Kristian Woolf has signed a two-year deal with Super League club St Helens to become the new senior coach.
The 44-year-old will take the reigns from Justin Holbrook, who has taken on the top job at the Gold Coast Titans.
Woolf has spent the last five years in charge of Tonga, leading them to a World Cup semi-final berth in 2017, and was interim coach of Newcastle for the last two NRL rounds.
"Iโm excited and privileged to be joining St Helens as Head Coach," he told saintsrlfc.com
โItโs something I have always wanted to do and itโs a great opportunity for me.
โSt Helens is a club with an amazing history and Iโm confident we can achieve great things together.โ
Woolf will officially join the Saints in November and the club will hold a press conference to introduce him later in the year.
Saints chairman Eamonn McManus said: โWe consider that Kristian is ideally qualified and placed to build upon the current success of the team and the club.
โHe has the experience and expertise to bring the best out of our existing squad and to improve it further.
โWe 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.โ
