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Three time Grand Final winning coach reveals “tough decision” to move to NRL

Across the Super League era St Helens have been one of the most dominant sides, one of only four sides to ever win the competition and the side that has lifted the last four Grand Final trophies.

The Head Coach responsible for the most recent three of those four consecutive victories was Kristian Woolf which makes the Australian one of the most successful coaches in Super League history.

Three was enough for Woolf though as he’s undertaken a new challenge by switching back to the NRL where he will join former England boss Wayne Bennett and work with the NRL’s newest team, the Dolphins.

The 47-year-old has spoken with SEN in Australia to explain the decision to return to his native country and assume the so-called ‘apprenticeship’ role under Bennett.

Speaking on the broadcaster’s ‘Sportsday NSW’, he said: “It’s always a challenge because with clubs like St Helens, you have a lot of expectation, you’re expected to do well and you’re expected to be around the top. It certainly brings an element of pressure.

“We had to consider this decision as a family and it is a bit of a homecoming of sorts in coming back to Queensland. It was certainly the right time for not just myself (but) also for the family.

“It was a tough decision that we had to make.”

Woolf left Super League with an incredible record of three Grand Finals, one League Leaders Shield and an impressive win percentage of 77.1% across his 70 Super League games.

Despite that success and the challenge to go for an unprecedented fifth consecutive Grand Final the 47-year-old took up a different opportunity to work under the man many consider the greatest coach of all time, Wayne Bennett.

Woolf explained about the new venture: “It’s a real challenge and there are just so many things that need to be sorted out,” he continued.

“These are things you haven’t necessarily thought about when you roll into a club that hasn’t yet been established. There’s all sorts of things that are off the field and on the field.

“Everything is completely fresh and completely new and that’s one of the really exciting parts about it.

“We have a real opportunity to get everything right from the start and develop some behaviours that will be longstanding and set the club up for some long-term success.”

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