Coach Nathan Brown leaves the Warriors

Coach Nathan Brown has left the Warriors and will be replaced by Stacey Jones for the rest of the NRL season.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Brown’s resignation means assistant coach Jones will take over the role for the last 11 rounds of the campaign starting with Sunday’s game against Cronulla-Sutherland.

The Warriors are 14th on the NRL table with four wins from 13 games, having lost their last five.

“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,” Warriors CEO Cameron George said.

“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.”

Brown took over for the start of the 2021 season and all of the Warriors games have been in Australia during his tenure.

Jones steps into the position after being involved with the club in playing and coaching roles for all but a few years of its existence.

“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,” George said.

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

Stacey Jones
Photo: Photosport

Jones played his entire 261-game NRL career with the Warriors from 1995-2005 and then again in 2009 following two years with Les Catalans in the Super League in 2006 and 2007.

After a part-time coaching role with the Warriors in 2008 and his comeback year in 2009, he returned as the club’s pathways manager in 2013 before coaching the Junior Warriors to the 2014 NYC premiership title.

In 2015 and 2016 he guided the club’s New South Wales Cupside 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 Future Warriors programme before heading back to Australia to re-join the NRL squad’s coaching staff this season.

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