Morgan Knowles (born 5 November 1996) is a 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 plays as a or 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 ...

. He has played for both

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

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.

Background

Knowles was born in

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, England, and attended

Ulverston Victoria High School Ulverston Victoria High School (UVHS) is a secondary school and sixth form located in the town of Ulverston, Cumbria, England. It is the successor school to Ulverston Grammar School and Victoria Secondary Modern, which were combined in 1967 to ...

. He played junior rugby league for Barrow Island before signing for St Helens at the age of 15.

Career

Knowles made his first team debut for Saints in May 2015, appearing as a substitute in a

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 ...

game against

York City Knights The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC (known as the York City Knights from 2002 to 2022) based in York, England. The Knights played their home games at Huntington Stadium before moving to Bootham Crescent. ...

. He established a regular place in the first team during the following year, and was rewarded with a new three-year contract at the club. 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

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

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 ...

. Knowles played in the

2019 Super League Grand Final The 2019 Super League Grand Final was the 22nd official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXIV. It was held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 12 October 2019. The final was contested by St. Helens and Salford Red Devils ( ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Knowles played in St Helens

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 The MKM Stadium (also known as the Hull City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a multi-purpose facility in the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. The stadium was previously called the KC Stadium, but was renamed the KCOM Stadi ...

in Hull. 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. On 9 October 2021, he played in St. Helens

2021 Super League Grand Final The 2021 Super League Grand Final was the 24th official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXVI. The game was contested between Catalans Dragons and St Helens at Old Trafford. Background The two finalists finished first ...

victory over

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 2022 semi-final, Knowles was sent to the sin bin for a chicken wing tackle during St Helens 19-12 victory over

which sent the club into their fourth consecutive grand final. Knowles was later suspended for two matches. St Helens appealed the decision which the RFL rejected. Knowles and St Helens then put in a second appeal which was successful meaning he was free to play in the 2022 Super League Grand Final. On 24 September 2022, Knowles played for St Helens in their 2022 Super League Grand Final victory over

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 ...

. On 18 February 2023, Knowles played in St Helens 13-12 upset victory over Penrith in the 2023 World Club Challenge. On 12 April 2023, Knowles was suspended for five matches and issued a £500 fine after he was placed on report for an illegal tackle during St Helens 14-6 loss to Wigan in round 8 of the competition. On 22 May 2023, Knowles was suspended for two games following being red carded during the clubs Challenge Cup victory over Halifax. Knowles was sent off in the final minute of the game for a high tackle on Halifax hooker Tom Inman. Knowles played 21 games for St Helens in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished third on the table. Knowles played in St Helens narrow loss against the Catalans Dragons in the semi-final which stopped them reaching a fifth successive grand final.

Representative

On 25 June 2021 he made a try scoring début for

in their 24-26 defeat to the Combined Nations All Stars, staged at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...

, as part of England’s

2021 Rugby League World Cup The 2021 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC2021) was a collection of world cups in the sport of rugby league, held in England from 15 October to 19 November 2022. England won hosting rights for the competition on 27 October 2016. The bid received £2 ...

preparation.

References

External links

St Helens profileSL profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at rlwc2017.comSaints Heritage Society profileEngland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, Morgan 1996 births Living people England national rugby league team players English rugby league players English people of Welsh descent Rugby league players from Barrow-in-Furness Rugby league hookers St Helens R.F.C. players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players