ALEX Brown can forge himself a long-term coaching future at Gloucester, believes Nigel Davies.
The stalwart Kingsholm second row has been forced into early retirement after sustaining nerve damage in his left shoulder.
Full nerve transfer surgery means he may never recover total movement in his arm and shoulder.
Bristol-born Brown sustained the injury in Gloucester's 24-19 season-opening defeat to Northampton Saints, but has offered a helping hand to the Cherry and Whites' coaching staff since.
Confirming that Brown will continue that lineout coordination until at least March, rugby director Davies admitted he would like to retain the 33-year-old's services beyond that.
He said: "Alex is here until the end of March and we're just reviewing the situation.
"He's still doing a lot of work on the technical side of the lineout, and we're just having a look at one or two other things over the course of the next few months.
"Alex has a particular skill-set, and can prove valuable to the club moving forward and we just need to see how that pans out really over the next couple of months.
"It's a very tough process for players to acclimatise after retirement in the professional era.
"You've got players now who have only known professional rugby.
"In my era it was different because we all had jobs and careers we could turn to, but that's not the case anymore.
"It's pretty brutal nowadays, it's a black hole and very few players will be able to deal with it completely without issues.
"Rugby's such a tough profession for youngsters to go into these days.
"Maybe only the top ten per cent of players will earn enough to retire on, and the vast majority will have to have a career after rugby.
"It's a very difficult transition and we'll certainly try to help Alex through that."
