PROP forward Matty Lees is excited about the prospect of leading the Saints pack in years to come after signing a new deal that will keep him the red vee until at least the end of 2025.
The 24-year-old Academy product, who has graduated from impact prop to a starting front rower this past two seasons, has penned a three-year deal with an option of a fourth.
With Saints having a number of packmen in their 30s – and with Kyle Amor already departing for Warrington – Lees’ signing is a crucial one in the evolution of the side moving forward especially as his name will have been on the NRL radar.
Lean, quick, industrious and aggressive, Lees’ work rate complements the big boppers Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi in the Saints front row union.
Head coach Kristian Woolf said: “The retention of Matty is great for us as a club.
“He has shown over the past 12 to 18 months his ability as a starting front rower and he has earnt that spot in our team.
“He complements Alex Walmsley and Morgan Knowles really well and we also see him as having his best footy ahead of him.
“He is a young man as a front rower who is only going to get better.
“He is very athletic, very physical, and aggressive and over the next few years I think we will certainly see the best of him.
“He will grow into a leader of our pack and continue his improvement with us.”
It has not been plain sailing for the Rochdale-born packman, who joined the club as a 16-year-old and made his senior debut in 2017.
Under Justin Holbrook, Lees cemented his place in the first team squad - playing 19 times in the 2018 campaign and had a storming 2019 season which earned him Super League’s Young Player of the Year.
Alas, that season was cruelly ended when he suffered a perforated bowel – an injury that surgeons compared to ones sustained by car crash victims – the week before the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley, and forcing him to miss the Super League Grand Final.
Wayne Bennett later confirmed that Lees would have been called up for the Great Britain tour had he not suffered that injury.
He has subsequently been called up into Shaun Wane’s England squad training for the autumn’s World Cup.
But Lees returned with his fearless and speedy repeat carries remaining a strong feature, and even overcoming a broken ankle to play his part in two Betfred Super League titles and one Challenge Cup.
Lees said: “I am made up. It is such a great Club, the history and everything we have won over the last couple of years means I am just made up to sign again and I am looking forward to the next few years here.
“Thanks to Mike [Rush] and Eamonn [McManus] and of course Kristian Woolf and all the backroom staff who have all played their part - especially with my injuries in the past. It is always a worry with injuries, and it was a difficult time, but I am happy I got through that and put myself in a position where I was able to get that 10 shirt and kick on.
“Coming through the Academy, it was a dream to get that starting jersey and now I have got it, I really feel like it is going to be a good challenge for me to lead this forward pack in the years ahead.”
Pictures: Bernard Platt.
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