Perfect fit? What to expect from Nathan Brown at the Warriors
Former Kiwi gives an insight into the coaching style of the incoming Warriors boss ahead of arguably his toughest challenge yet. By Marvin France.
HE had his first NRL head coaching job before the age of 30, broke an eight-year Super League title drought for St Helens before taking on the mother of all rebuilds on his return to Australia.
But when Nathan Brown officially kicks off his three-year contract with the Warriors next month, he may well be walking into his toughest challenge yet.
The 47-year-old Australian is the Kiwi club’s 11th head coach (there have been two interim coaches) and was a solid if not spectacular choice. He certainly wouldn’t have been the first name fans would have thought of when owner Mark Robinson said he was dreaming big in July.
While Brown tasted success in the UK (he also took Huddersfield to a Challenge Cup Final), his NRL record with the Dragons and Knights is mixed.
However, no one can dispute his experience – 438 first grade games in Australia and the UK since 2003 – which hasn’t always been the case with previous Warriors coaches.
Slade Griffin spent two seasons under Brown at Newcastle, where the coach had a significant impact on the former Kiwis international.
Griffin described Brown as an expert man-manager.
‘‘He’s very personal. He’s got a great personality and he really cares about his players. He creates a really strong bond,’’ Griffin, who now works in the Future Warriors programme, told Sunday News. ‘‘He’ll be the perfect fit, especially if we’re overseas. He’s a brilliant offensive coach. I was lucky to be a nine because obviously he knew what a nine should be doing. That helped my game a
lot... he really instils a confidence in you.’’ Coaches also don’t last as long as Brown haswithout having a hard edge. Indeed, he was sure to let his expectations be known before the squad broke up for the off-season.
‘‘Some of the boys played pretty well this year but he’s already told them that if you don’t sort your weight out you won’t be playing. So he’s already setting the standards,’’ Griffin said. ‘‘Behind the scenes he still gets angry but off the field he’s there for a chat and he really cares about your personal life.’’
A crafty hooker for the Dragons whose playing career was cut short by a neck injury, Brownwas handed the coaching reins of St George Illawarra two years later at the age of just 29.
He got off to a rocky start with his infamous sideline slap of captain Trent Barrett but found his feet to guide the Dragons to back-to-back preliminary finals in 2005-06. After he was replaced by Wayne Bennett at the end of 2008, he headed to England and then got a second chance in the NRL in 2016 when he agreed to inherit amess at Newcastle.
Rebuilding the roster from the ground up was painful and the Knights collected two wooden spoons in his first two seasons. But Brown kept laying the blocks for a competitive club and his vision was vindicated when he landed the pivotal signings of Kalyn Ponga and Mitchell Pearce in 2018, with
Griffin also joining after winning a premiership with Melbourne.
While Brown left before the end of the 2019 campaign, Griffin doesn’t believe he gets enough credit for the progress hemade at Newcastle, who snapped a seven-year finals drought this season.
‘‘That first two years he had in Newcastle was really tough. The situation they were put in with the (salary) cap... there wasn’t a lot they could do so they had to blood a lot of young guys.
‘‘This year he’s going to have a new set of challenges with the border but that’s something we’re looking forward to and something we see that’s not so much of an excuse but to use to our benefit.’’
Brown can stamp his own mark on what was a promising second-half of 2020 for the Warriors. Having upgraded the forwards, led by Tongan enforcer Addin Fonua-Blake, Griffin is excited to see how that impacts the club’s playmakers under Brown’s style, particularly Roger TuivasaSheck.
‘‘Obviously Roger’s already a great player. He cares about the team so much, he just tries doing everything. But I think instead of doing all the hard yards Roger has to do, [Brown] might put him in a position to do a bit more of the fancy stuff.
‘‘Every club’s pretty structured but I think he really encourages playing off the cuff.’’