St Helens' newly appointed vice-captain Jack Welsby heads into the 2024 Betfred Super League season as joint-favourite to be named Man of Steel; England international is more worried about team honours though; Watch every Super League match in 2024 live on Sky Sports
Friday 9 February 2024 06:29, UK
It says much about Jack Welsby that the Betfred Super League’s title sponsors have him as joint-favourite to be given the prestigious Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel award at the end of the 2024 campaign.
Although still just 22, the St Helens full-back is already one of the stars of the competition and an established England international, not to mention a three-time Super League Grand Final winner and having Betfred Challenge Cup and World Club Challenge winners' medals in his collection.
Perhaps even more remarkable than everything he is achieved at such a relatively young age though is how unfazed Welsby seems by it all, responding to the bookmakers' assessment of his Man of Steel prospects in a typically understated way.
"It's nice," Welsby, who was nominated for the accolade in 2023 but missed out to Wigan Warriors' Bevan French, told Sky Sports. "I don't read too much into it, but I think if I play my best rugby then we'll see where we are at the end of the year.
"If I play well and the team does well, hopefully the individual awards will follow on. It's not something I'm completely focused on, I'm more focused on winning more silverware with Saints.
"That's what we're aiming for, and let's just see how we get on."
That ability to stay grounded and maturity beyond his years goes a long way to explaining why Welsby, who made his Super League debut for St Helens as a 17-year-old in 2018 and signed a long-term contract extension late last year, has been entrusted with leadership roles for club and country.
After serving as England captain for the first two Tests of last year's 3-0 series win over Tonga in the suspension-enforced absence of George Williams, the other favourite to win Man of Steel this year, he was made one of Saints' vice-captains along with loose forward Morgan Knowles.
The pair will provide support to skipper Jonny Lomax, who has succeeded the now-retired James Roby, as well as links between head coach Paul Wellens and the playing squad.
Welsby has heeded the leadership lessons from playing alongside the likes of Lomax, Williams and Roby, and although he admits to some disbelief this responsibility has come quickly it is a role he fully embraces.
"It's exciting," Welsby said. "If you'd have said to me three years ago, I was going to be vice-captain [at St Helens] and captaining my country I'd have laughed at you.
If I play well and the team does well, hopefully the individual awards will follow on. It's not something I'm completely focused on, I'm more focused on winning more silverware with Saints.
"Now I've been shoved in at the deep end I'm enjoying it and I'm learning as well, and that's the best thing.
"I think the reason I've been thrust into these leadership positions is because of the position I play on the field. As a full-back, you've got to be very dominant and give instructions.
"It's something I've had to pick up on the fly, I've had a few arguments on the pitch, but it always ends up in good spirits. I just want to keep learning and plying my trade on the field."
On a team level, it was a mixed year for Welsby and his St Helens clubmates. It began with a stunning victory over NRL kings Penrith Panthers in Australia in the World Club Challenge but ended with Sam Tomkins' last gasp try for Catalans Dragons in the Super League play-off semi-finals.
That defeat in Perpignan, which ended Saints' quest for an unprecedented five straight Grand Final triumphs, still hurts for Welsby and he is determined to make amends for that at a club where trophies are not so much an aim but an expectation.
The retirements of Roby, Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Will Hopoate have been offset by the signings of Daryl Clark, Matt Whitley and Waqa Blake, as well as Tee Ritson on a full transfer after a successful season-long loan from Betfred Championship side Barrow Raiders.
But Welsby, not long out of academy rugby league himself, is eager to help integrate the next generation of young hotshots coming through ahead of St Helens' Super League opener at home to London Broncos on February 16.
"We've had a big turnover of players," Welsby said. "It doesn't look so much from the outside because we've only brought in a few big names as signings.
"But we've also brought in a lot of young kids we think are going to be massive players in the near future and we need to redefine that purpose and understanding of what it means to be a St Helens player.
"We've done a lot of work on our attack; that probably let us down at the end of last year and it's important we get it right this year."
Watch St Helens host promoted London Broncos, plus every match of the 2024 Betfred Super League season, live on Sky Sports Arena on Friday, February 16 (8pm kick-off). Also stream contract-free with NOW.
