Saints must do what is right for club and for Nathan, says Rush (From St Helens Star)

St Helens must do what is right for club and for Nathan Brown, says Mike Rush

10:11pm Monday 16th July 2012 in Sport By Mike Critchley

Nathan Brown

NATHAN Brown’s sudden departure from Huddersfield following Sunday’s Challenge Cup semi-final exit will not necessarily usher in another changing of the guard at Saints before the year is out.

Brown is due to take over the reins at Langtree Park at the end of the season – and once the not unexpected news broke of him leaving Giants today speculation inevitably linked the Australian coach with a swift transfer to replace acting coach Mike Rush.

However, speaking earlier this afternoon acting coach Rush, who has been in charge since Royce Simmons’ departure in March, said a few things would have to be weighed up by chairman Eamonn McManus and Brown before any hasty decisions are made.

Rush said: “The announcement has not long been out. The chairman has not even spoke to Nathan about it, so for me it is business as usual. Until someone tells me otherwise I will just keep preparing the team until the end of the year.

“If anything changes that is up to the chairman. I am not in a position to do anything about that.

“I don’t want to pass comment on what has happened at Huddersfield. The club is really excited to have Nathan, but it now needs to work out what is best for Nathan and best for the club in the short term.”

It may be that Brown would benefit from a clean break, giving him time to reflect from a distance what he wants to do with the Saints team, rather than come into the business end of the season cold and still doing his own personal debrief about what went wrong at Huddersfield after such a fine start to the campaign.

Rush added: “We also need to consider what Nathan wants – does he need to have a break? And we don’t want the bloke coming here until he is ready.

“We want a coach for the long term and not one that is emotionally drained from the experiences he has had, if that is the case, or does he feel that after being in the country for four or five years he wants to take a break. “If that means I have to carry on through to the end of the year, because we have done well up to now, and it gives the club stability – then whatever it is, it is. Either way I will carry on and do what I do.”