Would St George Illawarra consider bringing back Nathan Brown?

After the shake up at the Newcastle Knights last year and a COVID 19 shake up at Fox Leagu both Nathan Brown and; Mark Gasnier found themselves out of work.

Brown had already picked up a part-time consulting gig with the Warriors but more interestingly, both Brownie and Gaz were able to reunite at Oztag.

This made me wonder, would Saints consider bringing Brown and Gasnier back?

Now before you say anything let’s look at some facts and ask the question – was the Brown era really that bad?

In the six years Brown was in charge, the Saints made the playoffs four times, including being an unlucky fifth-placed loser in 2004 and grand final qualifiers in 2005 and 2006.

2007 was a poor 13th-place finish, but both Trent Barrett and Luke Bailey had moved on, Mark Gasnier tore his pectoral muscle in the Charity Shield and Dean Young shredded his knee.

More injuries followed to the team resulting in 11 rookies making their debut.

In mid-2008 it was announced that Wayne Bennett would be taking over in 2009. In spite of this Brown saw out the season and was still able to win 13 games and finish a respectable seventh, losing to the eventual Premiers Manly.

Obviously the brief three-year Bennett era brought unprecedented success with a minor premiership coming straight away in 2009. This was only possible because Brown had left the team in good shape, no rebuild was needed.

Wayne Bennett is on the record stating that he didn’t find a basket case, the team was well coached and the front office was in good shape. He just needed to make a few changes to get to the next level.

The revelation of Darius Boyd at fullback, the rise of Jamie Soward and the mid season return of Mark Gasnier being the most notable.

Nathan Brown (Tony Feder/Getty Images)

Nathan Brown’s strength is his ability to identify and develop young players. The nucleus of team that won the 2010 Premiership was forged in Brown era. Ben Hornby, Brett Morris, Matt Cooper, Mark Gasnier, Jason Nightingale, Dean Young, Ben Creagh and Matt Prior were all developed by Brown.

Paul McGregor took over the head coaching role in May 2014 and finished the season 11th with 11 wins. 2015 brought a return to finals footy with a eighth-place finish with 12 wins. 2016 finished with a disappointing 11th place finish with ten wins. 2017 brought another 11th place finish with ten wins.

2018 brought a return to finals footy with a seventh place finish with 15 wins and also brought McGregor‘s first and only finals win. 2019 brought the joint venture’s worst ever season finishing 15th with only eight wins.

It’s not just McGregor’s win/loss record that has supporters calling for the axe its McGregor‘s inability to develop players that’s most frustrating. The big dollar signings of Ben Hunt and Corey Norman have been a bust with Hunt’s lack of form being the most concerning considering the financial commitment the club has in him.

Promising youngsters Jason Saab and Tristan Sailor are both unhappy with the lack of opportunity given to them, Jackson Ford can’t get a run and Jacob Host only getting very limited minutes. Boom youngster Eddie Blacker was brought down from Brisbane last year, 20 year old Eddie stands 195cm tall and weighs in at 116kg and he can’t even get into the initial 21-player squad.

Young players will only develop if they are shown faith and given game time.

Brown’s six year era makes McGregor’s six years look pretty awful. Add the non-retention Tyson Frizell and the number of players asking for immediate releases there are genuine causes for concern.

So I pose the question, when the axe inevitably falls on McGregor should the club bring Brown back with Gasnier and Dean Young as his assistants?

I look forward to reading your comments.