{"id":384125,"date":"2026-01-22T12:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T12:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/384125\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T12:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T12:30:10","slug":"st-helens-owner-eamonn-mcmanus-lauds-star-man-in-passionate-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/384125\/","title":{"rendered":"St Helens owner Eamonn McManus lauds star man in passionate message"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2400\" height=\"1600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/sw63_St_Helens_v_Leeds.jpg\" class=\"attachment- size- wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus has paid tribute to Matty Lees as the forward prepares for the new Super League season.<\/p>\n<p>Lees has been granted a testimonial year and Saturday\u2019s pre-season friendly against Castleford Tigers will be played in his honour. The clash will give <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seriousaboutrl.com\/rugby-league\/st-helens\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Saints<\/a> supporters the opportunity to show their appreciation and celebrate the England international, but it will also provide them with a first glimpse of what Paul Rowley\u2019s St Helens side will look like.<\/p>\n<p>The Merseyside outfit have been busy in terms of recruitment over the off-season and a number of new signings will get a run out at the newly named BrewDog Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>While there have been changes, Lees remains a constant in the red vee. The 27-year-old is six appearances short of his 200th for the club and as he readies himself for what will be his 10th season in the Saints\u2019 first-team picture, he\u2019ll be looking to add to a trophy haul that includes three Grand Final wins, a Challenge Cup and a World Club Challenge.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019ll do so as club captain, too, after being selected to take up the mantle and succeed Jonny Lomax.<\/p>\n<p>As such, ahead of his big day, McManus has paid tribute to the man who will be leading out St Helens in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one has been more committed to the cause of St Helens over the last decade than Matty Lees,\u201d McManus wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis bravery and commitment on the field of play during a period which included four consecutive Grand Final wins, a Challenge Cup, and a World Club Challenge win on Australian soil, has been there for all to witness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA testimonial match is an opportunity for fans to show their personal appreciation for a player who has not only shown great loyalty to the club, but has also gone above and beyond in his dedication to the success of the club.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn Saturday, let\u2019s all show him the support that he richly deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Check out the latest episode of The Serious About Rugby League Show on <a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_e9WbvZO3iA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">our YouTube channel here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768085712_213_srl-logo.png\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus has paid tribute to Matty Lees as the forward prepares for the new&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-384125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}