Justin Holbrook
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Justin Holbrook | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 13 January 1976 Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Halfback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As of 4 June 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Justin Holbrook (born 13 January 1976) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL and former professional rugby league footballer.
He previously coached St Helens in the Super League. He played as a goal-kicking halfback in the 1990s and 2000s for the Newcastle Knights, Penrith Panthers and the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League.[1]
Playing career[]
Holbrook commenced his National Rugby League career with the Newcastle Knights in 1999 under coach Warren Ryan. He spent the 2001 NRL season with the Penrith Panthers under coach Royce Simmons. For the 2002 NRL season Holbrook played for the Sydney Roosters under coach Ricky Stuart. That year he played for the Roosters in the first ever ANZAC Day Cup match, kicking a goal. 2002 would be Holbrook's last season at the top level.
Coaching career[]
Holbrook turned to coaching after retiring from playing. He worked on the coaching staff of the Canterbury Bulldogs, St George Illawarra and Parramatta before joining the Sydney Roosters as right hand man to Trent Robinson.[3] Holbrook also coached at representative level for Australia (under-21).[2] He was appointed to replace Keiron Cunningham as head coach of English Super League club St. Helens.[4]
On 31 July 2019, it was announced that Holbrook signed a contract to become the new head coach at the Gold Coast for the 2020 season. In the weeks leading up to the announcement, Gold Coast Chairman Dennis Watt said that the next coaching appointment at the Gold Coast would be the club's last stand if results were to not improve under the new coach.[5][6]
He was the St. Helens coach in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[7]
During the Super League XXIV season, Holbrook guided St Helens to the League Leaders Shield after finishing 16 points clear of second placed Wigan. Holbrook then coached St Helens to their 14th championship win after defeating Salford 23-6 in the 2019 Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford.[8][9][10]
Holbrook's reign as the Gold Coast head coach got off to a difficult start with the club losing their first three games. In round 4 against the Wests Tigers, Holbrook guided the club to their first win in 364 days as they won the match 28-23 at Suncorp Stadium.[11] The Gold Coast would go on to finish the 2020 season in 9th position, a major improvement on the previous year in which they finished last.[12] In the 2021 season, Holbrook guided the Gold Coast into the finals for the first time since 2016, as the club finished 8th. They were defeated 24-25 in the first week of the finals by the Sydney Roosters.[13]
References[]
- ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "St Helens confirm surprise appointment of Justin Holbrook as head coach". TheGuardian.com. 4 May 2017.
- ^ Bower, Aaron (13 July 2019). "St Helens make shock call and turn to Justin Holbrook to boost season". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ^ "St Helens head coach set to leave Super League leaders for Gold Coast". BBC Sport.
- ^ "Coach choice Titans' last stand: chairman". Katherine Times. 15 July 2019.
- ^ "St Helens 4-18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Daily Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
- ^ Unwin, Will (12 October 2019). "St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
- ^ "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
- ^ "St Helens give Justin Holbrook the perfect send-off with commanding Grand Final victory over Salford". The Daily Telegraph. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- ^ "Holbrook win just the start for Gold Coast". nrl.com. 7 June 2020.
- ^ "Ladder". National Rugby League. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "Roosters v Titans". National Rugby League. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
External links[]
- 1976 births
- Living people
- Australian rugby league coaches
- Australian rugby league players
- Gold Coast Titans coaches
- Newcastle Knights players
- Penrith Panthers players
- Rugby league halfbacks
- Rugby league hookers
- St Helens R.F.C. coaches
- Sydney Roosters players