{"id":576950,"date":"2025-11-17T21:31:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/576950\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T21:31:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:31:13","slug":"st-helens-reveal-2026-squad-numbers-as-shock-new-13-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/576950\/","title":{"rendered":"St Helens reveal 2026 squad numbers as shock new 13 named"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Helens have revealed their 2026 squad numbers, with the headline decision coming with new recruit David Klemmer being handed #13 in a hint that he will replace Morgan Knowles at loose forward.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Klemmer has joined Saints on a two-year deal ahead of 2026, making the move into Super League<\/a> from NRL outfit St George Illawarra Dragons.<\/p>\n

A World Cup winner with Australia in 2017, the 31-year-old has enjoyed a lengthy NRL<\/a> career, racking up 260 first-grade appearances Down Under.<\/p>\n

The bulk of those appearances have seen him line up in the front-row, with just 33 games in his career to date seeing him start at loose.<\/p>\n

But heading into 2026, he has been handed the #13 shirt on Merseyside, with that potentially an indication that he will take on the vacant role left at loose by influential figure Knowles, who himself has headed to the NRL with the Dolphins.<\/p>\n

St Helens reveal 2026 squad numbers as shock Morgan Knowles replacement named<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, new Saints<\/a> head coach Paul Rowley has handed Deon Cross the #5, with young star Owen Dagnall #24.<\/p>\n

Rowley has taken charge following Paul Wellens\u2019 exit, with Wellens having led Saints to a World Club Challenge triumph in 2023 alongside three consecutive play-off finishes: twice beaten in the semi-finals, including in 2025 by eventual champions Hull KR.<\/p>\n

Outside-back Cross joined his hometown club from financially-stricken Salford midway through 2025, and has been reunited with ex-Red Devils boss Rowley.<\/p>\n

Former Salford team-mates Shane Wright \u2013 who spent the back end of 2025 on loan with the club \u2013 and Joe Shorrocks have permanently joined him at Saints ahead of 2026, taking shirts #12 and #22 respectively.<\/p>\n

Fellow new recruits Jacob Host and Jacob Douglas take numbers 14 and 26 respectively following their arrivals from South Sydney Rabbitohs and Wigan Warriors.<\/p>\n

Other notable choices include highly-rated young half-back George Whitby being #17. There had been talk of him claiming a \u2018starting\u2019 shirt for 2026, but Tristan Sailor (#6) and Jonny Lomax (#7) have retained those.<\/p>\n

With 28 squad numbers dished out in total, including a handful to aspiring stars in Saints\u2019 youth ranks like Jake Davies and Alfie Sinclair, there is also a \u2018TBC\u2019 attached to #25.<\/p>\n

That is potentially a hint that at a new arrival yet to be announced by the club will take on that vacant shirt.<\/p>\n

St Helens\u2019 squad numbers for 2026 in full\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Jack Welsby<\/p>\n

2. Kyle Feldt<\/p>\n

3. Harry Robertson<\/p>\n

4. Mark Percival<\/p>\n

5. Deon Cross<\/p>\n

6. Tristan Sailor<\/p>\n

7. Jonny Lomax<\/p>\n

8. Alex Walmsley<\/p>\n

9. Daryl Clark<\/p>\n

10. Matty Lees<\/p>\n

11. Curtis Sironen<\/p>\n

12. Shane Wright<\/p>\n

13. David Klemmer<\/p>\n

14. Jacob Host<\/p>\n

15. George Delaney<\/p>\n

16. Matt Whitley<\/p>\n

17. George Whitby<\/p>\n

18. Jake Wingfield<\/p>\n

19. Agnatius Paasi<\/p>\n

20. Lewis Murphy<\/p>\n

21. Noah Stephens<\/p>\n

22. Joe Shorrocks<\/p>\n

23. Jake Burns<\/p>\n

24. Owen Dagnall<\/p>\n

25. TBC<\/p>\n

26. Jacob Douglas<\/p>\n

27. Leon Cowen<\/p>\n

28. Jake Davies<\/p>\n

29. Alfie Sinclair<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St Helens have revealed their 2026 squad numbers, with the headline decision coming with new recruit David Klemmer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-576950","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115567177561422695","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}