St Helens Great Jonny Lomax to Retire at Season's End

St Helens great Jonny Lomax has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2026 Super League season, closing a senior career spent entirely with his hometown club. BBC Sport reported that the 35-year-old has made 388 appearances for Saints and will turn 36 before stepping away from rugby league.

Watch the highlights:

Lomax made his St Helens debut in March 2009 at the age of 18 after joining the club’s youth system as an 11-year-old. Across his long spell in the first team, he helped Saints win five Super League Grand Finals, one Challenge Cup and the World Club Challenge. He was also selected three times for the Super League Dream Team.

His representative career included 11 appearances for England and four for Great Britain. Lomax was part of the England team that reached the 2017 World Cup final against Australia. At club level, he captained St Helens after succeeding James Roby, before Matty Lees took over the role for the 2026 campaign.

In a retirement message published by St Helens and cited by the BBC, Lomax said he had lived his boyhood dream by playing for and captaining his hometown club, as well as representing England and Great Britain. He said he would leave grateful for what the sport had given him and believing he had committed everything possible to his career.

That career demanded repeated recoveries from injury. Lomax said he underwent 19 operations, including 12 knee operations by the age of 26. His final season has also been disrupted: he has made 10 appearances in 2026 and has not played since suffering a fractured jaw during St Helens’ defeat by Warrington Wolves in June.

Saints chairman Eamonn McManus described Lomax as “the bravest of brave in the bravest of sports.” His announcement arrives with St Helens seventh in the Super League table and three regular-season games remaining. They are two points behind defending champions Hull KR, their opponents in the final round, as they pursue a top-six place and a spot in the play-offs.