St Helens are doing their “absolute best” to find a way of keeping winger Regan Grace at the club.
The 25-year-old Wales international turned in a star performance on his long-awaited return from injury at Toulouse Olympique on Saturday, scoring a try in Saints’ 24-18 victory.
Grace is out of contract at the end of this season and has been attracting interest from NRL clubs and rugby union but coach Kristian Woolf is keen to hold on to him.
Woolf told League Express after Saturday’s game in France: “I’ve said all along that we want to keep him and we are working hard to do that.
“It doesn’t mean that he has already chosen to stay because he’s got a few decisions to make, but we will do our absolute best to keep him and he showed his worth tonight.
“In terms of him re-signing for us, nothing has changed from last week and we’ve left him alone to make sure he could focus upon his first game back playing.
“But over the next few days we will be working on trying to get something finalised.
“He was great today and it was good to have him back in there.
“You always miss players, but once they are back in the team you realise what you’re missing. His speed and footwork and the amount of threat that he caused, particularly as the game went on and he gained in confidence and there was more fatigue in the game, he just got better and better.
“He was our best player for me and he came up with some really special plays.”
Grace was applauded from the pitch by around 200 St Helens supporters who made the trip to Toulouse and Woolf took time to thank the vocal band of followers.
He said, “It’s outstanding support, we’ve got a great set of fans and they turn up at every single game.
“They are really vocal both home and away and the players really appreciate them.
“They came all the way over here today, and let’s not forget it’s a great weekend for them too; it’s clear they are enjoying a couple of days off down here.
“But to make that effort, spend that money and come over in such numbers, is great. You can see they are enjoying themselves and enjoying what the team is doing and they are a really big part of us.”
Two players who have committed to staying at Saints are overseas pair Sione Mata’utia and Agnatius Paasi.
Both forwards have signed on for 2023 and both have also hinted they would like to stay at the Totally Wicked Stadium beyond those deals.
The above content is also available in the regular weekly edition of League Express, on newsstands every Monday in the UK and as a digital download. Click here for more details.
