justin Morgan and Craig Hodges will run the Australian pre-season 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 Maumalo will 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 2021 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 teamwork 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 value out of it.’’