Mark Percival believes his St Helens teammate Harry Robertson is capable of earning a starting spot for England ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Robertson was one of the stars of St Helens season in 2025, nailing down a centre spot under Paul Wellens and establishing himself as a Super League player after bursting onto the scene in the second half of the 2024 campaign.
The 19-year-old made 25 appearances for the Saints last season and got over the line on 15 occasions, with efforts coming against Leigh Leopards and Hull KR in his last three outings of the year. And, despite his age, Robertson’s performances caught the eye of England boss Shaun Wane, who called the outside back up to his mid-season England squad.
The youngster didn’t make the cut for the Ashes, but he can’t have been too far off. And, as he continues to grow, develop and improve, Percival is refusing to rule out the possibility of Robertson earning a starting berth at next autumn’s World Cup down under.
“Harry’s one of them, I don’t want to intervene with players of his natural ability,” Percival told St Helens’ YouTube channel. “He’s just got it and people will agree with me there, watching him.
“His ability to move, pass and beat people, I don’t think you can teach that, he’s just got that. If he sticks with that and keeps level headed, hopefully I’d like to see him starting for England, especially with the World Cup coming up.
“He’s a top player and the best thing about him is he’s a top lad as well.”
Mark Percival wants St Helens consistency
The Saints have turned over a new leaf in the off-season with Paul Rowley replacing Wellens at the helm, while a number of high profile players have arrived from down under, too. It’s a change that could see plenty tipping the Merseyside outfit to compete in 2026, but rather than setting big goals, Percival just wants to see consistency.
“I think everyone will say cliché things like you want to win trophies, but for me I just want everyone to be on the same page and we all put in the same effort and make sure we do the right things by each other and that’s week in, week out with a bit of consistency,” he added.
“I feel like over the last few years since winning four in a row, we have lost that consistency, we’ve been good for four, five, six weeks and then we’ve dropped off a bit.
“If you want to be a good team competing for competitions we need to get that consistency part right and I feel like if we do that then I know this team definitely has the ability to go on and win competitions. Deep down I know that.”
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Eric T Cat
December 8, 2025 at 5:55 pm
He’s lucky to play for one of the right clubs, playing for St Helens gives him unlimited credit with Shaun Wane. As we’ve seen, that’s all that matters.