SAINTS have signed strong-running York City Knights second rower Joe Batchelor on a three-year contract.

The 23-year-old back rower will remain with the Minster Men until the end of the year joining Saints for the start of the 2019 campaign.

Saints beat off competition from other clubs to sign Batchelor, who is the brother of Wakefield Trinity's James.

Saints boss Justin Holbrook said: “Joe is a player we have had our eyes on this season. “He has been a real standout in Betfred League 1 this year and has been very consistent for a competitive York side.

“He is a strong running second rower with good skill and he also has a great work ethic. He has now matured as a player and hopefully he will continue to improve with us at Saints.

“We are looking forward to welcoming him into our system.”

Batchelor has had spells with Sheffield Eagles' academy, played a year in Australia before joining Coventry Bears.

An outstanding 2017 at York saw Joe named both the Player of the Year and The York Press Player of the Year following his debut season at the club, which saw him score 15 tries in 22 appearances.

Despite attracting interest from Super League, Batchelor signed an improved deal at York and to date has made eight appearances in 2018, scoring eight tries - including a try against Catalans Dragons in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup.

Batchelor said: “I’m delighted to have signed with St Helens from next season and have the unbelievable opportunity train in a full time environment with world class players and hopefully play Super League rugby.

“I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone at York, especially Jon, Fordy and all the coaching staff for the amount of hard work they’ve put into getting me to this stage.

“I am still 100 per cent committed to finishing my year at York and making sure it ends with promotion to the Championship.”