TWO coaches who served part of their apprenticeships with the Newcastle Knights will battle it out for the Super League premiership in Saturday's grand final at Old Trafford.
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Kristian Woolf is chasing a hat-trick of titles with St Helens, before he returns to Australia to link with new NRL franchise the Dolphins as Wayne Bennett's understudy next season.
Saints' opponents in the decider will be Leeds Rhinos, coached since mid-season by Rohan Smith.
Woolf spent a year with the Knights in 2019 as an assistant, taking over as an interim head coach for the final two games of that campaign after Nathan Brown tendered his resignation.
Smith was on Newcastle's staff for three years, from 2007 to 2009, when his father Brian was at the helm.
He coached the Knights' under-20s for a season before following his father to Sydney Roosters. He has since had stints as a head coach of Bradford Bulls in the English second division, as well as Norths Devils, who he steered to the Queensland Cup premiership last season.
Leeds were second last in Super League when Smith arrived in April, after winning just one of their first 10 games.
They have since staged a remarkable resurrection and on Friday night produced an almighty 20-8 upset against Wigan, becoming the first team this season to beat the Warriors on their home turf.
"I came not knowing a lot, but I knew enough to know there was a good group of players and a good group of people," Smith said. "I'm really proud and privileged to be part of it. Now the dust is settling, we're starting to think about next week a bit."
The Rhinos may have to do without the services of Australian halfback Aiden Sezer, who was knocked senseless after he was hit high and late by Wigan's England forward John Bateman.
Bateman was sent off for the tackle on his former Canberra Raiders teammate.
"We haven't spoken to the doctor yet," Smith said.
"I'm trying to enjoy it for a few minutes.
"We'll talk about Aidan on the way home."
Wigan's misery was compounded by a foot injury to try machine Bevan French, who has been considering an offer to join Newcastle next season.
On Saturday, two tries in five minutes from second-rower Joe Batchelor helped Woolf's three-time defending champions to a 19-12 victory over Salford.
After a spellbinding semi-final, Woolf was given a guard of honour by his players to mark his last home game.
Saints will be looking to complete an unprecedented fourth successive grand final victory, in a repeat of the 2011 decider which Leeds won 32-16, while Woolf is going for a unique "threepeat" by any Super League coach.
Woolf said that a fourth straight premiership would ensure his team goes down in the annals of Super League.
"What this group has been able to do over the last four years, in my mind, makes it the most successful group in Super League history and this is an opportunity to go and cement that," Woolf said.
Former Knights skipper Sione Mata'utia played centre for St Helens.
