St Helens have locked in one of their pre-season friendlies with the game doubling up as a testimonial for one of their long-serving stars.
Several Super League clubs have confirmed pre-season games so far with plenty of those matches also doubling up as testimonials. Castleford Tigers have confirmed three matches with all three being testimonial matches.
Now, St Helens are the latest to do so with the Red Vee locking in Salford Red Devils as their opponent for Saturday, 25th January at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
The match will serve as loose forward Morgan Knowles’ testimonial as the Cumbrian-born star celebrates ten years in the sport.
Prior to today’s announcement, Saints had not confirmed any pre-season friendlies but they’ve now got at least one locked in. It’s likely that they’ll book another game in as well but with the earlier Challenge Cup start, some teams such as Hull KR are playing just one game.
St Helens confirm Morgan Knowles testimonial
Credit: Ed Sykes/SWpix.com
Knowles took to social media to confirm the details of his testimonial game, something that had been confirmed months ago when the RFL officially granted the loose forward a testimonial year.
After debuting back in 2015, Knowles has made over 200 appearances for St Helens and become a mainstay in the team. The 28-year-old also recently featured for England against Samoa and now news of his testimonial has been confirmed.
A statement on St Helens’ website read: “St Helens will take on Salford Red Devils on Saturday, 25th January 2025 at the Totally Wicked Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 3pm, and it will serve as Morgan Knowles’ Testimonial fixture.
“2025 is Knowles’ Testimonial year following ten seasons of service to St Helens R.F.C., with the proud Cumbrian making 218 match appearances for the Red V so far, and this match in his honour will be the main event of his celebrations.”
The statement would also suggest that the game will be the first of St Helens’ pre-season fixtures as it claimed that fans “may get their first looks at our three 2025 recruits”.
When posting the news on X, Knowles shared the details and added: “Buzzing to confirm my Testimonial game against Salford in January! See you all there.”
🏉 𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘
Saints 🆚 Salford
📅 Sat 25th Jan
🏠 Totally Wicked Stadium
🕒 3pm KO
🎟 https://t.co/qIMewSkP4NBuzzing to confirm my Testimonial game against Salford in January! Tickets available now on Saints’ ticket website⬆️
See you all there 🫡 pic.twitter.com/IwUc1jtNfL
— Morgan Knowles (@MorgsKnowles) November 18, 2024
