Saints have announced their squad for the 2018 campaign.
Ben Barba will wear the 23 shirt this season – an iconic shirt number in world sport donned by the likes of David Beckham and Michael Jordan in their heyday.
New signing James Bentley has been given the 24 shirt whilst Zeb Taia has moved from 36 to 11.
Morgan Knowles is now 15, Danny Richardson 18 and Regan Grace 19.
Joining them in the squad is Matty Costello who is promoted from the Academy after signing a two-year deal.
He is a full back / centre from Orrell St James who has been with the club since the age of 14.
He went on tour with the Academy in 2015 and returned to play a significant part in the unbeaten 2016 Academy side. He was also selected to play for England U18s.
Saints Justin Holbrook told the fans at Thursday night’s exclusive 2018 Members event: “I have said all along that Ben will be our full back and I asked him if he wanted to move to number one from 37.
“But because of the genuine nature of the guy and the length of time Jonny Lomax has been here, he didn’t want him to move.
“He was happy to take any number and I think that shows his character.
“I could have moved others around but I think you have to probably have to play more than half a year in those positions to earn those numbers.
“Ben was happy to take any number but 23 is probably one of the most famous sporting numbers in the world.
“Look at LeBron James, Michael Jordan … he is a high profile player here and the number signifies that.”
Squad
1. Jonny Lomax
2. Tommy Makinson
3. Ryan Morgan
4. Mark Percival
5. Adam Swift
6. Theo Fages
7. Matty Smith
8. Alex Walmsley
9. James Roby
10. Kyle Amor
11. Zeb Taia
12. Jon Wilkin
13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook
14. Luke Douglas
15. Morgan Knowles
16. Luke Thompson
17. Dominique Peyroux
18. Danny Richardson
19. Regan Grace
20. Matty Lees
21. Jack Ashworth
22. Jake Spedding
23. Ben Barba
24. James Bentley
25. Aaron Smith
26. Liam Cooper
27. Ben Morris
28. Josh Eaves
29. Rob Fairclough
30. Matthew Costello
