Simon Woolford (born 7 April 1975) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

coach who was most recently the head coach of the

Huddersfield Giants Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, the birthplace of rugby league, who play in the Super League competition. They play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium which is sha ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

, and a former professional rugby league footballer. He played in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

and the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George, Sydney, St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since NR ...

, and represented

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

in the

City vs Country Origin City vs Country Origin was an annual Australian rugby league football match that took place in New South Wales between City and Country representative sides. The City side represented the Sydney metropolitan area. While technically it was Sydney ...

match in 2002.

Background

Woolford was born in Young, New South Wales, Australia.

Playing career

He played for the

and

in the

. He primarily played as a . He made his first grade debut for Canberra on 29 May 1994 in round 11 of the season. He played for NSW Country in the

match in 2002.

Coaching career

Woolford coached the

Queanbeyan Blues Queanbeyan Blues United Rugby League Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in Queanbeyan, New South Wales formed in the late 1920s. They conduct teams for both junior and senior teams. Notable Juniors *Johnny Hawke (1949-52 St ...

in the

Canberra Rugby League The Canberra Region Rugby League competition is more commonly known as the Canberra Raiders Cup, covering the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding New South Wales towns Queanbeyan, Goulburn and Yass. The competition is run under the auspi ...

competition. In 2015 he was suspended for nine months after breaking the window of the coaching box. This was later overturned in a retrial and a suspended sentence of 3 months was handed out. In 2016, Woolford began coaching the Newcastle

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserv ...

side and in 2017 took the club to the finals. On 29 April 2018 Woolford was announced as the head coach of

Super league The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of ...

on a two and half year deal. He took over form

Chris Thorman Christopher Thorman (born 26 September 1980) is an English rugby league coach is head coach of Newcastle Thunder and a former player. An England international goal-kicking , he previously played in the Engage Super League for Hull F.C. ( ...

, who had been in charge on an interim basis following the sacking of Rick Stone earlier in the season. At the start of the 2020 Super League season, it was announced that Woolford would be departing Huddersfield at the end of the campaign. On 16 September 2020, Woolford resigned from Huddersfield with immediate effect after a poor run of results.

References

Sources

External links

Newcastle Knights profile Simon Woolford's Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolford, Simon 1975 births Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Living people Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders captains Canberra Raiders players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Huddersfield Giants coaches Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Young, New South Wales St. George Illawarra Dragons players