St Helens and centre Nene MacDonald agree to part ways

St Helens have ended the contract of centre Nene MacDonald by mutual consent, meaning the club and the player have agreed to finish his deal early. The BBC reported the news on Monday 27 October.

MacDonald is a 32-year-old Papua New Guinea international. He joined the Super League club on a two-year deal in December, to work alongside former Salford coach Paul Rowley. Rugby league's centres are the players who run through the middle of the field, linking the forwards with the wide men.

It was a hard season for him to get going. Injuries restricted him to 13 appearances for the club. Those appearances included a home debut that ended after 20 minutes when he left the field injured.

There were still moments to remember. He scored his first try for Saints against York after returning from injury, and he added a second-half try against the Tigers in Round 24. He was also named in the 2024 Betfred Super League Dream Team, the list of the season's best players in England's top competition.

MacDonald's career has taken him around the rugby league world. He has played in Australia's NRL, the sport's top competition, for the Sydney Roosters, Gold Coast Titans, St George Illawarra Dragons, North Queensland Cowboys and Cronulla Sharks. He has also had spells in England with Leigh and Leeds before arriving at St Helens.

The departure comes at a difficult time for the club. St Helens failed to finish in the Super League play-offs for the first time. The play-offs are the end-of-season series of knockout matches that decide the title, so missing them is a significant blow for any club with St Helens' history.

Neither the club nor MacDonald has, so far, said what comes next for him. Whether St Helens look to replace him before the next campaign is also not yet known. For a player who has crossed oceans and codes of rugby to reach England, the next move will be watched with interest on both sides of the world.