Nathan Brown could headline a list of candidates to fill the Warriors’ vacant head coaching role following the shock sacking of Stephen Kearney.

The Warriors will on Sunday begin the search to replace Kearney, who was unceremoniously dumped after the club’s underwhelming start to the season.

The likes of former Penrith coach Anthony Griffin, Sydney Roosters deputy Craig Fitzgibbon, and Melbourne No.2 Jason Ryles are all expected to be in the mix.

However, Brown, the former Newcastle and St George Illawarra mentor, could be the early frontrunner, having been brought on as a consultant over the pre-season.

Warriors CEO Cameron George refused to confirm whether Brown, who himself was dumped as Newcastle coach last August, would be considered for the role.

“You’d have to ask Nathan. I’m not going to sit here and say whether he’s a candidate or not. You’d have to ask those individuals,” George said.

“At the end of the day, myself and our owners will sit down and work out who and when we talk to people and make that decision at the appropriate time.

“We’ve got to control the situation.

“No doubt we’ll be linked to a myriad of people, which is fair enough.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got to get this right and we’ll take whatever process we need to, to give us the best shot at getting it right.

“That’s the most important thing for me.”

The Warriors’ brutal call to axe Kearney is set to cost them a reported $2 million, given the former New Zealand coach was in the first 12 months of a three-year extension.

That figure would take up over a third of this year’s football department cap, which is believed to be soft capped at $5.7 million.

But George indicated club owner Mark Robinson, whose firm Autex Industries took sole ownership late last year, would wear the costs.

“Whilst we never like to have these discussions, we’re very comfortable commercially, which are very confidential,” he said.

“We’re comfortable where we’ve reached a middle ground.”

George, who said he didn’t regret handing Kearney an extension, suggested Robinson played a key role in the coach’s demise.

“You never make a bad decision at the time, do you,” George said.

“Hindsight will always educate you on those, and in this situation I never doubted that that was the right decision for the club at the time to do so.

“We’ve had three different owners in two-and-a half years as well, and we’ve all got a different vision of what the future looks like.

“We are where we are now because we’re making a decision about our future.”