After being plucked from relative obscurity to take charge of St Helens, Justin Holbrook is aiming to became the latest young Australian coach to taste success in the Super League.
The 41-year-old, a former lower grade coach with Parramatta, St George Illawarra and Canterbury, Holbrook was assistant to Trent Robinson at the Sydney Roosters when Saints invited him to interview for their top job last April.
The club was in turmoil after club great Keiron Cunningham was axed as coach following a dismal start to the season with the team languishing in eighth spot on the table.
After selling his vision for the club to Saints chairman Eamonn McManus, Holbrook wasted no time in putting his stamp on the team.
A 40-0 win in his first game against Hull FC kick-started a remarkable upturn in form that saw Saints reach the preliminary final, only to fall short against Castleford in a golden-point thriller.
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St Helens are one of the great names in English rugby league and boast a rich pedigree of Australian coaches with Daniel Anderson, Nathan Brown and Ian Millward all bringing premiership success to the club.
With Holbrook at the helm, bookies have Saints joint-favourites to win the competition with former Dally M Medal winner Ben Barba tipped to claim the prestigious Man of Steel award.
Far from being daunted by the pressure, the engaging Holbrook welcomes the challenge facing his side.
"I am OK with the hype, I just hope the experts are right," Holbrook told AAP.
"I'd rather that than be a fairytale. You have to deal with that pressure to be successful.
"We want to win trophies and we're confident with our players and confident with our staff but we need to make it happen now.
"If we do everything right we're a chance."
NRL premiership-winners Robinson and Michael Maguire cut their head coaching teeth in the Super League with Catalans and Wigan respectively after leaving assistant positions in Australia.
Holbrook said he is eternally grateful to the Robinson for allowing him to quit the club mid-season.
"It was a hard decision for me to make to come over here due to the timing," he said.
"I would like to have left the Roosters at the end of the season.
"We were second at the time and had won the (Auckland) Nines. I had to talk to Robbo first and luckily for me he was really supportive.
"A lot of head coaches could have said 'no, you're staying here' but he realised it was a great opportunity for me and encouraged me to go and it's all worked out well."
