James Roby signs new one-year deal with St Helens

St Helens captain James Roby has signed a new one-year contract extension with the club and confirms 2022 will be his last.

Roby, 35, made his Saints debut in March 2004 aged 18, and won the Man of Steel award in 2007. The one-club man has made 485 appearances for the club so far, scoring 110 tries.

The Great Britain and England international signed a new three-year deal with the club in 2019, and has now signed on for the 2022 Super League season.

In total he has won four Super League Grand Final rings, four Challenge Cups and a World Club Challenge. He was also named Man of Steel in 2007 and has been named in the Super League Dream team on six occasions.

“I am very lucky to be a part of this club and organisation. I am very privileged to play here, to get up in the morning and do what I do,” said Roby.

“As you get older you do think the end is near and I knew I was off-contract at the end of this year and thought this could be my last season, but I never saw myself playing anywhere else and if the club hadn’t offered me a new deal I would have called it a day.

“But I have signed for one more year and I am committed to that, looking forward to it and I believe I still have value to this team. I am excited to go again.

“I am still that young, local lad at heart. It’s so special to be a hometown lad and as a kid I wanted to play for St Helens and I have been lucky enough to do that for nearly 19 years.”

Chairman Eamonn McManus commented: “James is one of the greatest players in the history of St Helens. He is also our talisman and our leader. It’s great that he’s agreed to extend his career for a further season and there’s no doubt that he will continue to play a key and pivotal role in our success.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have him at the club and Saints fans and rugby league fans should cherish him for as long as he continues to grace our club and our sport.”

Head coach Kristian Woolf added: “It’s great news for the club and for the fans that Robes will do another year with us. It is a no brainer from the point of view of the footy he has played in the last year and this season. He can still play 80 minutes every week if we need him to and he still has a real impact on the game with his skill set and what he creates and he is a terrific defender.

“It is no secret we are in a bit of a transitional period with some of our younger blokes starting to have more of a presence in the squad and they will have more responsibility next year. So to be able to have a player of James Roby’s calibre, with his leadership, him as a person and the example that he sets – there is no better person in our game to help young players develop.

“It’s great that he wants to do another year and it is something we can all really look forward to. If next year is James Roby’s last year as a player, then that is something we are all privileged to be a part of.”