Brown could follow Gasnier back to Dragons
GREG PRICHARD
May 13, 2010
DRAGONS fans wouldn't be surprised if Nathan Brown made a re-entry to the NRL coaching ranks as an assistant to Wayne Bennett next year.
Brown yesterday announced he would finish up as coach of English club Huddersfield at the end of this season - a year ahead of his contract running out - and return to Australia for family reasons. The development immediately prompted speculation as to where Brown might end up, since he wants to continue his coaching career, with several clubs mentioned as possibilities for head coaching or assistant roles.
One of those clubs, Cronulla, was linked with Brown earlier this season, but at the time Sharks chairman Damian Irvine vehemently denied Brown was being headhunted to replace Ricky Stuart next year. And Brown said yesterday he was starting from scratch on the job front.
''Despite what's been written by some, I don't have a job to go to nor have I even spoken to anyone back home about employment,'' Brown said. ''This decision is not about my professional life, it's about my family's life.''
Asked yesterday if anything had changed at the Sharks, the club's chief executive, Richard Fisk, said: ''We have never contacted Nathan. He's not on our radar.''
South Sydney is another club that has been thrown up, but John Lang is contracted until the end of next year, and when asked about Brown, the club's chief executive, Shane Richardson, replied: ''We've had no contact with Nathan and we've got no plans in that area.''
Sydney Roosters have been touted as a possibility for Brown as an assistant, since he has a good relationship with Roosters coach Brian Smith, who coached Brown at St George. But when asked yesterday, Roosters chief executive Steve Noyce said he couldn't see Brown being sought by the club.
Brown coached the Dragons for six years, from 2003. Six-time premiership-winning coach Bennett, who is contracted until the end of next year, is obviously under no threat, but there are two reasons the idea of Brown going there as an assistant shapes as a possibility.
Bennett and Brown have a good relationship, with great respect for each other, and Brown remains a favourite son of the Dragons. It isn't far-fetched to think the Dragons could put him on and give him the chance to learn from Bennett, with the possibility he could be considered for the top job when the super coach moves on.
Coincidentally, in an interview with the Herald two weeks ago, Bennett was favourable in his comments regarding Brown, when he talked about what shape the club was in when he took over at the end of 2008.
''I think Nathan Brown did a great job here,'' Bennett said at the time. ''He got a lot of criticism, but I think he did a lot better job than people give him credit for.
''I walked into a club that wasn't a basket case, I can tell you, and that has helped enormously.''
