The search for Adam O’Brien’s successor is reportedly over with the Newcastle Knights set to confirm their new head coach.
Beating out candidates Blake Green, Brian McDermott and Dean Young, News Corp is reporting that former Gold Coast Titans coach Justin Holbrook is set to be named the club’s new coach.
It is understood that his previous experience coaching in the NRL played a large role in his appointment and a decision was made by the five-man committee of CEO Peter Parr, General Manager Chris James, Michael Hagam, Director Tony Price and Chairman Geoff Coburn, per The Sydney Morning Herald.
A former head coach of the Gold Coast Titans and Papua New Guinea, Holbrook’s arrival comes as he has spent the past couple of seasons under Trent Robinson at the Sydney Roosters.
As a coach at the Titans, he had a 37 per cent winning rate, securing 30 wins and 51 losses.
Before then, in his first head coaching role, he won the 2019 Super League Grand Final with St Helens. In his three seasons at St Helens, Holbrook won 70 out of a possible 87 games.
“I want to be a head coach again, definitely, I don’t have any doubts about that,” Holbrook told The Courier-Mail in 2024.
“I’m enjoying my time back at the Roosters, but I learnt a lot from my time at the Titans and that will hold me in good stead for any opportunity that comes up.”