Ex-St Helens boss in “last chance saloon” according to Australian publication

The new rugby league season is only around the corner and speculation is already mounting over what the 2023 season could hold in both Super League and the NRL.

However, it is set to be an up hill battle for one man who knows both competitions very well: Justin Holbrook.

The former St Helens coach is one of the best coaches we have seen in Super League. He took on a struggling St Helens side in 2017 and soon laid down the ground work for the dominating St Helens side we know today.

They should have won the treble in 2018 as they recorded a record number of wins in a Super League season to finish as League Leaders’ Shield winners with 52 points but lost both the Challenge Cup and Super League semi-finals to Catalans Dragons and Warrington Wolves respectively.

Likewise, in 2019, the treble probably should have been won as they cruised to top spot and defeated Salford Red Devils in the Grand Final but were beaten by Warrington Wolves in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley.

However, after leaving for Gold Coast in 2020 though his ability has again been there for all to see, he has yet to really make the Titans the side many expected him to do.

According to Fox League as we head into 2023 he is in the “last chance saloon”.

They said: “The Titans went within one pass last year of winning their first finals game since 2010 but they couldn’t back it up in 2022.

“Holbrook’s men won just one game between rounds 5-21 and they only avoided finishing second-last on points difference.

“Holbrook inherited a losing culture when he arrived at the end of 2019 and the club did make finals for the second time in a decade last year.

“But the 46-year-old is entering his fourth season and a poor start to the year will likely see him out of a job by Round 10.”