Kristian Woolf

Not to be confused with Christian Wulff.

Kristian Woolf

Personal information
Born	(1975-07-06) 6 July 1975 (age 49) Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia [1]
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2019 Newcastle Knights 2 1 0 1 50 2020–22 St Helens 80 61 0 19 76 2025– Dolphins 0 0 0 0 Total 82 62 0 20 76 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 2014–24 Tonga 24 13 0 11 54
Source: [2] As of 2 November 2024

Kristian Woolf (born 6 July 1975) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL). At international level, he has coached Tonga.

While Woolf was the head coach of St Helens in the British Super League, they won the 2020, 2021 and 2022 grand finals. Separately, Woolf has also been an interim head coach of the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.

Playing career

Woolf was born and raised in Mount Isa, Queensland. He 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]

In the 2017 Rugby League World Cup, Woolf guided Tonga to beat NZ Kiwi and a thriller with England at Semi Final.

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]

After defeating NZ Kiwi in 2017, Woolf led Tonga in 2019 to defeat both the British Lions Rugby League and the World Champion Australian Kangaroos.

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 the Catalans Dragons. ^[16] On 24 September 2022, Woolf coached St Helens in their 2022 Super League Grand Final victory over Leeds in his final game in charge of the club. ^[17]

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	2	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

Dolphins

In late 2022, Woolf was signed as an assistant coach by the Dolphins for their inaugural 2023 season in the National Rugby League competition. He became head coach for the 2025 season onwards when his mentor Wayne Bennett moved on.

Personal life

Woolf is married and has four children. ^[18] Woolf's younger brother, Ben, is an assistant coach with the Dolphins (NRL). Their sister, Katie Woolf, is a radio commentator on Mix 104.9 FM Darwin. ^[19]

Sporting positions
Preceded by Wayne Bennett 2023-2024	Coach Dolphins 2025-present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Charlie Tonga 2010-2013	Coach Tonga 2014-present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Nathan Brown 2016-2019	Coach (interim) Newcastle Knights 2019	Succeeded by Adam O'Brien 2020-present
Preceded by Justin Holbrook 2017-2019	Coach St Helens 2020-2022	Succeeded by Paul Wellens 2023-present

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. Bower, Aaron (24 September 2022). "St Helens sink Leeds to win record fourth consecutive Grand Final". The Observer.
18. "How an Aussie led a 'busted' UK rugby league team to glory". ABC News. 29 October 2021.
19. "360 with Katie Woolf".