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Born | Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia [1] | 6 July 1975|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [2] As of 19 April 2024 |
Kristian Woolf (born 6 July 1975) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the assistant coach of the Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL) and the head coach of Tonga at international level.
He previously was the head coach of St Helens whom he coached to the 2020, 2021 and the 2022 Super League Grand Final wins, four straight for the club and three straight for Woolf. He was also interim head coach of the Newcastle Knights in the NRL.
Hailing from Mount Isa, Queensland, Woolf played for the Souths Magpies in Brisbane between 1996 and 1997.
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]
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]
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 |
In late 2022, Woolf was signed as an assistant coach by the Dolphins for their inaugural 2023 season in the National Rugby League competition. In 2025, he is to replace Wayne Bennett as head coach.
Woolf's brother, Ben, is the current coach of the Tweed Heads Seagulls Queensland Cup side. [18]
His sister Katie Woolf is one of Australia’s only female commercial talkback radio broadcasters, on Mix FM Darwin. Meet Katie Woolf
The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by fifteen teams, thirteen of which are based in Queensland, with one based in New South Wales and one in Central Province, Papua New Guinea.
Aaron Payne is an Australian rugby league coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Townsville Blackhawks in the Intrust Super Cup. Primarily a hooker, he played his entire career for the North Queensland Cowboys.
Neville Costigan is a Papua New Guinean former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A Papua New Guinea international and Queensland State of Origin representative forward, he played in the National Rugby League for Australian clubs the Brisbane Broncos, the Canberra Raiders, the St. George Illawarra Dragons and Newcastle Knights. Costigan then finished his career in the Super League with the Hull Kingston Rovers.
David Tangata-Toa is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and current assistant coach for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL). Primarily a prop, he played for the Hull Kingston Rovers and Celtic Crusaders in the Super League.
David Fairleigh is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and current assistant coach for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL). An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played the majority of his club football in Australia for the North Sydney Bears, winning 1994's Rothmans Medal. This was followed by a season at the Newcastle Knights, and another in England at St. Helens, with whom he won the 2001 Challenge Cup Final before retiring. Since retiring in 2001 he has spent the last 19 years coaching in the NRL mainly as an Assistant Coach. Teams he has worked at include the Newcastle Knights, Parramatta Eels, New Zealand Warriors, Penrith Panthers and the Nth Queensland Cowboys.
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Rohan Smith is an Australian rugby league coach who is head coach of Leeds Rhinos and a former head coach of Tonga, the Bradford Bulls and the Norths Devils.
Kalifa Faifai Loa is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger for the Townsville Blackhawks in the Queensland Cup. A New Zealand and Samoa international representative, he previously played for the North Queensland Cowboys, Gold Coast Titans and the St. George Illawarra Dragons. Switched codes in 2020 playing in the Townsville district rugby union for the Western Suburbs Dragons and scoring 14 tries in 14 games at full back
Kelepi Tanginoa. Tanginoa is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop, second-row forward and loose forward for Hull KR in the Super League.
Zachary Santo is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for Toulouse Olympique in the RFL Championship. He plays at fullback and wing, and formerly played for the Limoux Grizzlies, North Queensland Cowboys and the Canberra Raiders.
The Townsville & Districts Blackhawks are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. The club was admitted to the Queensland Cup in September 2014, first competing in the 2015 season. The side plays their home games at Jack Manski Oval.
2015 was the eighth competitive season for the Cairns based Sea Swift Northern Pride Rugby League Football Club. They were one of 14 clubs that played in the twentieth season of Queensland's top rugby league competition, QRL's Intrust Super Cup, with each team playing 11 home games and 12 away games over 25 weeks between March and August.
Delouise Hoeter is a Tongan professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL).
The 2015 Townsville Blackhawks season was the first in the club's history. Coached by Kristian Woolf and captained by Daniel Beasley, they competed in the Intrust Super Cup. The club won the minor premiership before losing in the grand final 20-32 to the Ipswich Jets.
The 2017 Rugby League World Cup Asia-Pacific qualification play-off was a rugby league match that was played on 17 October 2015 at Campbelltown Stadium in Australia. Tonga defeated the Cook Islands 28–8 to qualify for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.
The 2015 Queensland Cup season was the 20th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition, known as the Intrust Super Cup due to sponsorship from Intrust Super, featured 14 teams playing a 29-week long season from March to September.
Rhyse Martin is a Papua New Guinea international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League.
Jake Clifford is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a halfback and five-eighth for North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL.
The 2019 Townsville Blackhawks season was the fifth in the club's history. Coached by Aaron Payne and captained by Sam Hoare, they competed in the Intrust Super Cup. Payne, a former North Queensland Cowboys player and Townsville junior, took over as head coach from Kristian Woolf, who joined the Newcastle Knights as an assistant coach.
The 2019 Queensland Cup season was the 24th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition, known as the Intrust Super Cup due to sponsorship from Intrust Super, featured 14 teams playing a 27-week long season from March to September.