James Roby

James William Mark Roby (born 22 November 1985) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for St Helens in the Super League, and for Great Britain and England at international level.

James Roby
Personal information
Full nameJames William Mark Roby[1]
Born (1985-11-22) 22 November 1985[2]
Whiston, Merseyside, England
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Weight14 st 2 lb (90 kg)[3]
Playing information
PositionHooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2004– St Helens 468 109 1 1 439
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–07 Great Britain 7 1 0 0 4
2008– England 31 5 0 0 20
As of 9 January 2021
Source: [4][5][6][7]

He has played his entire professional career to date at St Helens, winning 2006's, 2014's and 2019's Super League Championships with them and the Challenge Cup in 2006, 2007 and 2008.[4][5][6][7] Individually, he has been named to the Super League Dream Team on five occasions, won the 2014 Harry Sunderland Trophy, and was the 2007 Man of Steel.

Background

Roby was born in Whiston, Merseyside, England. He went to Legh Vale Primary School, Haydock 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 after progressing through the academy ranks at St Helens. Roby's position is usually as a hooker and has plenty of experience already, playing alongside some of the greats of the game including Keiron Cunningham. Roby has made a massive impact for St Helens and has played over 50 games for them. In 2005's Super League X, he was narrowly beaten to the Young Player of The Year. St Helens see James as one of the brighter prospects and he seems a perfect replacement for Keiron Cunningham when he retires, so much so that St. Helens were willing to allow Mickey Higham to leave the club and Roby was given a more active role in the team.

Roby playing for St Helens in 2010

Roby played for St Helens from the interchange bench in their 2006 Challenge Cup Final victory against Huddersfield. St Helens reached the 2006 Super League Grand final to be contested against Hull FC, 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 in the 2007 World Club Challenge. Roby played at hooker in the Saints' 18–14 victory.

Roby holds the honour of scoring the first try at the new Wembley Stadium, scored during St Helens' victory over the Catalans Dragons in the Challenge Cup 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 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 (2005) and Paul Wellens (2006) winning the award previously.

He played in the 2008's Super League XIII Grand Final defeat by Leeds.[8]

He played in the 2009 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]

2010s

He played in the 2011 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford.[21][22]

Despite being linked with moves to the NRL,[23] Roby committed his long-term future to St Helens in 2013 by signing a 5-year contract with the club.[24]

St. Helens reached the 2014 Super League Grand Final, and Roby was selected to play at hooker, putting in a Man-of-the-Match performance to claim the Harry Sunderland Trophy in their 14–6 victory over the Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford.[25][26][27][28]

2018

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

2019

He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[29]

He played in the 2019 Super League Grand Final victory over the Salford Red Devils at Old Trafford.[30][31][32]

2020

Roby played in St Helens 8-4 2020 Super League Grand Final victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull. Roby also won the Harry Sunderland Trophy as man of the match.[33]

International career

Great Britain

Roby made his international début for Great Britain the 2006 Tri Nations during the tour against Australia and New Zealand.

England

Roby was selected for the England squad to compete in the 2008 World Cup in Australia.[34] Group A's first match against Papua New Guinea he played at hooker, 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.[35] In 2011, Roby played in the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations, and was part of the team that lost the final to Australia.[36]

In 2013 Roby was named in England 2013 World Cup squad but lost in the semi-final in the dying seconds to New Zealand.[37]

After missing out on the 2014 Four Nations, Roby was selected in Englands 24-man squad to take on New Zealand in an end-of-year test-series. In a warm up game before the first test against the Kiwis, England took on France in a test match. Roby scored two of England's 15 tries in their romp over their opponents[38] 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.[39]

References
  1. "James William Mark Roby". Companies House. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  2. Stott, Julie (6 October 2010). "England Four Nations Pen Pics". News of the World. UK: News Group Newspapers Ltd. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  3. "James Roby". englandrl.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  4. "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  6. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  7. "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  8. "2008 Grand Final". BBC. 4 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  9. "Rhinos Take Super League Title". Sky News. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  10. Burke, David (11 October 2009). "Smith's Crisp". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  11. AFP (11 October 2009). "Leeds makes it Super League hat-trick". ABC News. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  12. AAP (11 October 2009). "Leeds claim third successive Grand Final". nrl.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  13. Linfoot, Ben (10 October 2009). "Grand Final: Leeds Rhinos 18 St Helens 10". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  14. Correspondent (12 October 2009). "Potter refuses to blame video ref". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  15. Fletcher, Paul (10 October 2009). "St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  16. "Third time unlucky as Saints fail to halt Rhinos' charge to title". Liverpool Daily Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  17. "Sinfield hails winning culture". The Daily Mirror. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  18. Stewart, Rob (12 October 2009). "Lee Smith targets place in England rugby union team after Grand Final victory". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  19. "Sinfield hails historic title win". BBC Sport. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  20. "Leeds Rhinos fans in homecoming welcome". Yorkshire Evening Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  21. "Leeds claim Grand Final glory as inspired Rob Burrow sinks St Helens". Guardian. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  22. "St Helens 16 Leeds 32". Daily Telegraph. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  25. "St Helens 14 Wigan Warriors 6: Moment of madness from Wales international Ben Flower costs Wigan dear". Daily Telegraph. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  26. "St Helens win Grand Final after Wigan's Ben Flower is sent off". Guardian. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  27. "St Helens 14–6 Wigan Warriors". BBC Sport. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  28. Cartwright, Phil (11 October 2014). "St Helens v Wigan as it happened". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  29. "St Helens 4-18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  30. "St Helens give Justin Holbrook the perfect send-off with commanding Grand Final victory over Salford". Telegraph. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  31. "St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  32. "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
  33. "Super League Grand Final: Wigan 4-8 St Helens". www.bbc.co.uk.
  34. "Purdham earns World Cup call-up". BBC. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
  35. Hadfield, Dave (13 June 2010). "Widdop passes his first Test at a canter". The Independent. UK: Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  38. "England demolish France 84–4 in record win". Skysports.com. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  39. "England rugby league World Cup squad revealed - and James Roby is back in the fold". Mirror. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
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