
England and NRL star Herbie Farnworth has spoken about his excitement about playing under former St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf for the Dolphins in 2025.
Woolf led St Helens to three Super League Grand Final wins in three seasons during his time in England but the former Saints boss is now set to step into a top NRL role for the first time proper after taking over at the Dolphins.
The 49-year-old did coach two games at Newcastle Knights as the interim head coach at the end of the 2019 season when fellow ex-St Helens boss Nathan Brown stepped down.
However, the 2025 season will mark the first season in which Woolf is a full-time NRL head coach. That follows the departure of ‘Super Coach’ Wayne Bennett, who Woolf had worked under for the past two seasons, with Bennett rejoining his former club South Sydney Rabbitohs.
As such, Woolf takes the reigns of an NRL organisation for the first time and he’s got quite the task to take on with the Dolphins not expected to make much of a run at it in 2025.
In their two seasons thus far, the Dolphins are yet to make the top eight and bookmakers Sky Bet make them outsiders to do so in 2025 – pricing them at 40/1 to win the comp and 5/2 to make the play-offs.
Farnworth looking forward to working under ex-St Helens boss for 2025
Despite those low expectations, England star international Herbie Farnworth has spoken about his excitement to play under Woolf in 2025.
Farnworth was named as Player of the Series when England faced off against Samoa in the autumn – only adding to his legacy as one of the best centres in the world, something that was certified in 2024 when he was named to the NRL Dream Team for the second year running.
He will be one of Woolf’s main weapons in 2025 and the Englishman has spoken on what it will be like now that the former St Helens boss in in full control at Redcliffe.
Speaking to Zero Tackle, Farnworth said: “Obviously had a lot to do with him (in 2024) being an assistant and seeing what he can do over in the Super League and what he’s done for St Helens over there, he’s an absolute icon over in England.
“I’m looking forward to playing underneath him this next season.
“He brings a lot of tough to high standards and it’s going to be interesting how he comes out.”
The Dolphins were dealt a major blow when rookie full-back Trai Fuller suffered an ACL injury, something that Farnworth has described as a ‘massive loss’ for the club.
“It was horrible,” Farnworth said of the injury.
“He was huge for us (in 2024) and I think he was a big part of our plans for next season, but just a long road ahead for him.”
