Head coaches going from Super League to the NRL is rare but not unthinkable, with a select number of bosses doing so in the past.
Willie Peters will become the latest to make the move down under as he leaves Hull KR to join the PNG Chiefs ahead of their inclusion in 2028.
Peters will have a full year to assemble his side before the play their first game in around 22 months time, but he can follow the blueprint of some former bosses that made the move from UK shores back down under.
Overall, there have been around a dozen men to have gone from a Super League to an NRL boss in the past. We have looked at the five most recent to make the switch, with three of them being former St Helens coaches.
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The last five Super League coaches to move to the NRL
Kristian Woolf (2022):
A winner of three Grand Finals at St Helens, Woolf went down as one of the most successful coaches in Super League during his stint at the Red Vee.
He departed the BrewDog Stadium at the end of 2022 to join Wayne Bennett at the Dolphins as an assistant, before he would take the reigns himself in 2024.
Since then, Woolf has overseen 30 NRL matches and has an exact win rate of 50%.
Justin Holbrook (2019):
Another former St Helens boss, Holbrook won the first of four Grand Finals in a row for the club, with his final season in Red Vee coming in 2019.
He moved to Gold Coast Titans for 2020, and had three and a half seasons at the club, overseeing 82 matches with a win rate of 38%.
His second head coach gig is looking a lot more fruitful and after taking the helm at Newcastle Knights this season he has won four of his opening five matches.
Nathan Brown (2014):
A head coach in Super League for six seasons, Brown was in charge of Huddersfield Giants between 2009 and 2012, before he joined Saints for 2013 and 2014.
After a year in the Melbourne Storm coaching set-up, he joined Newcastle Knights for four seasons, but couldn’t really make his mark.
A two-year spell at New Zealand Warriors between 2021 and 2022 was Brown’s last coaching gig down under, and he has an NRL win rate of 41%.
Trent Robinson (2012):
Three-time NRL Grand Final winner Robinson was actually the head coach of Catalans Dragons in 2011 and 2012.
Following that spell, he became head coach of the Sydney Roosters, where he is still the boss to this day.
Overseeing 341 NRL matches to date, he has won 213 of those giving him a win rate of 62%.
Robinson is still a keen advocate for French Rugby League and is still part of the nation’s staff at international level.
Michael Maguire (2011):
‘Madge’ coached Wigan Warriors for two years in 2010 and 2011, winning a Grand Final in his first year in Cherry and White.
Moving t0 South Sydney for 2012, he led the side to a Grand Final in 2014. He has had a four-year stint at Wests Tigers and is the current boss of Brisbane Broncos, whom he won a Premiership with in 2025.
In 266 NRL games, he has won 135 matches, a win rate of just over 50%.
