Ex-Super League boss Simon Woolford finds new coaching role

Former Huddersfield Giants head coach Simon Woolford has joined the Parramatta Eels’ coaching staff.

Woolford has a burgeoning reputation in both hemispheres as one with an eye for talent and will head up the Eels’ Jersey Flegg side as well as mentoring the club’s best youth players.

Parramatta reportedly won the race for his signature amidst a barrage of interest from other NRL clubs, according to the World Wide of Sports.

Woolford made over 250 NRL games as a player, but has since established himself as an eye for scouting talent since retiring in 2008.

He has coached Queanbeyan Blues in the Canberra competition, Huddersfield Giants in Super League and last year was assistant coach of Newcastle’s NSW Cup side.

Woolford took over the Giants in April 2018, but at the start of the 2020 Super League season, it was announced that the 46-year-old would be departing Huddersfield at the end of the campaign.

In September 2020, however, Woolford resigned from Huddersfield with immediate effect after a poor run of results with assistant coach Luke Robinson taking charge for the remainder of the season.

This move is thought by many to be a step up to an eventual coaching gig in the NRL.