Kristian Woolf “fully committed” to St Helens despite NRL speculation
St Helens coach Kristian Woolf says he is 100% committed to the Super League champions despite being linked with a number of coaching roles in the NRL.
The 46-year-old has been with Saints since the 2020 season. He has won back-to-back Super League Grand Finals with the club as well as a Challenge Cup.
Woolf has also spearheaded Tonga’s meteoric rise on the international scene, having taken over the coaching reins in 2014.
Fox Sports have named Woolf as a potential candidate to take the vacant head coaching job at NRL side Canterbury Bulldogs. Trent Barrett quit his role earlier this week.
But Woolf, whose contract with Saints is due to expire at the end of the season, insists he remains fully committed to the Super League champions.
When asked about his future by Love Rugby League, Woolf replied: “That’s not something that is cemented just yet.
“To be honest it is not something I want to talk too much about either; not so much because I don’t want to talk about things but from the point of view that my commitment is 100% in St Helens and 100% in what we are doing here.
“I do understand that there’s other speculation out there and that there’s things happening in Australia as well. But if I was to be worried about that then I wouldn’t be showing respect to this playing group and where we sit in the competition right now and what we’ve got the ability to achieve, that’s where my focus is, that’s where my attention is.
“I’m 100% committed to this group of players. I thoroughly believe we can achieve something really special here this year. I know that we’ve got a playing group that’s capable of that.
“We’ve had some hardship, we’ve had some injuries and we’ve lost some players for the season. But I still have the faith in this group about what we can do. That’s where all my energy and focus is going to go.”
Woolf confirmed that St Helens will announce contract extensions for a couple of his players over the next few weeks.
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