Incoming Dolphins’ assistant coach Kristian Woolf will arrive at his new club a three-time English Super League champion.
Woolf led his St Helens team to their third premiership in a row with a 24-12 victory over Leeds at the weekend.
It means he will arrive at the Dolphins as the only Australian coach to have won three English Super League titles.
Woolf also added a Challenge Cup final win in his three years in the northern hemisphere.
Typically player focused, Woolf paid tribute to his team members, with the Saints now racking up four straight grand final wins after also winning the year before Woolf arrived at the proud club.
No club has been able to do that since the English Super League was established in 1996.
"Winning my first grand final was my greatest achievement, so being able to do three in a row is absolutely outstanding,” said Woolf after the match.
"But as I've said all along, it's not me, it's this group of men. They've been absolutely outstanding and they deserve everything they get.
"They deserve to be known as the best team in the Super League era - there's no doubt about that.
"You can't compare eras, in terms of who are the better players. But you can compare success and results and that's what this group deserve.
"I love the way they fight. That bond they've got, that desire not to let each other down, is certainly the best I've ever dealt with.”
Woolf will now turn his focus to leading the Tonga team into the Rugby League World Cup that starts on October 15.
He will be hoping to go one better than the World Cup semi-final place he achieved with Tonga at the 2017 tournament.
At the conclusion of the World Cup, Woolf will take up his new role as Wayne Bennett’s right-hand man at the Dolphins, ahead of his expected move into the head coaching position in 2025.
