After retiring from rugby league at the end of this season, two Super League players will make the move back to Australia as reports show they will take up coaching jobs in the NRL.
Former St Helens coach Justin Holbrook has recently joined Newcastle Knights as their head coach, replacing Adam O’Brien. Australian media linked Super League coaches Willie Peters and Brad Arthur to the role, but the job was given to 49-year-old Holbrook, who left his role as assistant coach at Sydney Roosters to take the opportunity.
One of the first things on his agenda will be to assign his coaching staff, and bring in who he wants to help coach an underperforming Knights side. Former Manly Sea Eagles assistant Steven Hales looks set to be one of Holbrook’s coaching team, and Catalans Dragons half-back, Luke Keary, is set to join him. The 33-year-old has retired from playing, despite still having an extra year on his contract.
It is thought he will now return to Australia and take up a role with the Knights’, and is set to join the club as a ‘attack and halves consultant’ from next season – as per The Sydney Morning Herald. Holbrook worked with Keary at his time at the Roosters, and has won three NRL Grand Finals in his career, and played a role in New South Wales’ State of Origin win in 2020.
Working with NRL stars such as Kalyn Ponga and Dylan Brown, Keary will try and help guide the halves and the attacking threat the Knights pose next year, something they have had a lot of trouble doing this year, as they averaged just 14 points per game.
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Also being reported to secure a coaching role down under is Hull KR prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. The Kiwi icon played the final year of his career at the Robins, and will leave the professional game after a 17-year career at the highest level. ‘JWH’ is set to return to the Roosters, where he spent all bar one year of his NRL career.
The 36-year-old will link back up with Sydney and work as a developmental coach, as he looks to help guide and nurture the club’s younger players in 2026.
