Walters: Australia boss named St Helens head coach
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- Kevin Walters, 58, has been appointed St Helens head coach on a three-year contract starting in 2027, and will first complete his Australia duties at the World Cup on home soil in October and November.
- Walters guided the Kangaroos to a 3-0 Ashes series win over England last year and has previously coached Catalans Dragons in Super League plus Queensland and Brisbane Broncos in the NRL.
- Walters won six NRL Premierships as a player, made 20 State of Origin appearances and earned 11 Test caps for Australia, including their 1992 World Cup-winning squad.
- Eamon O'Carroll will continue as St Helens interim head coach until the end of the season following Paul Rowley's departure in July after less than a year in charge.
- St Helens sit seventh in the Super League table with three games remaining, in danger of missing the play-offs for the first time ever amid a season heavily disrupted by injuries.
- Chairman Eamonn McManus described the hire as "a major statement of ambition both by St Helens and by Super League," noting Walters is making "major career sacrifices" in Australia to make the move.
Why it matters: The hire hands St Helens — seventh and at risk of missing the Super League play-offs for the first time — a three-year reset under a coach who just swept England 3-0 in the Ashes. Chairman Eamonn McManus called it "a major statement of ambition both by St Helens and by Super League," underscoring how unusual it is for a sitting Kangaroos boss to cross hemispheres.
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