ENGLAND international Paige Travis has said there was never any other team she’d join after returning to St Helens following a season in the NRLW.
Travis left Saints at the end of the 2024 season to join Parramatta Eels, but she has now returned to familiar territory, where she hopes to play an influential role in the club’s hunt for more silverware next year.
In her previous six-year spell with the Red V, Travis helped the side claim the treble in 2021 and was also part of the Saints squad that won a historic four consecutive Women’s Challenge Cup titles between 2021 and 2024, including the first final played at Wembley Stadium in 2023.
“I’m very excited to be a Saint again,” said Travis.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else because I am always going to be a Saint.
“I stayed up watching the games I could this year, my mum goes to every game, and the girls are family to me, so Saints never really left me.
“The club’s support meant everything. I wanted to go and explore that opportunity (at Parramatta) and I had their backing, and that’s why this is the only club I would ever come back to.
“I think I’m coming back home as a better player, on and off the pitch. I’ve learned a lot by being in a full-time professional environment in Australia, which is something I hope the Women’s Super League can do one day.
“I want to step up as a leader and be someone the younger girls can look to. Of course, we’ve got a huge World Cup at the end of the year. I want to earn international honours throughout the season and solidify my place in that World Cup squad. It’s a massive year.”
Saints joint head coach Craig Richards said: “It’s great to have Paige back home. She’ll be a better player for her experiences in Australia, and the way she carried herself over there came as no surprise. She did herself and us proud.
“Bringing her back, having had that experience elsewhere, will strengthen what we want to achieve.
“Every club in the UK would want her, and that shows how highly valued the programme we run here is. It speaks volumes about our culture and how we treat people because, in Paige’s mind, it was always about coming back to Saints.
“We’re proud of how we do things, and it’s a pat on the back for all the coaching and backroom staff for the fantastic work they do.”
Richards’ co-coach Derek Hardman is equally delighted by the return and added: “As part of Paige’s development, she felt she needed to go and experience the NRLW, and we supported that decision. Now, I’m really excited to see her come back and what she brings with her.
“Having Paige back is huge, not just for what she offers as a player, but because she’s such a big character who we love and have missed dearly. We’re thrilled to have her presence back in the squad.”