Andrew Webster (rugby league)

This article is about rugby league football coach. For sociologist, see Andrew Webster (sociologist).

Andrew Webster
Personal information
Born (1982-01-17) 17 January 1982 (age 42)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
PositionFive-eighth
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2017 Wests Tigers 2 0 0 2 0
2022 Penrith Panthers 1 0 0 1 0
2023– New Zealand Warriors 51 26 1 24 51
Total 54 26 1 27 48
Source: [1]
As of 19 April 2024
RelativesJames Webster (brother)

Andrew Webster (born 17 January 1982) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Webster has been on the coaching staff at Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League and the Warriors, Wests Tigers and the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League. He coached Wests and Penrith over a handful of first-grade games.

He is the younger brother of former Wakefield Trinity and Hull Kingston Rovers head coach James Webster.[2]

Playing career

Webster played his junior rugby league for Carlingford Cougars, the Dundas Shamrocks and Five Dock RSL before joining the Balmain Tigers in 1998, playing four seasons for their SG Ball and Jersey Flegg Cup teams.[3][4] In 2002, he joined the Parramatta Eels, playing for their lower grades teams before joining the Ryde-Eastwood Hawks in the Jim Beam Cup in 2003. In 2004, he played a season with the Eastwood Rugby Club.[5]

Coaching career

In 2005, Webster joined American National Rugby League club, the Connecticut Wildcats as a player-coach. He led the team to the Grand Final, where they were defeated by the Aston Bulls.

In 2006, Webster joined the Hull Kingston Rovers as an assistant and academy coach. In 2008, he returned to Australia, spending a season with the Parramatta Eels on work experience. He returned to Hull KR in 2009 as an assistant coach, spending three more years with the club.

In 2012, he once again returned to Australia, this time as head coach of the Balmain Tigers SG Ball Cup team and assistant to the Wests Tigers NYC team. That year, Balmain won the SG Ball Cup for the first time in 30 years and would go onto win the Under-18 National Final over the Townsville Stingers.[6][7][8]

In 2013, Webster took over as head coach of the Parramatta Eels NYC team, winning just seven games. In 2014, he returned to the Wests Tigers as head coach of their NYC team, winning 16 games and reaching the finals.

In 2015, Webster joined the New Zealand Warriors as an assistant to then head coach Andrew McFadden.[9]

Wests Tigers

After two seasons at the Warriors, Webster once again returned to the Wests Tigers in 2017 as an assistant coach.[10]

On 22 March 2017, Webster was named interim head coach of the Tigers after former head coach Jason Taylor was sacked three games into the season.[11] Ivan Cleary was announced as the new head coach on 3 April 2017.[12]

Penrith Panthers

In 2020, Webster joined the Penrith Panthers as an assistant coach ahead of the 2021 NRL season, replacing Trent Barrett.

Webster would go on to win back-to-back Premierships with the Panthers in 2021 and 2022. During round 9 of the 2022 NRL season, Webster coached Penrith for one NRL game when head coach Ivan Cleary was absent, along with fellow assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo.[13][14]

New Zealand Warriors

On 8 July 2022, the New Zealand Warriors announced that Webster had been appointed as their head coach, beginning with the 2023 season.[15][16] Webster led to the Warriors to a top four finish, and the club's first home semifinal since 2007, during a highly successful first season in charge.[17]

On 27 September 2023, Webster received the Dally M Coach of the Year award, after taking the New Zealand Warriors to a preliminary final from 15th on the ladder in 2022.[18] However, the club could not back up a strong 2023 season with the club finishing 13th on the table at the conclusion of the 2024 NRL season.[19]

References

  1. ^ Rugby League Project
  2. ^ "Proud Cougars celebrate Jubilee |". weeklytimes.com.au. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  3. ^ "History - Carlingford Cougars - SportsTG". websites.sportstg.com. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  4. ^ "FORMER ST.PATS SHAMROCKS PLAYER ANDREW WEBSTER TAKES OVER AS WESTSTIGERS COACH - Dundas Shamrocks - SportsTG". websites.sportstg.com. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Sport with Chris Karas". weeklytimes.com.au. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  6. ^ "Balmain v Canberra | NYC DATABASE". nycdatabase.org. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  7. ^ "2012 | NYC DATABASE". nycdatabase.org. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  8. ^ "Tigers beat Raiders in SG Ball grand final". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 May 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Andrew Webster joins Warriors coaching staff » League Unlimited". leagueunlimited.com. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  10. ^ NRL Digital Media. "Wests Tigers confirm 2017 NRL Coaching structure - Tigers". go1.weststigers.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Webster takes the reins at Tigers - NRL.com". nrl.com. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Wests Tigers announce Cleary as head coach". 3 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Penrith coach, assistant miss Eels clash". espn.com.au. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  14. ^ "Parramatta snap Penrith's NRL record home winning streak with epic 22-20 upset victory". abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  15. ^ "Warriors announce Andrew Webster as coach". NRL. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  16. ^ Becht, Richard (8 July 2022). "Webster named new head coach". NRL. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  17. ^ Dine, Jonty. "Warriors scrape past Dragons to secure top four finish". RNZ. Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Andrew Webster takes NRL Dally M Coach of the Year honour". nrl.com. 27 September 2023.
  19. ^ "The Mole's end-of-season review: The 'harsh' Shaun Johnson truth that plagued highly-fancied Warriors". www.nine.com.au.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jason Taylor
2015-2017
 Coach

Wests Tigers
2017 		Succeeded by
Ivan Cleary
2017-2018
Preceded by
Stacey Jones (caretaker)
2022
 Coach

New Zealand Warriors
2023-present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent