Webster to coach Warriors?
Penrith assistant coach Andrew Webster is expected to be confirmed as the Warriors’ new head coach in the coming days.
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported yesterday that Webster had agreed to a three-year deal which will see him replace Nathan Brown at the end of this season.
Webster was courted for the role after the club’s No 1 target Kristian Woolf knocked back the Warriors and is frontrunner to be Wayne Bennett’s assistant at new team the Dolphins.
Webster, 40, has a year left on his Panthers deal, but has a clause that allows him to leave only to pursue a head coaching job.
Webster has nearly two decades worth of experience
as a coach and has close ties to the Warriors, having worked as Andrew McFadden’s assistant in 2015. He spent two years at the Warriors before returning to the Wests Tigers as Jason Taylor’s assistant, then took over for two matches in 2017 as interim head coach.
Warriors chief executive Cameron George said on Wednesday: ‘‘We’ll be making a decision on that in the very near future. We’re close to making that decision and we look forward to that announcement.’’
Warriors legend Stacey Jones took over the Warriors’ reins on an interim basis since Brown left last month. They beat the Tigers on their much-awaited return to Auckland on Sunday to sit 13th on the NRL ladder. On Wednesday, George confirmed teenage fullback Reece Walsh was leaving the club, but they had signed Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad from the Raiders to return to his former home.
Kiwis international Te Maire Martin is also in the Warriors’ sights, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.