St Helens have confirmed Jon Wilkin as their new captain for the 2015 season, replacing iconic fullback Paul Wellens.
Wellens will remain part of Saints’ playing squad for 2015 with boss Keiron Cunningham insisting he still has an important role to play – but said that the “natural progression” at the club has led to Wilkin getting the role for 2015.
“I was captain of the team coming off the bench and not playing, and it was quite tough – Paul didn’t want to let go of it, but he didn’t want to not have that presence where he wasn’t captain of the club,” Cunningham said.
“As a joint decision Paul will support the new captain, and we thought the natural progression to continue what we are doing would be Jon.”
“I’d just like to say what an honour it is to play for such a fantastic club like St Helens; it’s an exceptional achievement and to go on and captain the club and follow some iconic names comes with some responsibility,” Wilkin added.
“When we spoke about me becoming captain the most exciting thing was the pages for the history of this club going forward are blank – they’re yet to be populated with trophies. As a captain, sitting here with Keiron now I’m looking forward to filling those pages.”
