Good luck Garth - you are going to need it.
That is Penrith great Martin Lang's message to Garth Brennan after hearing the Panthers reserve grade mentor is firming to become the next coach at NRL club Gold Coast Titans.
Lang backed Brennan for the job but admitted the current New Zealand World Cup assistant faced a baptism of fire as a rookie NRL head coach at the Titans - mostly due to controversial star Jarryd Hayne.
The last Titans coach - Neil Henry - was sacked in August after reportedly falling out with the ex-NFL player.
Ex-Queensland prop Lang said Brennan's Titans success would hinge on how he handled Hayne, even suggesting a player swap with Penrith playmaker Matt Moylan may be the best solution.
"Well done to him if he has got the job. But good luck Garth, you are going to need it," Lang told AAP.
"That's no disrespect to Garth. Everything I hear about him is very good.
"He's got a great knowledge, good relationship with the players.
"But at the end of the day it will come down to how he handles Jarryd Hayne.
"I know these NRL jobs are few and far between but that's a tough job to go into."
Lang reckoned there were worse ideas than a Moylan-Hayne swap if Brennan got the green light.
Moylan reportedly fell out with recently re-signed Penrith coach Anthony Griffin, missing the NRL finals campaign this year.
"Maybe he should swap him for Moylan at Penrith so Hayne can go to Sydney where he is happy, I don't know," Lang said.
"But as a first time coach Garth will know everybody needs to be treated differently.
"In many ways you have to treat someone like Hayne like a thoroughbred racehorse.
"But you have to set standards and if they are broken you have to pull everyone in line whether they are paid $1.2 million a year or $80,000."
Brennan is reportedly close to pipping sacked South Sydney coach Michael Maguire, Brisbane assistant Jason Demetriou and Ipswich's brothers Shane and Ben Walker for the Titans gig.
The decision will require approval from club owners the NRL.
Lang said the Hayne issue was just scratching the surface of what Brennan had to tackle at the Gold Coast.
A call on which consortium will buy the Titans off the NRL is not expected until November.
Halfback Ash Taylor has also delayed contract extension talks until the Titans' future is clearer but he becomes a free agent on November 1.
Other Titans can't wait - prized utility Tyrone Roberts announced a surprise move to English Super League club Warrington from next season.
"There's the club ownership, player retention, re-signing Ash Taylor, Roberts has gone to England - it's a big call taking on the Titans job," Lang said.
It is unclear whether Brennan - who won the 2014 NSW Cup with Penrith and the NSW Cup-NRL State Championship double this year - would relinquish the Kiwi assistant job if handed the Titans reins.
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