James Roby

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James Roby
James Roby
Personal information
Full name James Roby
Date of birth November 22, 1985 (1985-11-22) (age 22)
Place of birth Whiston, Merseyside, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 13 st 7 lbs (86 kg)
Nickname(s) Robes
Club information
Position(s) Hooker
Current club St Helens
Number 14
Youth clubs
Years Club
Blackbrook
Senior clubs*
Years Club Apps (points)
2004 ‐ St Helens 109 (100)
Representative teams**
2006 ‐ Great Britain 5 (4)

* Professional club appearances and points
counted for domestic first grade only and
correct as of 12:47, 31 December 2006 (UTC).
** Representative team caps and points correct
as of 12:47, 31 December 2006 (UTC).

James Roby (born November 22, 1985 in Whiston, Knowsley) is a rugby league player who plays for St. Helens RFC.

Roby made his debut in 2004 against the Widnes Vikings after progressing through the academy ranks at St. Helens RFC. He usually plays 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 Super League X, James was narrowly beaten to the Young Player of The Year. St. Helens RFC 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.

James was an integral part of the St. Helens side that defeated the Huddersfield Giants in the 2006 Challenge Cup and has been awarded with his performances this season by being called up to the Tri Nations squad and making his international debut during the tour against Australia and New Zealand. He holds the honour of scoring the first try at the new Wembley Stadium, scored during St Helens' victory over 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 the 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 2005-2007, with Jamie Lyon (2005) and Paul Wellens (2006) winning the award previously.

James attended Cowley Language College from 1997 - 2002 then went on to the Sixth Form. He also went on to Liverpool John Moores University studying Sports Science but dropped out in his first year to concentrate on his rugby.

He received the Super League 2007 Man of Steel Award, beating favourite Trent Barrett and team-mate Paul Wellens.[1]

He has become somewhat of a cult hero in rugby league, due to a video of him on youtube miming the words to Mike + The Mechanics Over My Shoulder, with references being made at matches and on tv.

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