IF you look at the NRL ladder, you will notice that there is a significant influence of former Super League coaches in the potential play-off positions in that competition.

Former Leeds coach Richard Agar is the assistant at the New Zealand Warriors, who now top the league, while the club’s head coach is Andrew Webster, who was an assistant coach at Hull KR between 2009 and 2011.

Third on the ladder are the Sydney Roosters, coached by Trent Robinson, who was the Catalans Dragons head coach for the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Fourth are the Dolphins, coached by Kristian Woolf, who coached St Helens to three Grand Final triumphs from 2020 to 2022.

In sixth place are Newcastle Knights, who are coached by Justin Holbrook, led St Helens to the Super League title in 2019.

And in eighth place sit North Queensland Cowboys, with Paul Wellens, who won the World Club Challenge with St Helens in 2023, now the assistant coach for that club.

Oddly enough the only former Super League coach currently in the NRL who isn’t with a club that will compete in the play-offs is England coach Brian McDermott, who is an assistant coach to Josh Hannay at the consistently under-performing Gold Coast Titans.