{"id":561594,"date":"2026-05-02T01:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T01:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/561594\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T01:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T01:20:11","slug":"ex-st-helens-man-relishing-clash-with-former-club-as-saints-exit-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/561594\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-St Helens man relishing clash with former club as Saints exit explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

\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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Jon Bennison will line up against St Helens tonight for the first time in his career with the York Knights back relishing the challenge against the club he called home for the majority of his career.<\/p>\n

Still only 23, Bennison left St Helens to join York Knights in the off-season<\/a> but injury has limited him to just one appearance with the winger lining up last week in the win over Toulouse Olympique.<\/p>\n

Tonight he returns to his former club for the first time and St Helens\u2019 assistant Lee Briers is sure that the outside back will get a very warm welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known Jon since he was 15 when I coached him at Thatto Heath Crusaders,\u201d Briers said earlier in the week when conducting the pre-match presser.<\/p>\n

\u201cTremendous person. Tremendous member of a very successful squad.\u00a0We\u2019ll welcome Jon back with open arms and I\u2019m sure the St Helens faithful in the stands will make sure that he\u2019s given his welcome return.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Bennison, he can\u2019t wait to line up against the Red Vee that he donned 71 times:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m really excited. It\u2019ll be nice to play against some of my mates who are still there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a few injured, but I\u2019m looking forward to playing against them, hopefully getting one over on them and it\u2019ll be interesting to see what it\u2019s like to play against some of these lads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Connor\u2019s World Cup chances, Brian McDermott reaction & Leeds Rhinos early title favourites \u2013 Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show<\/a><\/p>\n

St Helens return has been in the calendar for months for Bennison<\/p>\n

Bennison debuted for St Helens<\/a> in 2021, making just one appearance, but he played 18 times in 2022 when the Red Vee won their most recent Grand Final.<\/p>\n

Recalling his time at the club, he said: \u201cI\u2019ve got some great memories playing with them for years, so it will be nice to go back. Nice to get my family and friends down as well, so I\u2019m really looking forward to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a game I pencilled in the calendar months ago, so I\u2019m really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his love of St Helens, Bennison started to fall out of favour in 2025 with the winger ending the regular season on loan at Widnes Vikings before then returning for the play-offs.<\/p>\n

In the play-offs, he\u2019d score in the incredible win over Leeds Rhinos but ultimately didn\u2019t earn a new deal with York Knights swooping to sign him.<\/p>\n

Explaining why York, Bennison said: \u201cThe main thing for me being here is trying to develop as a player and trying to play every week I can.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I\u2019ve had a set-back with this injury and not been able to really make my mark yet at the club, but that\u2019s the main thing to try and play each week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the right time for me and I\u2019m delighted that I\u2019m here and that I\u2019ve got this opportunity. Hopefully, I can repay some trust with some good performances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jon Bennison will line up against St Helens tonight for the first time in his career with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-561594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561594","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=561594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}