St Helens make shock George Whitby call as half-back sent to Championship

St Helens have made the surprising call to leave George Whitby out of their team to face Leeds Rhinos on Friday night – with the half-back sent to the Championship.

Whitby has been on the sidelines for the last couple of weeks, with senior half Moses Mbye preferred to Whitby for the recent games against Salford Red Devils and Hull FC after Whitby suffered a concussion.

There was an expectation that Whitby could have been in contention to feature against Leeds on Friday evening at AMT Headingley.

However, Whitby will now not only be missing from Paul Wellens’ 17, he will play for the Saints’ dual-registration partners Halifax Panthers.

He has been named in Kyle Eastmond’s squad alongside his Saints team-mate, Wigan Warriors-bound Dayon Sambou, that will play Toulouse at Odsal Stadium on Saturday evening.

The move marks a return to the Panthers for Whitby, who started the season on dual-registration in West Yorkshire at the beginning of 2025.

He played in their 1895 Cup defeat to York Knights before featuring in the opening round of the Championship season against the same opposition the following week.

However, soon after, he returned to St Helens and become a pivotal part of Paul Wellens’ side.

But in his absence, the Saints have won back-to-back games with a pairing of Jonny Lomax and Mbye in the halves, leaving Whitby’s game-time limited.

And they have now made the call to send him on dual-registration once again with Halifax set to benefit from an undoubted Super League-calibre player for their game against the Championship league leaders.

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