Nathan Brown will take over as head coach of Newcastle, the NRL club’s chairman Brian McGuigan announced on Thursday.
Former St George Illawarra mentor Brown takes over the reins at the Knights from Rick Stone who was sacked earlier this year.
Club legend Danny Buderus has since been coaching the Knights in an interim capacity.
“This man (Brown) looks terrific to me and he does to the rest of the board,” McGuigan told Newcastle’s Radio 2HD.
“So we are all committed to having him on board. Next week, we’ll make it formal.
“We’ll be having an announcement ceremony and wishing him all the best for the future.”
An assistant coach with the NSW State of Origin side, Brown coached the Dragons from 2003 to 2008.
The former NRL hooker then moved to the Super League in England where he coached Huddersfield Giants for four seasons before heading up St Helens and leading them to a grand final win last year.
Connor Bennett
Editor
It will definitely be interesting to see how he goes this time round. He was much too young when he took over the Dragons all those years ago. Some of the players he was coaching were actually older than him!! I'm keen to see how he's matured as a coach and as a leader and past slapping his star players. An issue may be how well he connects with his players though after some early reports that some of the Knights players aren't happy that club favorite Danny Buderus wasn't given the job after a strong showing as interim coach the last few weeks. Only time will tell
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Brown was not the right man for the Dragons at that time. He only retired two years earlier and then thrusted into the Coaches role. That was a very talented squad that should have a won a premiership with the right coach. He did well in the UK and is now highly regarded in NRL circles. He has a big challenge ahead particularly fixing up the Junior set up. Good luck Browny.
jamesb
Guest
I think Brown will be ready this time round. He was a young coach at the Dragons, and to be honest, probably got thrown at the deep end at little too early. Already looking forward to Newcastle v Manly next year with Brown and Barrett going head to head, slap to slap. All the best to Browny. I think Newcastle have picked the right man.
Tricky Ricky
Guest
Well Brown "The Face Slapper" is back coaching in the NRL. Did no good coaching the Dragons. However looking forward to Knights v Sea Eagles with Barrett in the opposition coaches box. What is the NRL penalty should a coach face slap his opposite number? That would be priceless.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Big challenge ahead of Brown but it will be interesting to see how he handles it. He had a good roster at the Dragons but could never make the next step with them.... He seems to have done well in the Super League so I'll be extremely interested to see how he goes with the Knights next season. Good on him for getting another crack at the NRL.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
So the go seems to now be you fail in the NRL then go over to the old dart win a bit then come back and have another crack. Good luck Newcastle.
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Well done to Browny, big challenge getting the Club back on track.