The Newcastle Knights have appointed Nathan Brown as their head coach for the 2016 NRL season.

Knights chairman Brian McGuigan said on Thursday that the club’s board has agreed to the appointment of Brown and he will be formally announced next week after contract details have been finalised.

Brown, 42, coached St George Illawarra for six seasons from 2003 and in doing so became the youngest non-playing coach in the NRL.

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He was replaced at the Dragons by Wayne Bennett in 2008 and then moved to England where he coached Huddersfield and St Helens, winning the 2014 Super League premiership with the Saints.

Brown returned to Australia this year and has been based in Sydney working as a coaching consultant for the Melbourne Storm.

He also assisted Laurie Daley in preparing the New South Wales State of Origin team this year.

The Newcastle coaching job became available after the Knights sacked Rick Stone in July.

Following Stone’s departure, former Knights captain Danny Buderus has been interim coach at the club.

Both Parramatta coach Brad Arthur and Souths mentor Michael Maguire had been linked to the job but McGuigan confirmed Brown as the successful candidate on ABC 1233 Newcastle radio on Thursday.

“He will be our coach for the future and he has great credentials,” McGuigan said.

“He led St Helens to one or two premierships whilst he was in the United Kingdom which has added to the complexity of his experience, but more particularly he really loves Newcastle.

“We have to make sure that we do our best as a board to put together a winning team. He promised me a premiership within a couple of years, so that’s all I can ask.”

– ABC