Matt Whitley

A brilliant back-row who has come home to play for his boyhood club ❤️

The Billinge-born forward was a Saints supporter growing up in Newton-le-Willows and worked with the Club’s service area programme, which trained and worked with young players ahead of club Scholarship systems commencing around the age of fourteen.

Whitley began his professional career by coming through the academy ranks at Widnes Vikings, making his Super League bow in 2015 and then agreeing full-time terms with the club shortly after. Over his four seasons with the Vikings, Whitley racked up a century of match appearances (100), scoring on 20 occasions, as well as being nominated for 2016’s Super League Young Player of the Year.

A move to the South of France followed, where the Billinge native has thrived in a period of success for the Dragons in a five-year spell, and he has proved himself to be one of the best back-rowers in the Betfred Super League. With 103 appearances for the French club, Whitley has been part of the side that secured the Dragons’ first-ever League Leaders’ Shield, as well as two Grand Final appearances in 2021 and 2023, scoring 35 times in the process.

On his official St.Helens debut, the boy from Billinge fulfilled a lifelong dream and scored for the team he grew up idolising. He then went and made it a brace to really mark his first appearance with a bang!

In August 2025, Whitley played in the 250th match of his career, a win over Castleford Tigers, which made it a sweet moment for the back-rower. The 2025 season was a strong one for Matt, featuring in all but two of the Saints’ matches throughout the year.