Simon Woolford is the man to turn around the fortunes of Huddersfield, according to his former Canberra protege Josh Hodgson.
The 43-year-old Woolford has been appointed as the successor to fellow Australian Rick Stone, who was sacked by the Giants six weeks ago, and is expected to arrive in time for their Challenge Cup tie against Wakefield next week.
Woolford, who has been given a two and a half year contract, takes over a side bottom of the Super League with just two wins from their first 13 games and with no senior coaching experience.
However, he has spent the last two years working under former Huddersfield coach Nathan Brown at Newcastle after initially cutting his coaching teeth at his old club Canberra, where he helped Hodgson settle into his NRL career.
Hodgson was so impressed with the former Raiders captain that he wrote to Huddersfield urging them to give him the job.
"I really like his style and how he works," said Hodgson, who joined Canberra from Hull KR in 2015. "He's a no-nonsense type of bloke, straight down the line, and he's got a real smart footy brain on him.
"He was at Canberra in my first two years here and he did a lot of stuff with me individually. He really helped me - 2016 was arguably the best year of my career - and he got us playing some good footy.
"I think he will suit the club. Huddersfield have got a fantastic team on paper and sometimes it takes a new face to freshen things up.
"I spoke to him the other day when he was waiting for the visa to come though and he's really excited to get over.
"He's really looking forward to getting into it and getting the players' point of view on what needs to change."
