Off-contract St Helens young gun extends Championship stay as development hailed
A general view of The BrewDog Stadium, the home of St Helens
St Helens youngster Will Roberts’ loan with Championship club and dual-registration partners Widnes Vikings has been extended for a further two weeks.
Roberts, whose contract at Saints is set to expire at the end of this season, had linked up with Widnes towards the end of June for a two-week stint.
But after kicking three goals on debut against Toulouse Olympique, he picked up an ankle injury not long after half-time and was forced off.
The 20-year-old though has now recovered from that issue, and will return to Allan Coleman‘s side ahead of this weekend’s game at home against Doncaster.
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Off-contract St Helens young gun extends Championship stay as development hailed
Roberts’ first appearance for the Vikings saw him take his senior career appearance tally up to 11 having previously donned a shirt as a loanee/on dual-registration for both Swinton Lions and Rochdale Hornets.
His return to the DCBL Stadium sees him link back up with older brother Max, who has been a Widnes player since 2023.
As the Championship outfit announced half-back Roberts’ loan extension, head coach Coleman said: “It’s great to get Will back in, a big thanks to Saints for letting us have him.
“I think they can see that playing for us is great for him and his development.
“It’ll be another new halfback partnership for us this week with him and Dec Patton, who’s back now. But we’re confident they can do the job for us.
“I think he showed in the 50 minutes he played against Toulouse how capable a player he is, so I’m really excited to see how he goes again.”
As well as this weekend’s clash against Doncaster, Roberts will remain available for Widnes’ game against high-flying Bradford Bulls next weekend.
Beyond that, parent club Saints and the Vikings will have to decide whether the loan is extended again or not.
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