GIANTS coach Nathan Brown intends to make an announcement over his future "in the next week or two" but insists the uncertainty is not having a de-stabilising effect on his team.
The Giants have slipped off the top of Engage Super League after losing two of their last three matches amid speculation that the former St George boss is set to return to Australia when his contract runs out in November.
Brown, whose wife recently gave birth to a fourth child, has not yet made up his mind but intends to make a decision soon.
"I’ve always said I’d wait a few weeks after the baby was born to make a decision," he said. "In the next week or two, I’d like to get it settled – not only for my own sake but for the club’s sake, for recruiting and retaining players going forward.
"I’d like to think in the next couple of weeks we’ll get things sorted, one way or the other about what’s going to happen."
Huddersfield’s mini slump has brought comparisons with their disappointing mid-season spell a year ago when they went on a four-match losing run between Brown announcing he was to leave the club a year early and performing an about-turn.
Brown, Super League coach of the year in 2009 after guiding the Giants to the Challenge Cup final and a third-place finish in the League, insists the uncertainty has affected the performances of his players.
"I’d like to think not," he said. "We’ve got a pretty reasonable leadership group in place and, if the right people set the right examples on and off the field, it shouldn’t really matter.
"If you look at the NRL, the best coach in the history of the game is Wayne Bennett and he’s leaving St George but they’re going like clockwork.
"It shouldn’t really matter who’s going to coach next year or next week. The team should be able to perform at a pretty good level most weeks.
"Everyone has an off week, that happens. We have been down a little bit in the past three or four weeks but it’s easy to make an excuse about what’s happening with the coach.
"I think we need to just knuckle down and not worry about who’s doing what and I’m sure things will work out well for us."
As Huddersfield prepare to face St Helens in Saturday’s match of the round, captain Kevin Brown believes his side’s run of poor form as his boss ponders his future is coincidence.
"It’s not affected my form and it’s not been spoken about in training," he said. "As a player, you get paid to play and whether he’s here or not next year it shouldn’t make a difference now.
"It seems like a big coincidence, like last year as well. Hopefully, we’re over that now. Browny has had a chat to a few of us and hopefully we can kick on and have that period done with."
Meanwhile, no date has yet been set for Brown’s disciplinary hearing following belated news that he is to be charged by the Rugby Football League over comments he made after his side’s 38-6 win at Leeds last month.
Brown, who said he would be encouraging his players to take the law into their own hands if match officials fail to protect the game’s playmakers, is facing a charge of breaching the RFL’s Respect Policy.
"I’m not too worried about it, to be honest," he said. "I’m more worried about St Helens. I’ve got more important things to do than worry about trying to justify what I said to people."
