ST HELENS will get a first glimpse of their new temporary home in January when they take on Widnes Vikings in the Karalius Cup at Stobart Stadium Halton.
Saints, who left Knowsley Road at the end of last season and will move to a new multi-million pound state-of-the-art rugby league ground in Peasley Cross, St Helens, will be playing all home games out of Widnes’ home next season.
The Vikings and Saints will go head to head on Sunday, January 23 at 3pm in front of what’s expected to be a bumper crowd, including members of the Karalius family.
Young Saints scrum-half Ben Karalius, nephew of the late Vince Karalius and grandson of Saints hall of famer Tony Karalius is likely to start for Royce Simmon’s side.
Last time the two sides met in the pre-season warm up the Saints humbled Widnes 42-26.
Meanwhile, St Helens prop-forward Gareth Frodsham has signed for Widnes Vikings on loan for the new Co-operative Championship season – strengthening the relationship the two clubs have had in recent years.
The 21-year-old has joined the club on a one-year loan deal.
A former Pilkington Recs junior, the big, strong running front-rower, who captained England at both under-15s and under-16s level and made his debut for Saints in the 2008 season against Warrington Wolves, has come to the Vikings in a bid to kick start his career following a spate of injuries which have hampered his progress.
Director of rugby Paul Cullen said: “We are delighted to welcome Gareth to play for the Vikings in 2011.
“We hope he follows in the footsteps of Liam Farrell and uses this process to promote himself to the next level.
“We have a proven track record of giving young players a chance at the Vikings and look forward to establishing our links with St Helens as we have with Wigan.”
Saints head of high performance Mike Rush added: “Gareth has missed a lot of rugby due to injury over recent seasons and therefore this move is part of his continuing development as a rugby league professional.
“We hope he can gain similar benefits that the likes of Jacob Emmitt and others in the past have experienced.”
