Kristian Woolf

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Kristian Woolf
Personal information
Born (1975-07-06) 6 July 1975 (age 46)
Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia[1]
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2019 Newcastle Knights 2 1 0 1 50
2020– St Helens 34 25 0 9 74
Total 36 26 0 10 72
Representative
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2014– Tonga 15 9 0 6 60
As of 18 June 2021
Source: [2]

Kristian Woolf (born 6 July 1975) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of St Helens in the Betfred Super League and Tonga at international level.

He previously was the interim head coach of the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.

Playing career[]

Hailing from Mount Isa, Queensland, Woolf played for the Souths Magpies in Brisbane between 1996 and 1997.

Coaching career[]

In 2002, Woolf began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the Townsville Brothers in the Townsville & District Rugby League (TDRL) competition. At the same time, Woolf was teaching at Ignatius Park College and coaching their senior rugby league side, winning the Queensland State Schoolboys Championship in 2004.[3]

In 2005, Woolf joined the North Queensland Cowboys as their junior development manager. After holding the role for four seasons, Woolf became the team's NYC coach in 2009. He took the side to the finals for the first time in 2010 and to their first Grand Final in 2011, which they lost in golden point to the New Zealand Warriors.[4]

In 2012, Woolf joined the Brisbane Broncos as an assistant coach to Anthony Griffin.[5]

In 2015, he returned to North Queensland as the inaugural coach of the new Intrust Super Cup side, the Townsville Blackhawks.[6] In the club's first season, the side finished in first place and qualified for the Grand Final, losing to the Ipswich Jets.[7][8]

Woolf was appointed head coach of the Tongan national team in 2014. In October 2015, Woolf recorded his first win with Tonga in the Asia-Pacific 2017 World Cup qualifying game against the Cook Islands.[9] In 2016, Woolf's Tonga team suffered a second straight defeat by Samoa in the Polynesian Cup.[10]

On 26 September 2018, Woolf officially left his role as Blackhawks' head coach, which he held for four seasons, to take up an assistant coaching position with the Newcastle Knights.[11]

On 27 August 2019, Woolf was named interim head coach with Newcastle for the remainder of the 2019 season after Nathan Brown stepped down.[12]

On 10 September 2019, it was announced that Woolf would take up the head coach role at St. Helens in 2020, signing a two-year contract with the club having the option to extend a further year.[13]

He coached St Helens in the club's 8-4 2020 Super League Grand Final victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull.[14]

He coached St. Helens to victory in the 2021 Challenge Cup Final with a 26-12 victory over Castleford at Wembley Stadium.[15] On 9 October 2021, Woolf coached St. Helens to their 2021 Super League Grand Final victory over Catalans Dragons.[16]

Tonga record[]

Opponent Played Won Drew Lost Win Ratio (%)
 Cook Islands 1 1 0 0 100.00
 England 1 0 0 1 00.00
 Fiji 1 1 0 0 100.00
 Lebanon 1 1 0 0 100.00
 New Zealand 1 1 0 1 50.00
 Papua New Guinea 1 0 0 1 00.00
 Samoa 3 1 0 2 33.00
 Scotland 1 1 0 0 100.00
TOTAL 10 6 0 4 60.00
World Cup record
Year Round Position GP W L D
Australia/New Zealand/Papua New Guinea 2017 Third place 3/14 5 4 1 0
Total 0 Titles 0/1 5 4 1 0

Personal life[]

Woolf's brother, Ben, is the current coach of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side.[17]

His sister Katie Woolf is one of Australia’s only female commercial talkback radio broadcasters, on Mix FM Darwin. Meet Katie Woolf

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Charlie Tonga
2010-2013
 Coach
Tonga
Tonga
2014-present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
Nathan Brown
2016-2019
 Coach (interim)
Newcastle colours.svg
Newcastle Knights
2019 		Succeeded by
Adam O'Brien
2020-present
Preceded by Coach
Saintscolours.svg
St Helens
2020-present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent

References[]

  1. ^ "Blackhawks head west". Qrl.com.au. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Kristian Woolf - Summary - Rugby League Project". Rugby League Project.
  3. ^ "Head coach named for Blackhawks". Cowboys.com.au. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  4. ^ Barton, Joe (2 October 2011). "Warriors win Toyota Cup thriller". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Woolf hungry for Cowboys glory". Couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  6. ^ "The Woolf pack". Townsville Bulletin. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Blackhawks clinch minor premiership". Nrl.com. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Ipswich Jets win Intrust Super Cup". Nrl.com. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Tonga qualify for 2017 World Cup". Nrl.com. 17 October 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  10. ^ "Samoa v Tonga: Five key points". Nrl.com. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Farewell to Coach Kristian Woolf". 26 September 2018.
  12. ^ "Nathan Brown to depart Newcastle Knights, effective immediately". National Rugby League. 27 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Kristian Woolf to leave Knights for St Helens". Newcastle Knights. 10 September 2019.
  14. ^ "Super League Grand Final: Wigan 4-8 St Helens". BBC Sport.
  15. ^ "Challenge Cup: St Helens beat Castleford 26-12 for first Wembley victory since 2008". BBC Sport.
  16. ^ "Super League Grand Final: Catalans Dragons 10-12 St Helens: Saints win three in a row". BBC Sport.
  17. ^ http://www.tweedheadsseagulls.com.au/news/ben-woolf-is-seagulls-isc-coach-for-2018.html
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