James William Mark Roby (born 22 November 1985) is an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who captains and plays as a for St Helens in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, and for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at international level. He has played his entire professional career to date at St Helens, winning Super League Championships with them in 2006, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 and the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2021. Individually, he has been named to the

Super League Dream Team The Super League Dream Team is an annually-selected rugby league All Star Team consisting of the players deemed to have been the best in their respective positions in the Super League competition. The team is selected by a panel of journalists an ...

on five occasions, won the 2014

Harry Sunderland Trophy The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded annually to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final. Named after Harry Sunderland, who was an Australian rugby league football administrator in both Australia and the United Kingdom, the Troph ...

, and was the 2007 Man of Steel.

Background

Roby was born in

Whiston, Merseyside Whiston is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Previously recorded within the historic county of Lancashire, it is located east of Liverpool. The population was 13,629 at the 2001 Census ...

, England. He went to Legh Vale Primary School,

Haydock Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 11,416 Haydock's historic area covers the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook ward. Haydo ...

and later attended Cowley Language College from 1997 to 2002 then went on to study at the Sixth Form. Furthermore, James went on to Liverpool John Moores University studying sports science but dropped out in his first year to concentrate on his rugby. He played for the North West Counties Under 18s.

Club career

2000s

Roby made his début in 2004 against

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

after progressing through the academy ranks at St Helens. Roby's position is hooker and had plenty of experience already, playing alongside some of the greats of the game including

Keiron Cunningham Keiron Cunningham (born 28 October 1976) is a professional rugby league coach and former player. A Great Britain and Wales international representative , he played his entire professional career at St Helens, making nearly 500 appearances for ...

. In 2005's Super League X, he was narrowly beaten to the Young Player of The Year. St Helens saw Roby as one of the brighter prospects and he seemed a perfect replacement for Keiron Cunningham when he retired, so much so that St Helens were willing to allow

Mickey Higham Mickey Higham (born 18 September 1980) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. He played for the Leigh Centurions in three separate spells in the Super League and Betfred Cham ...

to leave the club and Roby was given a more active role in the team. Roby played for St Helens from the interchange bench in their

2006 Challenge Cup The 2006 Challenge Cup (also known as the Powergen Challenge Cup due to sponsorship from Powergen) was the 105th tournament played for rugby league's Challenge Cup. It features teams from across Europe including England, Scotland, Wales, France ...

Final victory against

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

. St Helens reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

, and Roby played from the interchange bench in Saints' 26–4 victory. As 2006 Super League champions, St Helens faced 2006 NRL Premiers the

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

in the 2007 World Club Challenge. Roby played at in the Saints' 18–14 victory. James Roby Saints

Roby holds the honour of scoring the first try at the new

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, scored during St Helens' victory over the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons ( French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from ...

in the

Final on 25 August 2007. Roby also won the 'Man of Steel' award in October 2007 after being judged to have had the most impact on 2008's

Super League XIII Engage Super League XIII was the official name, due to sponsorship, for the 2008 Super League season by Engage Mutual. Twelve teams competed for the Minor Premiership over 27 rounds (including Millennium Magic) after which, the top 6 finishing t ...

season, being the youngest player to ever win the award, and also becoming the third St Helens player in a row to win the accolade from 2005 to 2007, with

Jamie Lyon Jamie Lyon (born 24 January 1982), also known by the nickname of "Killer", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin represen ...

(2005) and

Paul Wellens Paul Simon Wellens (born 27 February 1980) is an English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of St Helens in the Betfred Super League and a former professional rugby league footballer. A Great Britain and England interna ...

(2006) winning the award previously. He played in the 2008's Super League XIII Grand Final defeat by

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. He played in the 2009 Super League Grand Final defeat by the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

2010s

He played in the 2011 Super League Grand Final defeat by the

. Despite being linked with moves to the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, Roby committed his long-term future to St Helens in 2013 by signing a five-year contract with the club. St Helens reached the

2014 Super League Grand Final The 2014 Super League Grand Final was the 17th official Grand Final and conclusive and deciding match of Super League XIX. It was held on Saturday 11 October 2014, at Old Trafford, Manchester with a 6pm kick-off time. The game was played between ...

, and Roby was selected to play at hooker, putting in a Man-of-the-Match performance to claim the

in their 14–6 victory over

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

. On 23 January 2018, Roby was appointed captain for 2018. The 32-year-old took over the role from back rower Jon Wilkin. Walmsley and Roby

He played in the

2019 Challenge Cup Final The 2019 Challenge Cup Final was the deciding game of the Rugby Football League's 2019 Challenge Cup competition, the 118th staging of the competition. The match was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 24 August 2019 with kick off at 15:00. Th ...

defeat by the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

. He played in the 2019 Super League Grand Final victory over

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

2020s

In August 2020, Roby made his 500th career appearance in a 10–0 victory against

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

. Roby played in St Helens 8–4

2020 Super League Grand Final The 2020 Super League Grand Final was the 23rd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXV. The game was won 8–4 by St Helens R.F.C., St Helens over their local rivals Wigan Warriors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in ...

victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull. Roby also won the

as man of the match. On 17 July 2021, he played for St. Helens in their 26–12

2021 Challenge Cup Final The 2021 Challenge Cup Final was the 120th final of rugby league's Challenge Cup knock-out competition. It took place on 17 July 2021 at Wembley Stadium between Castleford Tigers and St Helens. Background The 2021 Challenge Cup Final was ...

victory over Castleford, scoring a second half try. On 9 October 2021, Roby played in his tenth grand final for St. Helens which was the club's 2021 Super League Grand Final victory over

. It was St. Helens third successive championship victory in a row. In round 7 of the 2022 Super League Season, Roby made his 500th appearance for St Helens in their 26–0 victory over

. In round 15 of the 2022 Super League season, Roby broke the Super League appearance record with his 455th match in the competition. Roby went on to score a try in the Saints 26–18 victory over

Hull KR Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

. On 24 September 2022, Roby captained St Helens to a fourth successive Super League title as they defeated

24–12 in the grand final.

International career

Great Britain

Roby made his international début for Great Britain the 2006 Tri Nations during the tour against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

England

Roby was selected for the England squad to compete in the 2008 World Cup in Australia.

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

's first match against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

he played at , and was named the man-of-the-match in England's victory. Roby returned to international rugby league when he was selected to play for England against France in the one-off test. In 2011, Roby played in the

2011 Rugby League Four Nations The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the third staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and was played in England and Wales during O ...

, and was part of the team that lost the final to Australia. In 2013 Roby was named in England 2013 World Cup squad but lost in the semi-final in the dying seconds to New Zealand. After missing out on the 2014 Four Nations, Roby was selected in Englands 24-man squad to take on

in an end-of-year test-series. In a warm up game before the first test against the Kiwis, England took on

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in a test match. Roby scored two of England's 15 tries in their romp over their opponents and went on to beat the Kiwis 2–1. In October 2017 he was selected in the England squad for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. In June 2018 he played against the Kiwis at

Empower Field at Mile High Empower Field at Mile High (previously known as Broncos Stadium at Mile High, Invesco Field at Mile High and Sports Authority Field at Mile High, and commonly known as Mile High, New Mile High or Mile High Stadium) is an American football stadium ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. As of 22 September 2021, Roby has retired from international duty.

References

External links

St Helens profileSL profileStatistics at rlwc2017.comSaints Heritage Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roby, James 1985 births Living people England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players People from Whiston, Merseyside Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from St Helens, Merseyside St Helens R.F.C. captains St Helens R.F.C. players