Warriors confirm coach Nathan Brown’s exit, Stacey Jones to take over immediately

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Nathan Brown’s tenure as Warriors coach is over.

Beleaguered Warriors coach Nathan Brown’s tenure is over.

Warriors chief executive Cameron George confirmed Brown’s departure in a statement on Tuesday, adding current assistant coach Stacey Jones will take over the role for the rest of the 2022 NRL season.

The decision leaves Jones in charge for the last 11 rounds of the campaign starting with Sunday’s game against Cronulla Sharks.

“Nathan told us he had made a personal decision that for family reasons he wouldn’t be able to relocate to New Zealand as originally planned for the long term,” said George.

“We fully appreciate his position and the call he has made. Given those circumstances we agreed we needed to make an immediate change.

“It’s tough for everyone involved but, in the best interests of the club, we felt we had to go in a different direction now. Nathan has worked so hard for our club and we are extremely disappointed it has come to this. We’re truly grateful for what he has done and wish him and his family all the very best for the future.”

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Sydney’s Daily Telegraph earlier claimed the 48-year-old Brown would inform owner Mark Robinson and George at an emergency meeting on Tuesday that he wanted out, despite having one year left on his contract, because he doesn’t want to permanently relocate to Auckland.

Jones will become the Warriors’ fourth coach in three years.

The Auckland-based outfit are in the midst of a woeful campaign, sitting 14th on the 16-team ladder with nine defeats and four wins from their 13 games.

Their 44-12 hammering by the Sea Eagles at the weekend was their fifth on the bounce, and seventh in eight games.

Brown, who took over from Todd Payten last year, has a 32% winning record in charge of the Warriors (12 wins from 37). They played all their matches in Australia under his watch.

His position has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks and the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Monday that he had informed the club that he could not commit to a long-term relocation to New Zealand due to personal reasons.

The Warriors are due back in New Zealand in a fortnight’s time to play their first game at home in more than two years due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Brown’s contract was due to expire at the end of 2023. The former Newcastle and St George Illawarra coach is understood to have been open with the club, telling them of his predicament over the past fortnight.

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Kiwis legend Stacey Jones, who is currently Nathan Brown’s assistant, is reportedly set to take over.

The Warriors trained out of the Central Coast last year before relocating to Redcliffe in Queensland in 2022.

Jones – who played 261 times for the Warriors and 48 tests for the Kiwis – is widely considered among the greatest league players the country has produced.

The 46-year-old would no doubt be a popular appointment with fans, though his coaching experience is limited, with brief stints as a player-coach for the Pt Chev Pirates and in charge of the Junior Warriors before taking up his current role as assistant coach.

“Stacey’s love of the club and knowledge of it is unparalleled. He has been on the inside of it for close to 25 years,” said George.

“We’ll be giving him, staff and players all the support possible for the rest of the season.”

In 2015 and 2016 Jones guided the club’s New South Wales Cup side to the finals each season. He has been in an NRL assistant coach’s position since 2017 apart from last year when he returned home to work with the club’s Sky Sport Future Warriors programme.

George said the club appreciated Jones stepping in to take up the role on an interim basis. He added he would now work with Robinson on an agreed process to appoint a new head coach.