Jack Welsby new Saints contract confirmed

[Gerrumonside ref]

SSN announce Jack Welsby has signed a new deal to stay at Saints until 2027.

Edited December 20, 2023 by Gerrumonside ref

[Gerrumonside ref]

BBC got it too:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/67774245

[sam4731]

Best SL signing of the off season.

[Dunbar]

Good news.  I like to see how Brits go in the NRL, but equally we need stars over here as well and he is a star.

[NRLandSL]

Great Stuff, Gonna be fantastic for SL having probably the best player in the world for the long road.

[Damien]

It's certainly good for Super League for Welsby to stay. To develop the competition and the wider sport we need all the stars that we can get.

[M j M]

18 minutes ago, Damien said:

It's certainly good for Super League for Welsby to stay. To develop the competition and the wider sport we need all the stars that we can get.

Good for the comp but a surprising lack of ambition for Welsby.

[The 4 of Us]

Nice bit of work by his agent planting news of another club to get the deal over the line.

[Whippet13]

30 minutes ago, M j M said:

Good for the comp but a surprising lack of ambition for Welsby.

Perhaps Wigan didn't want him.

[Chris22]

Excellent news for Saints. I think the decision to focus our attentions on keeping Welsby over signing a centre is the correct call, in my view. Sensible for Welsby too. He's an outstanding player but not the complete package yet.  I wouldn't rule out him leaving at the age of 25 or 26 when he will probably be a more complete player and that will give him the best shot at cracking the NRL.

[Dunbar]

29 minutes ago, Chris22 said:

He's an outstanding player but not the complete package yet.  I wouldn't rule out him leaving at the age of 25 or 26 when he will probably be a more complete player and that will give him the best shot at cracking the NRL

That was my thinking as well.  He can earn some very good money and continue to be a star here and still have 5 or 6 years at the top of his game to crack the NRL.

[NRLandSL]

37 minutes ago, Chris22 said:

I wouldn't rule out him leaving at the age of 25 or 26 when he will probably be a more complete player and that will give him the best shot at cracking the NRL.

Jack Welsby is all ready a top 5 player in the world, He does not need to “crack the NRL”. That is a completely silly comment and it makes out that the NRL is on a pedestal above the SL. 

Jack Welsby could have signed for all 17 NRL clubs, make upwards of a million dollars and be a star. 

Him resigning with saints has nothing to with the NRL/SL debate he is just very loyal.

Watch the Jack Welsby on the James Graham podcast and he expresses how the NRL is enticing but he has a home at St Helens and could never see himself playing for anyone else.

I hate this common misconception that the NRL is the aspiration and goal for SL players. It is not at all true. Lionel Messi never played in the prem.

Edited December 20, 2023 by NRLandSL

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, M j M said:

Good for the comp but a surprising lack of ambition for Welsby.

“Lack of Ambition”

I’m not sure when resigning with the best team in the world represents a “Lack of Ambition”.

Edited December 20, 2023 by NRLandSL

[Dunbar]

6 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

I hate this common misconception that the NRL is the aspiration and goal for SL players. It is not at all true. Lionel Messi never played in the prem.

Not sure using a player who never played a senior game in his home country and moved to Barcelona, one of the largest clubs in the world, is the best analogy you could have picked.

[AB90]

51 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

Jack Welsby is all ready a top 5 player in the world, He does not need to “crack the NRL”. That is a completely silly comment and it makes out that the NRL is on a pedestal above the SL. 

Jack Welsby could have signed for all 17 NRL clubs, make upwards of a million dollars and be a star. 

Him resigning with saints has nothing to with the NRL/SL debate he is just very loyal.

Watch the Jack Welsby on the James Graham podcast and he expresses how the NRL is enticing but he has a home at St Helens and could never see himself playing for anyone else.

I hate this common misconception that the NRL is the aspiration and goal for SL players. It is not at all true. Lionel Messi never played in the prem.

For Welsby to be considered a top 5, 10, 20 player in the world by the game and the wider public he unfortunately does need to crack the NRL. Not saying it’s right but that’s just the reality.

[Chris22]

58 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

Jack Welsby is all ready a top 5 player in the world, He does not need to “crack the NRL”. That is a completely silly comment and it makes out that the NRL is on a pedestal above the SL. 

Jack Welsby could have signed for all 17 NRL clubs, make upwards of a million dollars and be a star. 

Him resigning with saints has nothing to with the NRL/SL debate he is just very loyal.

Watch the Jack Welsby on the James Graham podcast and he expresses how the NRL is enticing but he has a home at St Helens and could never see himself playing for anyone else.

I hate this common misconception that the NRL is the aspiration and goal for SL players. It is not at all true. Lionel Messi never played in the prem.

I never said he needed to crack the NRL. 

Welsby has two flaws in his game. The first is that he can sometimes be too ambitious with a long, cut-out pass and throws an avoidable intercept. The second is that he has a habit of advancing into the defensive line when the opponents attack is around 30 or 40 metres away and has, on a few occasions, been caught out by a chip kick (and on others, he has been able to recover due to his pace, an underrated aspect of his game).

Aside from that, he is certainly amongst the best in this country. His reading of the game is excellent, he is very quick, his organisation and leadership skills are rapidly improving and appears to have a lot of strength too. 

I have no doubt he would have had many NRL clubs wanting to sign him. I listened to the podcast with James Graham and commented on another thread that he doesn't come across as an individual wishing to leave. And I certainly don't criticise him for that. It's a massive lifestyle change and a personal decision.

As a Saints fan, I'm delighted that he has chosen to stay. He has already won every domestic trophy in the sport in the UK and over the course of the next four year has the opportunity to do it again. That's probably his ambition and if he can achieve that, would likely go down as one of our all time greats.

He then, if he chooses to, may wish to try something new. And if he does, then he will go to the NRL probably as he approaches his peak. Equally, if Saints can keep a player as good as Welsby for his whole career, I'd be ecstatic!

 

Edited December 20, 2023 by Chris22

[Mark S]

Considering that Saints will be paying Welsby a serious amount of cash (well earned imho), there is no lack of ambition; just a young lad who wants to secure his future. He will have plenty of opportunity to play in the NRL.

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

Not sure using a player who never played a senior game in his home country and moved to Barcelona, one of the largest clubs in the world, is the best analogy you could have picked.

La Liga has Less Quality than the Prem. SL has less quality than the NRL.

St Helens are the best rugby league club in the world right now, so the Barcelona analogy is completely warranted.

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, AB90 said:

For Welsby to be considered a top 5, 10, 20 player in the world by the game and the wider public he unfortunately does need to crack the NRL. Not saying it’s right but that’s just the reality.

The wider rugby league public only watches one of the 2 first grade competitions so ranking players on reputation is not something you can do in rugby league. There is no such thing as a “wider rugby league public”.

I would love for the best players to have the biggest reputation but unfortunately with the 2 premier club competitions being on the opposite sides of the world it will never happen. (unless we have a proper international game)

Jack Welsby is undoubtedly a top 5 player in the world, just because he doesn’t play in the NRL doesn’t mean anything.

Don’t forget he beat the best team in the NRL at the start of the year and has proved on plenty of occasions he is better than the NRL’s stars.

Edited December 21, 2023 by NRLandSL

[AB90]

1 minute ago, NRLandSL said:

The wider rugby league public only watches one of the 2 first grade competitions so ranking players on reputation is not something you can do in rugby league.

I would love for the best players to have the biggest reputation but unfortunately with the 2 premier club competitions being on the opposite sides of the world it will never happen. (unless we have a proper international game)

Jack Welsby is undoubtedly a top 5 player in the world, just because he doesn’t play in the NRL doesn’t mean anything.

Don’t forget he beat the best team in the NRL at the start of the year and has proved on plenty of occasions he is better than the NRL’s stars.

There are definitely doubts as to whether Welsby is a top 5 player in the world. Your underestimating just how good that is.

A lot of Wigan fans would say Sam Tomkins was a better player than Welsby at the same age with people at the time saying the same thing as what your saying about Welsby. Tomkins was never a top 5, 10 or 20 player in the world which was proven when he played the NRL (He was being compared to a prime Billy Slater before his NRL stint).

Before Luke Thompson went to the NRL there were people in this forum suggesting he was the best prop in the world (he made the world team of the year in 2018 & 2019). That was also proven to be very incorrect.

My point is, it is very hard to judge SL players when they don’t play in the competition where 95% of the players they are being compared against play in. 

I love Welsby as a player however my only doubt is his athleticism especially at full back. Not saying he’s unathletic or anything like that just saying that he doesn’t have those élite athletic traits that majority of NRL fullbacks have. However I would say the same applies to Dylan Edwards & Clint Cutherson and they are both very good. 

 

[frank]

From what I have seen of Welsby (must admit it's not a lot) I think he is far from a top5 player. There was talk of him going to Aussie, but, don't think he would make it there. 

[frank]

1 hour ago, AB90 said:

There are definitely doubts as to whether Welsby is a top 5 player in the world. Your underestimating just how good that is.

A lot of Wigan fans would say Sam Tomkins was a better player than Welsby at the same age with people at the time saying the same thing as what your saying about Welsby. Tomkins was never a top 5, 10 or 20 player in the world which was proven when he played the NRL (He was being compared to a prime Billy Slater before his NRL stint).

Before Luke Thompson went to the NRL there were people in this forum suggesting he was the best prop in the world (he made the world team of the year in 2018 & 2019). That was also proven to be very incorrect.

My point is, it is very hard to judge SL players when they don’t play in the competition where 95% of the players they are being compared against play in. 

I love Welsby as a player however my only doubt is his athleticism especially at full back. Not saying he’s unathletic or anything like that just saying that he doesn’t have those élite athletic traits that majority of NRL fullbacks have. However I would say the same applies to Dylan Edwards & Clint Cutherson and they are both very good. 

 

Add another to that list Denis Betts.

[NRLandSL]

29 minutes ago, frank said:

From what I have seen of Welsby (must admit it's not a lot) I think he is far from a top5 player. There was talk of him going to Aussie, but, don't think he would make it there. 

You don’t think Welsby would “Make it in aus”.  

God, how clueless are some of the people on this forum. You obviously have 0 knowledge about rugby league so I won’t even bother arguing with you.

 

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, AB90 said:

There are definitely doubts as to whether Welsby is a top 5 player in the world. Your underestimating just how good that is.

A lot of Wigan fans would say Sam Tomkins was a better player than Welsby at the same age with people at the time saying the same thing as what your saying about Welsby. Tomkins was never a top 5, 10 or 20 player in the world which was proven when he played the NRL (He was being compared to a prime Billy Slater before his NRL stint).

Before Luke Thompson went to the NRL there were people in this forum suggesting he was the best prop in the world (he made the world team of the year in 2018 & 2019). That was also proven to be very incorrect.

My point is, it is very hard to judge SL players when they don’t play in the competition where 95% of the players they are being compared against play in. 

I love Welsby as a player however my only doubt is his athleticism especially at full back. Not saying he’s unathletic or anything like that just saying that he doesn’t have those élite athletic traits that majority of NRL fullbacks have. However I would say the same applies to Dylan Edwards & Clint Cutherson and they are both very good. 

 

You are using other Players to decide how good you think Welsby would go in Aus, which is not at all fair. Jack Welsby is Jack Welsby, not just another super league player in the NRL.

It’s fine to disagree with me on how good you think Welsby is, but him playing in the SL does not make him worser or better than any NRL player.

The SL and NRL are very similar leagues and both have some exceptional talent. The NRL has far more depth and a lot more quality teams and players, but that does not mean that the SL can not produce a lot of world class talent. The Gap between the 2 leagues is far overemphasised by the general rugby league fanbase, simply over reputation. If you a star in one league, you swill likely star in the other.

[AB90]

1 minute ago, NRLandSL said:

You are using other Players to decide how good you think Welsby would go in Aus, which is not at all fair. Jack Welsby is Jack Welsby, not just another super league player in the NRL.

It’s fine to disagree with me on how good you think Welsby is, but him playing in the SL does not make him worser or better than any NRL player.

The SL and NRL are very similar leagues and both have some exceptional talent. The NRL has far more depth and a lot more quality teams and players, but that does not mean that the SL can not produce a lot of world class talent. The Gap between the 2 leagues is far overemphasised by the general rugby league fanbase, simply over reputation. If you a star in one league, you swill likely star in the other.

I wouldn’t call a prime Sam Tomkins as ‘just another super league player in NRL’. Each to their own though.

I didn’t suggest that him playing in SL makes him worse of better. I said that it is very hard to compare Super League players (who have never played in the NRL) on a world level when for the most part the vast majority of the worlds best rugby players don’t play in Super League. 

Strongly disagree that if you are a star in one league you would be a star in another (from SL to NRL). Do you genuinely believe that Brodie Croft, Lachlan Lam, Bevan French, Jai Field, John Asiata etc would be ‘stars’ in the NRL?