Justin Holbrook hosed down speculation of a reunion with Tino Fa’asuamaleaui after opening up on his reasons for choosing the Roosters over the Bulldogs.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Holbrook was close to signing with the Bulldogs before deciding a reunion with Trent Robinson as a Roosters assistant was the best next move for his career.
Holbrook was sacked by the Titans mid-season despite sitting on the verge of the top eight with Des Hasler to replace him next season at the Gold Coast.
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The 47-year-old coached 31 wins from 82 games at the Titans since 2020 for a win percentage of 37.80, but only played finals in 2021.
Holbrook was weighing up a return to the Super League and an offer to be Cameron Ciraldo’s assistant at Canterbury, before signing a three-year deal with the Roosters from 2024.
It sparked speculation the Roosters may make a play for Fa’asuamaleaui and David Fifita, who had clauses in their contracts to leave if Holbrook was sacked.
However, Holbrook is confident both Fa’asuamaleaui and Fifita would stay loyal to the Titans.
“No, not at all. I don’t want to add to that speculation,” Holbrook said.
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“Tino is the captain there, he’ll stay at the Titans, I’m sure of that.
“Dave, I worked pretty hard to get his partner to the NRLW side to get him settled. So no, I don’t expect either of them to go.
“It wasn’t a clause for them to come and follow me wherever I go, it was more to have the security of me staying. That’s probably one of the reasons the club never asked them their opinion before doing what they did, because they would have known the answers.”
Holbrook revealed he was close to joining the Bulldogs, before choosing to return to the Roosters for the first time in seven years.
“Definitely, absolutely. I was close to going to the Bulldogs,” Holbrook said.
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“I had a chat to [head coach] Cameron [Ciraldo] who is a great guy and great young coach. With Gus, you could sit around and listen to him all day.
“He’s a great person to listen to, Gus, and have a chat to, that’s for sure. He was excellent, he didn’t put any pressure on me whatsoever. I told him the reasons why and he understood that.”
Holbrook revealed he was close to returning to the UK Super League due to the attraction of being a head coach, but felt turning the Roosters back into a title contender was too good an opportunity to pass up.
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“It was hard and probably, in the end, the fact that I knew Trent, I know it’s going to be great. It’s been seven years since I’ve worked there, obviously I got an opportunity to be an assistant under him, which I really enjoyed, I learnt a lot,” Holbrook said.
“I was close to heading back to England because I like the idea of being a head coach, but it just didn’t feel right.
“Obviously, having a great time and success at St Helens and then going to a rival club, but that wasn’t the pure decision.
“I was thinking that way, heading to Warrington to be a head coach, but there was a bit of interest back here and I’ve worked with Robbo before and see an opportunity to help him there to try to get them back up to the top.”
