Kristian Woolf expects to come under pressure when he takes over Super League champions St Helens next week.

But, after coming up trumps in the bitter feud that ripped apart Tonga rugby, Woolf is ready for anything.

The 44-year-old Tonga coach, who takes over from Coach of the Year Justin Holbrook, said: “They are big shoes to fill and that comes with positives and some negatives.

“But I would not have taken the job if I didn’t think I would be fine with the pressure. It’s something I am really looking forward to.”

Woolf led Tonga to the World Cup semi-finals in 2017 (
Image:
Getty Images)

Woolf steered Tonga to a well-deserved 14-6 win over Great Britain last weekend and the islanders go head-to-head with Australia on Saturday. It comes just weeks after Woolf was sacked as bitter in-fighting brought chaos to the 2017 World Cup semi-finalists.

The players, including several high-profile NRL stars, threatened to boycott the team unless Woolf was re-instated. They got their way and Woolf returned, sparking more threats of legal action from the previous board before a truce was called this week.

So it’s no wonder that the Australian father-of-four reckons he can deal with any challenges Super League throws up.

He said: “The real positive out of this is it puts Tonga in the spotlight. When it all hits the fan, then you get the opportunity to pull it apart and start again. We get to be the ones that lead the reform and set the whole thing up a bit differently.

Woolf takes charge of a St Helens side that lifted this season's Super League title (
Image:
Getty Images)

“Saints have been really supportive and encouraged me to remain a part of these Tests and part of it going forward.

“But one thing I have got to make sure of is that any involvement with Tonga doesn’t impact on Saints. It’s great to be part of a club with such a terrific history of success and my opportunity is to build on that.

“We do not have to reinvent ourselves but we have to find ways to be better in a couple of areas and we have identified where they can get better. What we can’t do is just think that what the team did this year is good enough, because the competition will be stronger next season.”

Woolf only played low-level rugby growing up and became a teacher before falling into coaching almost by accident. Since then he has worked as an assistant at a few NRL clubs and was in charge at Newcastle Knights for two games when Nathan Brown stepped down this year.

It's a background that will rile some people who’d rather see English coaches land the top jobs in Super League.

But Woolf said: “I cannot answer that one but obviously I back myself and know what I can bring.”