Brown on his way back to OZ

I've given Brown some grief on these boards in the past - not as much as some, but more than others. However, time to man up and admit I was wrong. Brown never won over the fans (or me) partly because many of us want to see a coach who bleeds Saints, and who gets upset when we lose, and happy when we win. Brown's laid-back approach never quite sat well with that desire.

Nevertheless, in his tenure, he has left us in a much better position than he found us. We were a team on the decline. We are now a team on the up. He's really developed some young players who are now staking claims for long-term berths in the first team. He's recruited well, with Amor a great acquisition, Burns and Walsh potentially tremendous business, and even Masoe is now coming out of his shell. I'd also say that Dawson, for what he costs us, was a good bit of business. Crucially, despite the horrendous injuries to key players, we still finished top of the pile, and led most of the season, and now we're in the Grand Final with two very solid performances considering we're a team with no half-backs. There has to be some credit given to Brown for that.

Sure we can always pick holes - nobody is perfect, and everyone ill have their own idea of what Brown could have done differently/better. But with two fit halves next season, the return of Lomax and Wilkin, and the further development of the young players we have, plus the return of the winning mentality which has seen us win our first silverware for years, he leaves us in much better shape than he found us.

Good luck to him, and thanks.

Let speculation begin about the successor....