St Helens

St Helens signing’s new shirt number points to key position switch

by
Sam Cook
November 9, 2024

One of St Helens’ three NRL signings has taken an iconic shirt number that suggests a position switch for one of the club’s veterans ahead of the 2025 Super League season.

For a third consecutive season, St Helens have signed only a small handful of players with the Red Vee bringing in just three men for the 2025 campaign so far. That follows recruitment windows of just four players in 2024 and two players in 2023 with two of those players having already left (Wesley Bruines and Waqa Blake) and another player featuring in both windows (Tee Ritson who saw his 2023 loan deal become permanent in 2024).

The bulk of where St Helens’ new first-team faces come from is their magnificent academy which has served them well over the years but after significant personnel losses at the end of the recent campaign, Saints have looked to the NRL for their three signings this off-season.

Wingers Kyle Feldt and Lewis Murphy have signed whilst Tristan Sailor follows former Brisbane assistant coach Lee Briers to the Totally Wicked Stadium. Sailor’s shirt number for the 2025 season has now been confirmed and it indicates a key positional switch for one of the club’s longest-serving stars.

St Helens captain sees position change hinted at

Credit: Ed Sykes/SWpix.com

That man is captain Jonny Lomax who will not wear the number six for the first time since 2019 when he donned the number one shirt, which has been Jack Welsby’s since the 2022 season following Lachlan Coote’s exit.

Instead, new recruit Tristan Sailor has been handed the number six jersey in a move that would suggest a position change for Lomax. The St Helens spine saw lots of tinkering in 2024 due to injury with Welsby, Lomax and young Harry Robertson occupying a variety of roles in the spine.

Hooker Moses Mbye even played at stand-off on occasion but it now seems that Tristan Sailor has been handed that job with the 25-year-old joining a long list of St Helens’ icons in wearing that shirt number including Leon Pryce, Tommy Martyn and most recently Jonny Lomax.

It is worth noting, as every year, that shirt numbers don’t automatically mean starting positions with players such as the aforementioned Martyn and the likes of Sam Tomkins opting for personal numbers as opposed to positional numbers.

That said, with Sailor being such a high-profile signing, his being handed the number six shirt feels akin to him being handed the keys at St Helens and signifying that he is now one of the club’s elite stars.

With such versatility among all the spine players, there could well be mid-season changes but for now, it seems that stand-off is Sailor’s position to lose. More shirt numbers will be confirmed in full ‘very soon’.

Paul Wellens had spoken about Sailor’s versatility when he signed, explaining: “The fact he can play at full-back or at six, similar to Jack [Welsby] gives us options but we don’t need to make decisions too soon on where he plays. What we do know, and what we are confident in, is he will add a lot to our team.”