St Helens captain Jonny Lomax details motivation behind new contract: ‘We all want to be involved in winning silverware’
Jonny Lomax has penned a new deal with St Helens - Alamy
St Helens stalwart Jonny Lomax has tonight penned a contract extension with the club running until the end of the 2026 season.
The 33-year-old this morning was unveiled as Saints’ new captain, succeeding the legendary James Roby following his retirement at the end of the last campaign.
All 326 of Lomax’s competitive club career appearances to date have seen him don the Red V after coming through the academy at his boyhood club, debuting at senior level back in 2009.
2024 will be the star half-back’s 16th season in the club’s first-team, with the star half-back now locked in for a 17th and 18th in 2025 & 2026 respectively.
St Helens’ newly-appointed captain Jonny Lomax details motivation behind new contract: ‘We all want to be involved in winning silverware’
Crowned a Super League champion five times, Lomax scooped the Harry Sunderland Trophy in 2022 for his showing in Saints’ Grand Final triumph over Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.
His performances at club level have also seen the playmaker earn international recognition, capped 11 times by England as well as featuring four times for Great Britain.
In a press release regarding his new contract, three-time Super League Dream Team ace Lomax said: “It’s a no-brainer for me.
“The club means an awful lot to me and I’m proud to represent it. All I wanted to do was play for Saints when I was a kid, and I’ve achieved another dream in my career with the captaincy.
“Having that opportunity to be captain, potentially over the next three years, is something that I’m very proud of, and something that I hope to do justice as well.
“I’d love to walk out the team on a special occasion. Walking out the team at any time is special, but in the last few years in finals what James (Roby) has got to do must be a fantastic feeling. That’s what we want to do.
“Thank you for all the support that you’ve given me. I think it’s important sometimes for fans to realise that for all of us homegrown players, we were fans first.
“We work hard, but we’re – in some ways – fortunate to take the field and wear that Red V. Every time we wear that Red V as a player, particularly when we were supporters originally, you know we do that with great pride. “We want to make you all proud as well. We want to have good times and be together as one, our whole community, the team, and the club, because we all want the same goal.
“We all want to be involved in winning silverware. I believe that we can all help each other in that regard. Get behind us and get excited. Thank you from me, but also as a team, we’ll do everything we can to try and bring back silverware to the town.”
Boss Paul Wellens on captain Lomax: ‘Jonny retains the determination and drive to help the team to further success’
Another boyhood Saints fan and academy product is now in charge at the Totally Wicked Stadium in the shape of Paul Wellens, who lined up alongside Lomax for six seasons before calling time on his own career.
Having picked his former team-mate out as the man to take on the captaincy, it’s no surprise that the Red V’s chief is pleased to see the half-back put pen to paper on this new deal.
Wellens added: “I am delighted that Jonny has opted to extend his stay with the club. It goes without saying that Jonny has been, and is still very much, an integral part of the team.
“His professionalism and diligence is second to none, and the fact he has achieved great success over a prolonged period of time is clear evidence of this. “The club prides itself on retaining our best homegrown players, and in committing his future to Saints, it’s clear to see that despite achieving so much in the game, Jonny retains the determination and drive to help the team to further success.”