The search for Adam O'Brien's successor is over with the Newcastle Knights confirming Justin Holbrook will take over.
The Sydney Roosters assistant and former Gold Coast Titans boss has been locked in on a three-year deal that will see him coach the Knights until at least the end of 2028 after he beat out a list of candidates believed to include current Knights' assistants Blake Green, Brian McDermott and Dean Young.
The Knights revealed in a statement that the board of directors endorsed the recommendation of a five-person subcommittee that included former premiership-winning coach Michael Hagan as well as CEO Peter Parr, general manager Chris James, Director Tony Price and Chairman Geoff Coburn on Monday evening.
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 during a difficult time period for the club.
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.”
