After several weeks of disappointing performances, Warriors coach Nathan Brown has come under fire for his coaching technique and motivational tactics.
The Warriors fell to a depleted Cronulla side 29-10 last weekend, just two rounds after their shocking Anzac display against the Storm which saw the Melbourne side taste victory 70-10.
While middling performances from players have been highlighted, a lot of the backlash has fallen on Brown’s shoulders, prompting Warriors General Manager Craig Hodges to leap to his defence.
Brown's win/loss ratio sits at a dire 28% overall as coach, however Hodges has reinforced that much of that percentage has been influenced by his stint with the Newcastle Knights, who were at a career-worst when Brown took over in 2016.
“I think you’ve got to be realistic when you look at some of those statistics as well,” Hodges said on SENZ Mornings.
“He took over a Newcastle club which influences some of the number you’re talking about, that win rate ratio, so I think you’ve got to keep it in perspective, but he took over a Newcastle club that basically not many other coaches in the competition wanted to touch including Wayne Bennett who walked away from the club.
“(He) put his hands in the air, and I think he sacked himself was the famous term at the time, because he couldn’t do anything with them.
“I think if you look at it with a step back, and look at it with a bit of clarity, I think he was doing a fantastic job at Newcastle.
“They were on the build each year; they were on the verge of the eight and then some people got involved in the club and moved him on and you look at them now and they’re coming last again with a far better roster than what he had.
“So, I think if you just look at it in isolation you can be extremely critical of his results there, but I think if you look at it with a bit more depth you see that he developed and educated some of those young guys and probably got the best out of them and we’re looking for him to do the same with our guys here.”
Hodges went on to discuss the sudden departure of halfback Kodi Nikorima to Souths, the recruitment of Ronald Volkman and Freddy Lussick, and the club’s perspective of Chanel Harris-Tavita.
“It happened really quickly. We've known for a while that Kodi hasn’t wanted to return to NZ,” Hodges continued.
“We knew that he wasn’t going to sign with the club moving forward, he wasn’t part of the future.
“His management came to us a few days ago … a week ago, and they obviously had a deal moving forward but the deal had to be taken up now, so it was one of those things that we thought about.
“He wasn’t playing in our side currently; he wasn’t a part of our future and (we) probably felt it was unfair to hold him back.
“We were able to bring in Ronald, who we were able to sign for the next couple of years and we see him as being a part of our future, a long-term part, and an opportunity came for us to pick up Freddy last weekend. He gives us a bit more depth and coverage in the dummy-half position.
“Chanel’s got a lot of things going on at the moment including his current injury which is a bit of a unique and painful one, and he’s got some decisions to make himself.
“The club has made him an offer, (we’re) really keen to retain him and it’s not my position to speak on behalf of Chanel, he’s got some decisions to make from his own point of view, but from our point of view, we’re keen to have him in our club.”
With the eyes of all NRL fans firmly on the Warriors this weekend, the side will hope that they can produce a more convincing performance as they take on the ninth-placed Rabbitohs on Saturday night.