The St George Illawarra Dragons could be about to welcome back former player and head coach Nathan Brown, after it was revealed Brown had emerged as a leading candidate to replace Shane Flanagan as head of recruitment at the Red V.
Flanagan is expected to join the new-look team under Anthony Seibold at Manly, though he is yet to ‘officially' accept the Sea Eagles' offer in the coming days.
That means the Dragons will need to urgently fill the recruitment role, and Brown has emerged as a leading candidate despite recently gaining employment at the Parramatta Eels.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Brown had approached the Dragons before starting his role at Parramatta, taking the job in Sydney's west when he discovered there was no place for him in the Dragons' set-up.
But when Flanagan leaves, Brown's connections at the club will stand him in good stead should he find a way to make himself available. He's also seen as a good match to work with Anthony Griffin, after revealing earlier in the season that he had no desire to return to an NRL head coaching role.
It would cap off a tumultuous year for the 49-year-old that saw him sacked as Warriors head coach early in the season after the club won just four of its first 13 games, adding to a horror run of form that began when he joined Newcastle in 2016.
Brown had enjoyed a winning record in stints at the Dragons and in England, but after four years in Newcastle and two with the Warriors, he had coached 131 games for just 36 wins at an overall win rate of just 27%. His time at the Knights yielded two wooden spoons.
Despite the mounting speculation, the Telegraph confirmed that Brown could not be reached for comment.
