St Helens skipper James Roby on brink of breaking Super League record - may never be caught

James Roby is on the brink of taking over from former Leeds Rhinos legend Kevin Sinfield as the player with more appearances in Super League than anyone else since it was established in 1996.

If the 36-year-old St Helens skipper is included in coach Kristian Woolf’s final 17-man squad for Saturday night’s away fixture against Toulouse Olympics, as seems almost a racing certainty, he will be making his 454 appearance for his hometown club - the same as his ex-international team-mate.

Then he will be set to claim the outright lead when the defending champions entertain Hull KR the following Sunday (kick-off 3pm).

Looking at the current top 10, only Robes is still playing the sport professionally and will continue to add to his tally during the remainder of the 2022 season before finally hanging up his boots.

It will be a record hard to overtake any time in the future.

Talking of statistics, matches between Saints and Toulouse can be counted on one hand. They first met in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup at Knowsley Road on April 17, 2010, when St Helens cruised to a 56-16 victory.

The French then had to wait 12 years to gain their revenge - beating the defending champions 22-20 at the Stade Ernest-Wallon earlier this season - their first as a Super League club.