Super League club St Helens have appointed Tongan coach Kristian Woolf to succeed NRL-bound Justin Holbrook.

Woolf, who finished the NRL regular season as caretaker boss of Newcastle, will take up a two-year contract on November 1 as Saints’ new head coach.

“We consider that Kristian is ideally qualified and placed to build upon the current success of the team and the club,” St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus said.

In appointing the 44-year-old Woolf, Saints are continuing a growing trend of Super League clubs opting for NRL assistant coaches.

Trent Robinson and Michael Maguire achieved their mark in Super League with Catalans Dragons and Wigan respectively, before landing top jobs in the NRL.

Holbrook has followed suit and will begin pre-season training at battling Gold Coast in November on a two-year deal with the Titans.

“He has the experience and expertise to bring the best out of our existing squad and to improve it further,” McManus said.

“We are very confident that the Saints will seriously compete for honours under his tenure and that we will continue to play attractive and exciting rugby league.”

Woolf has been an assistant at Brisbane, North Queensland and the Knights. He famously guided Tonga to the 2017 World Cup semi-finals in which they lost 20-18 to England.

“I’m excited and privileged to be joining St Helens as head coach. It’s something I have always wanted to do and it’s a great opportunity for me,” Woolf said.

“St Helens is a club with an amazing history and I’m confident we can achieve great things together.”

AAP