St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf will join NRL’s newest side the Dolphins as an assistant coach from 2023.
With one last home game in front of the St Helens fans ahead of him, Kristian Woolf is under no illusions about what he is leaving behind when he heads back to Australia at the end of the 2022 season.
St Helens club has found consistent success under his tenure, with two Grand Final wins, a Challenge Cup and a League Leaders’ Shield to their name but for Woolf, it is the “outstanding fans” and “terrific” players at the club who have made it such a difficult decision to make.
“It has been difficult for a number of reasons and the number one reason being how much I enjoy being here,” Woolf said.
“I love this club and its fans and obviously the playing group and staff I get to work with first and foremost every day.
“They are an outstanding group and everything you want in a footy team in terms of how they perform, how they compete, how they want to work together in the same direction to give themselves a real chance of winning but they are also terrific people.
“When you have got all those things, we really love living over here and we love living in St Helens and when all of those things add up, it makes it a really hard decision.
“I have got a real affection for what I am doing here with this great group of men and I want to give them all of my time and all of my attention and play my small part in what success we can have this year.”
‘St Helens has improved me immensely’
With all that he has achieved at the Saints, it came as no shock that Woolf had attracted heavy interest from the NRL and was cited as one of the most exciting emerging coaches in the game.
For Woolf, his three-year tenure at St Helens has been his biggest learning experience to date, working with elite players and evolving a winning mentality that can form the foundation from which he improves in Australia.
“I think I have improved a hell of a lot,” added Woolf.
“I think this playing group have helped me become a better coach as well.
“There is a lot of things that they have taught me about what winners look like and what it looks like to not just be winners sometimes but to be winners all the time and how to prepare that way but enjoy your footy and your training and each other’s company and that is something that this group does so well.
“We have got elite players here and you are always learning from your elite players.
“They throw things at us and you throw things at them and there are always discussions and looking at things a little bit differently and that is how we learn from players.
“The one thing that we have got in this group is a real honesty, especially with our senior players and when you have got that, we can take that feedback, we can take that they may come in and say that they don’t think something is working.
“That is the sort of relationship you have got here and when you have that sort of relationship, you are all learning off each other.”
Super League rivalries are outstanding | The top clubs would be competitive in the NRL
While Super League and the NRL are often compared, Woolf believes there is something special that Super League has that can’t be underestimated: Its history and its rivalries.
For him, that cannot be replicated and is what makes working in the Super League so special.
He said: “I have enjoyed everything about the English Super League and being in England.
“There is a whole lot of little differences that make it really good.
“The thing I would always go to first, the most positive thing about the competition over here is the history and the rivalry that comes with that history – it is outstanding.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights of the Super League clash between Wigan Warriors and St Helens
“When we played Wigan last week, it wasn’t a great night for us, but that doesn’t take away from the fact it was a great atmosphere, it is two crowds that go at each other for 80 minutes like the players are.
“There is a real passion there and the English crowds have a way of involving themselves in the game, enjoying the game, the singing, the banter and all that goes with that.
“For me coming over from Australia, all the Australian players would say the exact same thing.
“It makes it exciting, it makes it fun to be a part of, it makes it a really memorable experience and that is only one thing.”
Indeed, he think the product as a whole is one that should be “celebrated” more, with some of the top clubs leading the way for the future of the English game.
“I think we have got a great product over here and at times, in the game itself, we tend to downplay it a bit and focus on the negatives over here.
“There are a lot of positive clubs, a lot of great clubs, a lot of great rivalries within those clubs, some outstanding players and I think sometimes that can be celebrated a little bit more than it is.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights of the Betfred Super League match between St Helens amd Wigan Warriors
“I will talk about our team rather than the others, but if you go through our team, every single English player in our starting 13 would all be real success stories in the NRL.
“The other players in our team who aren’t English have come from the NRL and have been established in the NRL and done a great job in the NRL.
“That gives you the indication of the strength of a team like ours or like Wigan or like a Catalans.
“Those teams that are at the top are right up there in terms of those calibre of teams and calibre of player.
“If a coach or a player ever came to me for advice because they were considering coming over here to take a role at a club like St Helens then I would be telling them it would be a great experience that they should go and do.”
So why is he leaving?
With such a positive experience of Super League, the question will be asked why Woolf has decided now is the time to head back home.
While a multitude of factors will be at play, there is one that cannot be ignored: The lure of working with Wayne Bennett.
Considered one of the greatest Rugby League coaches in the history of the game, Woolf admitted working with Bennett was one of the attractions that sealed the deal for him to sign on as an assistant for NRL’s newest side the Dolphins.
“We are always learning as coaches, I still have plenty to learn, there is no doubt about that.
“I have improved immensely but I still have a lot of improvement in me still and being able to work alongside
Wayne, there is no doubt he is the most successful coach in our game who is currently coaching.
“If there is someone you want to go and work beside and shadow and learn off and see what their point of difference is, he is certainly the one alongside your Craig Bellamys and your guys like that who have had that sort of success.
“That is a big part of the lure of why I am going to go and something I am looking forward to.”
In three weeks’ time, he will have either sealed St Helens’ fourth Grand Final victory in a row, lost at Old Trafford or have watched Super League’s biggest night from home after a semi-final defeat. But what is for sure is that he will be leaving St Helens a lasting legacy.
