Former Hull KR man receives New Zealand Warriors job despite interest in Kristian Woolf

Just as there is a player merry go round in Super League at the moment, in Australia there is a coaching merry go round with a number of coaching casualties in a short space of time.

One of those was Nathan Brown. The former Huddersfield Giants boss who also won a Grand Final with St Helens parted company with New Zealand Warriors recently.

The Warriors subsequently turned their attentions to another Grand Final winner with the Saints in the shape of their current boss Kristian Woolf who has masterminded back-to-back title wins and is hoping to take the Saints to an unprecedented fourth title in a row.

However, Woolf is said to have rejected the offer hoping to remain focused on Super League with the Saints as they chase more silverware.

That prompted the Warriors to look at Penrith assistant coach and former Hull KR assistant Andrew Webster brother of James Webster who played for the Robins as Andrew helped out behind the scenes.

Reports down under yesterday from Zero Tackle and The Daily Telegraph stated that the Warriors had got their man in Webster meaning St Helens fans could breathe a sigh of relief with one of Woolf’s potential destinations up in smoke.

That news has been confirmed by the club this morning.

It’s a happy return for Webster who rejoins the club having spent time there as an assistant alongside spells at Wests and Hull KR as brother to former Hull KR man James Webster with the two of them arriving at Craven Park on the back of each other with Andrew even helping to mastermind Hull KR’s finest ever Super League season as they finished fourth in 2009.

“I’m excited and honoured about becoming head coach at the Vodafone Warriors,” he said “I feel we have a real opportunity to progress the club.”

So one of Woolf’s potential moves is no longer a worry but with Wests and Canterbury also on the look out for a new coach Saints are not out of the woods yet. Ironically, Woolf’s predecessor at St Helens Justin Holbrook is expected to lose his job at Gold Coast in the coming weeks meaning that the Saints could approach him should Woolf leave.

On Wednesday Woolf admitted his future is still up in the air and says when the time is right a decision will be made.

For him all his attention is on the huge game against Wigan on Saturday at the Magic Weekend.