ST HELENS have announced that Tee Ritson has signed a two-year contract with the club, keeping him with the Saints until the end of the 2025 season.
The Thailand-born speedster joined Paul Wellens’ squad ahead of the 2023 season on a season-long loan from Cumbrian Championship side Barrow Raiders, with an option to make the move a permanent one, and this has been taken up.
Ritson has made 16 appearances in his maiden Saints campaign, scoring three times. During the 2023 season, the winger matched the Super League top-speed record at a freakish 36.41km/h in the Challenge Cup quarter-final victory away at Hull FC.
The proud Cumbrian representative’s try-scoring form in recent seasons has been incredible, with 70 four-pointers in 73 games for Barrow during his four seasons with the Raiders. In 2022, he was the Betfred Championship’s top scorer too, scoring 33 times in 31 appearances.
Speaking to saintsrlfc.com about signing a two-year contract with the club, Tee Ritson said: “I’m absolutely buzzing, it’s something that I’ve worked hard for all year. When I came it was initially just for this year, there was always that thing in the back of my mind about what would happen – but for the Club to show their faith and trust in me, I’m buzzing to stick around for the next two years.
“I know I’ve got a lot more in me and I’m really looking forward to hitting the ground running now.”
With his next two years locked in, Ritson’s focus now is establishing himself at St Helens to feature consistently.
“I’m hoping to cement my place as a starting player in the team, this year hasn’t worked out quite how we’d envisaged it at the start of the year but going into the next few years hopefully we can some silverware and I can be one of the first names on the team sheet.”
Ritson also paid tribute to the Saints faithful for their backing since his arrival at the Saints and is excited for their support to come in the next two seasons.
“The fans have been great with me ever since I came here, I saw a lot of them in the town and they always stop to say hello or nice things to me. Along with everyone involved with the club, the staff, the players, and the fans have made my transition really easy – big thanks to them for having my back and I’m looking forward to the next two years.”
Head coach Paul Wellens commented: “I think Tee has had a great twelve months with us, people have to understand it’s his first year in a full-time environment and he’s grown as a person, grown as a player on the back of that.
“There’s plenty of improvement left in him and I’m sure we’ll see the signs of that in 2024. I know he’s keen to get back to work and find those improvements. He is a great lad who has fit in so well with the group and we will continue to work hard together.
“Tee’s pace is one of his attractions, there’s not many people who can move like him – we’ll work hard as a team to give him more opportunities to showcase that.”
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