I'm a bit skeptical myself but less skeptical than when we appointed Simmons, who was a pin the tail on the donkey kind of appointment.

On the plus side
Has Super League experience
Turned Huddersfield into a genuine contender for a top four spot
Appears to have done well with developing upcoming talent which is an important part of our ethos
Best of the Giants defence + our attack = potentially mouthwatering
Three year deal gives KC time to get involved, learn the ropes etc

Concern
He's turned Huddersfield into fringe contenders rather than consistent contenders
Safe, conservative appointment
We didn't look at what else was out there

It's not as underwhelming an appointment as Simmons or Wane but it is relatively safe and conservative which meets with Mr Big's low risk strategy when appointing coaches i.e. another with experience of coaching in the UK. I would have liked us to see what else was out there because there could have been plenty of better candidates and even if there wasn't it doesn't hurt to have a look.

Overall though this deal looks like it was struck at some point during last year which feeds into that point I've just made about us being a bit single-minded in who we wanted to succeed Simmons. Had this not been lined up for next year I doubt we'd have gotten rid of Simmons but now we know this was a done deal what has happened makes a bit more sense now.

I think he's a solid appointment and better than both Potter/Simmons.

I like it, but I'm not overwhelmed. His teams inconsitancies bother me.
HE's startning with a much better squad than he did at Hudds, though, which bodes well, and his guys do seem to have a good team ethic.

...or Tony Smith when we signed him from Huddersfield?

Did Eamon tell you this himself?

Or did you make it up?

It seems I'm the only person who has commented on his lack of commitment to Huddersfield over the years. If you do a google search on Nathan Brown Giants, it is filled with articles about his departure from Huddersfield. From the end of 2009 there is a constant stream of them, most of which it seems he started with comments about a desire to return home. It mentions one year he was asked to return home by his Daughter, another he blamed it on his family being unsettled. Then it changed to him wanting an NRL coaching position. During his three years at the Giants, it seems there has never been a period when he has fully committed to them.

This could be a possible explanation for why their form can be so inconsistent, it must cause a lot of disruption when you don't know if the coach is staying or not. It makes contract decisions and recruitment hard to plan for and we all know the feeling of being in a state of limbo that a departing coach brings.

I really hope he hasn't accepted this job as a fallback because there are currently no NRL job offers on the table for him. It would be very disappointing to be in this situation again in 12 months because he's done a runner back to the NRL.

I would imagine if Saints have anything about them they would NOT have included and early release for an NRL club. If they have then it's a bit naive.

No, I bet they wouldn't have done. But if Brown says 'I want to accept this job, let me leave' it puts the club in an impossible position. You can't keep someone under those circumstances, you are left trying to extract some compo out of the NRL club.

Hopefully he's now given up on getting another NRL job and can settle quickly.

It's an assumption based on a belief of Nathan Brown not being the best coach available.

I would have thought it was a key determinant for both parties, perhaps tied in with no release at the end of the first year of his contract. There's no way Brown (who has been umming and ahhhing about going back since he got here) that Brown would turn down a good NRL job. He must have taken this job to show that he can take a club to silverware because that's what he's missing off his CV.

It also serves us to have him able to take up a NRL job after a couple of years if we feel that we want KC to take over earlier which I'm pretty sure is the plan once Brown has left.

I posted on the thread that he was linked with us that McManus needs to make sure he's here for the length of his contract and no get out clause for NRL teams.

We can certainly do without "will he, won't he" every year like he's has at hudds.

I'm made up with the appointment. He's a very good young coach. He's a straight talker, tough and demands performances from his players and tells it how it is.

I hope he knows that he's stuck with this current squad as I doubt very much we wil be bringing anybody in next year.

He has done a great job at giants and was an inspired appointment. We thank him for his efforts and the memories and enjoyment he gave us. ( favourite moment was him encouraging/shouting on Leroy at Warrington as he sprinted down sideline 2 years ago)

The unsettling mid season turmoil is now with saints and I will be at the bookies betting he is back in nrl well before his saints contracts ends - and possibly even before it begins tbh. He wants an nrl job - and he deserves one - and you cannot criticise someone for being ambitious. Like us , you will be a stepping stone. Please accept that graciously

I wish Nathan all the best - and i will always be a fan of his for the memories he gave us.

Could saints offer him the profile to attract a move to the NRL?

I said few weeks back, that's my only concern.

Course we will. Players always leave unexpectedly. McManus will know he can't sell season tickets with no signatures, we'll sign someone, even if it means players leaving.

Soliola, Wellens, Meli, Flannery and Clough are off contract. If the club can't get over it's sentimental attachment to Wello, he'll be taking a significant pay cut. Flannery is leaving and I'd expect Meli to as well. I'd expect Clough to get a new deal, provided he's happy with a squad player deal, because that's all he is. Sia is one we all hope stays, but there are obviously issues there.

Given we're not spending the full cap this season (We can't be as we put bids in for players and haven't done anything since) I'd say we'll have cap room for at least a couple of players to come in and there are no young players knocking on the door at the moment, like there were in the previous couple of seasons.

I expect sia to stay but honestly don't see how we can replace flannery and Meli as we've no qouta spots free, no quality English players available and certainly won't pay for anyone.

How and who could we possibly sign?

There might be about 30 players becoming available in Yorkshire by mid-April



There are plenty of players about:

Stefan Marsh
Mike McIllorum
Chris Tuson
Sean O'Loughlin
Mike Cooper
Gareth O'Brien
Rhys Williams
Will Sharp
Jordan Turner
Paul Johnson
Oliver Elima
Bryn Hargreaves
Tom Burgess
Danny Addy
Jason Crookes
Paddy Flynn
Joe Arundel
Josh Griffin
Jacob Emmitt
Richie Mathers
Craig Hall
Matty Smith

All off contract or free to move. Plenty there to have a chomp at, even if it's just for squad depth.

The likes of Marsh, Cooper, Sharp, Turner, Johnson, Emmitt, Burgess, Flynn, Griffin would all be decent young signings.

Paddy Flynn signed new deal.

Wouldn't touch most of them to be honest.

Er no. I did.

To be fair i think he probably is the best coach available, who else is there?

Except for tony smith he's the best coach in super league.

Hang on a second bud. You're the guy who, only a couple of weeks ago rattled off a list of available props for last year and yet you can't come up with either one second row or winger for next year. What's going on? This forum needs to know!

I don't know which is kind of my point lol.

That was last year and players was available and we had two overseas spots available but we've none this year.

The list saddened posted are mostly Bradford standard players and not quality.

I've heard some good news today about my bro sia

Off that list, what about Richie Mathers?

i can't see any top NRL coach coming over, ever. After that its top SL coaches and top NRL assisstants. Brown is one of the very top SL coaches (with Tony Smith), as for NRL assistants, its very hard to tell if you'll get a good one like McGuire or not like Roycy baby.

Bloody Hell!