Justin Holbrook

Justin Holbrook (born 13 January 1976) is an Australian professional rugby league coach and former player who is the head coach of the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL. He took on the role of head coach of the Gold Coast Titans ahead of the 2020 NRL season.

Justin Holbrook
Personal information
Full nameJustin Holbrook
Born (1976-01-13) 13 January 1976
Australia
Playing information
PositionHalfback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1999–00 Newcastle Knights 5 2 10 0 28
2001 Penrith Panthers 8 1 0 0 4
2002 Sydney Roosters 4 1 13 0 30
Total 17 4 23 0 62
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2017–19 St Helens 87 70 0 17 80
2020– Gold Coast Titans 20 9 0 11 45
Total 107 79 0 28 74
As of 13 October 2019
Source: [1][2]

He played as a goal-kicking halfback in the 1990s and 2000s for the Newcastle Knights, Penrith Panthers and the Sydney Roosters in the NRL.[1]

Playing career

Holbrook commenced his National Rugby League career with the Newcastle Knights in 1999 under coach Warren Ryan. He spent the 2001 NRL season with the Penrith Panthers under coach Royce Simmons. For the 2002 NRL season Holbrook played for the Sydney Roosters under coach Ricky Stuart. That year he played for the Roosters in the first ever ANZAC Day Cup match, kicking a goal. 2002 would be Holbrook's last season at the top level.

Coaching career

Holbrook turned to coaching after retiring from playing. He worked on the coaching staff of the Canterbury Bulldogs, St George Illawarra and Parramatta before joining the Sydney Roosters as right hand man to Trent Robinson.[3] Holbrook also coached at representative level for Australia (under-21).[2] He was appointed to replace Keiron Cunningham as head coach of English Super League club St. Helens.[4]

On 31 July 2019, it was announced that Holbrook signed a contract to become the new head coach at the Gold Coast for the 2020 season. In the weeks leading up to the announcement, Gold Coast Chairman Dennis Watt said that the next coaching appointment at the Gold Coast would be the club's last stand if results were to not improve under the new coach.[5][6]

He was the St. Helens coach in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[7]

During the Super League XXIV season, Holbrook guided St Helens to the League Leaders Shield after finishing 16 points clear of second placed Wigan. Holbrook then coached St Helens to their 14th championship win after defeating Salford 23-6 in the 2019 Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford.[8][9][10]

Holbrook's reign as the Gold Coast head coach got off to a poor start with the club losing their first three games. In round 4 against the Wests Tigers, Holbrook guided the club to their first win in 364 days as they won the match 28-23 at Suncorp Stadium.[11]

References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/may/03/st-helens-coach-justin-holbrook-rugby-league
  4. Bower, Aaron (13 July 2019). "St Helens make shock call and turn to Justin Holbrook to boost season". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  5. "St Helens head coach set to leave Super League leaders for Gold Coast". BBC.
  6. "Coach choice Titans' last stand: chairman". Katherine Times.
  7. "St Helens 4-18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Daily Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  8. "St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  9. "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
  10. "St Helens give Justin Holbrook the perfect send-off with commanding Grand Final victory over Salford". The Daily Telegraph. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  11. "Holbrook win just the start for Gold Coast". nrl.com.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jamahl Lolesi
2017–2017		 Coach
St Helens R.F.C.
2017 –
Oct 2019		 Succeeded by
Kristian Woolf
2019–present
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