ST HELENS forward Alex Walmsley hopes to end his career with the defending Super League champions after signing a new long-term contract.

The 30-year-old joined Saints from Championship outfit Batley in 2012 and has gone on to have a successful career for club and country.

He has made 201 appearances for Saints, impressing last season with 10 tries in 20 games to be included in the 2020 Super League Dream Team, and has won three Grand Finals.

The prop featured for England during the 2017 World Cup campaign, scoring a try in the semi-final victory against Tonga and was an interchange for the 6-0 final defeat to Australia. He was also selected for Great Britain Lions’ tour of the southern hemisphere in 2019.

He is now set to remain at Langtree Park until at least the end of the 2024 campaign.

“I am really happy and I am delighted to get the deal done and commit my future to the club,” Walmsley said. “I have been here since 2012 and made my debut in the 2013 season and I have loved it.

“The club and the fans and the town have been so good to me and it is my new home. I have loved playing for St Helens and the whole club. It was so easy to commit my future to them and hopefully I can end my career here.

“My current deal takes me until the end of 2024 but I still feel I have a lot of rugby left in me and this is the place I want to finish my career.

“The plan is to have a successful next few years and hopefully leave an impact on the club in what will hopefully be 12 years of service. I am excited to be a part of what I am sure will be a successful few years for this club.”

Head coach Kristian Woolf hailed the prop’s leadership.

“He is a big part of our success and is a real leader within our group and particularly a leader of our pack and I think it is a real sign of what he means to this club,” he said of the contract extension.