The Warriors have reportedly sacked coach Nathan Brown ahead of an emergency board meeting.
The club was due to meet on Tuesday morning after Brown informed them he was not willing to move to New Zealand permanently due to personal reasons.
The Daily Telegraph reports the Warriors then moved to sever ties ahead of a scheduled meeting with CEO Cameron George and owner Mark Robinson at 9am.
Brown, who is contracted until the end of 2023, reportedly told the club he will coach out the rest of this season but the Warriors decided to move now.
News Corp reports assistant coach and club great Stacey Jones will likely take over in the interim and will be given the rest of the season to prove he deserves a deal as head coach.
According to the Telegraph, St Helens and Tonga coach Kristian Woolf has also emerged as a leading contender to replace Brown while Panthers assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo is understood to not be interested in the Warriors job.
The Warriors disastrous 44-12 loss to a depleted Manly side has them languishing at 14th position on the NRL ladder.
Paul Kent told NRL 360 on Monday that it seemed like Brown was essentially walking away without officially resigning.
“I think we can all read between the lines what that says,” he said.
“Buzz (Rothfield) you’ve been saying for weeks now that he’s frustrated, you think he’s struggling in the job a little bit and clearly this is, without him resigning, his way of saying ‘I don’t want to continue in the job’.”
Rothfield conceded that he was “not shocked” to hear the news because after speaking with Brown a fortnight ago he learnt that he was “struggling emotionally to even grasp the thought of leaving his family.”
Rothfield also said there’s a positive element to the timing.
“It gives the Warriors some clarity, they’re not going to get shocked in September by it,” he said.
The Warriors will play their first game at home in two years in a fortnight, after being forced to play in Australia due to Covid restrictions.
They have been based on the Central Coast and then Redcliffe.
Brown has been under pressure in recent weeks after five consecutive losses, most recently a thumping at the hands of Manly.
He previously coached the Dragons and Knights, and has a career win percentage of 49 per cent, including his time in the Super League where he coached St Helens to the 2014 title.
Story first published on Fox Sports Australia