Former Wollongong Hawks coach Brendan Joyce has emerged as a shock candidate to rejoin the club in the NewNBL.Joyce was fired by the Hawks in highly controversial fashion in December 2006 and coached the Gold Coast Blaze for the past two seasons.But a Gold Coast newspaper reported on Monday that Joyce, who had served only two years of a four-year contract, was sacked by the Blaze three games before the end of the season.Wollongong's 2001 NBL title-winning coach was apparently given the option of standing down, but chose to see out the season.The Blaze won their final three games but his fate was already sealed. After guiding Gold Coast to the play-offs in his first season with the club, the Blaze won eight of 30 games in 2008-09 and finished with the wooden spoon.The article also stated that the Blaze would make an announcement on the club's coaching position this week, with former Brisbane coach Joey Wright almost certain to fill the vacancy.Joyce refused to comment on his situation with Gold Coast when approached by the Mercury yesterday.He also would not speculate on the possibility of applying for the coaching position with Wollongong.However, the former Australian Boomers assistant coach still has a strong affinity with the region and it is highly likely he would throw his hat in the ring with the Hawks if he is available.If former Blaze assistant coach Mark Watkins' comments are any guide, Joyce is definitely on the outer with the club.In a story in the same newspaper last week, Watkins said: "As far as I am concerned, there is confusion there (about Joyce) ... it is my belief that Brendan is not the coach at the moment. I told Brendan that something was going on 12 months ago and I really believed there was an agenda there to get rid of us."While Joyce did not want to discuss his status with the Blaze, he described the Hawks' last-minute comeback as "awesome"."It's fantastic news," he said."There's a 30-year history at the Hawks and I'm really happy for the club and the fans. It's tremendous news for Wollongong and the community and it's great the people still have a basketball team to follow."It's a job well done to the people involved in keeping the club alive and I think they'll build it into a success. I don't think they have the egos there anymore and the club will be in everybody's best interests."Obviously I wasn't happy with the way I left, but it was out of my control and most of the people involved in my sacking aren't there anymore. I moved on and the club is bigger than any individual."I'm still very attached to Wollongong and I was part of a championship with the Hawks. I had a lot of success there and still have a lot of friends there."