LEIGH have snapped up young St Helens pair of Ricky Bailey and Jonah Cunningham on one year loan terms.

Both players will join up with the Centurions in time for pre season training in early November after the loan deals were agreed following productive talks involving Saints head coach Justin Holbrook and CEO Mike Rush.

Leigh Centurions head coach Neil Jukes said: "Ricky and Jonah are two young and talented individuals with real ambition to go on and achieve big things in the game.

"Both have shown real promise in their development through the Saints system and are at the stage in their careers where they are both ready to push to play first-team football on a regular basis.

"We have been busy in the market and though we always as a club want to develop our own players it is also important to have the assistance of neighbouring clubs.

"When we enquired about these two talented individuals Justin and Mike kindly engaged in an agreement that will ultimately prove to the advantage of all parties. As a club Leigh Centurions has an excellent relationship with Saints and I'd like to thank Justin and Mike for their continued assistance."

Fullback Bailey, 20, hails from Telford and is a product of the Midlands Regional Player Development camp. A former England international at academy level, he made his Saints Super League debut on the wing against Hull in April 2015 and played fullback in Saints' Super League game at Widnes earlier this year. He scored 16 tries in 14 games for the Saints reserves side in 2017.

The son of Centurions head of rugby Keiron Cunningham, 19-year-old Jonah Cunningham is a versatile forward who has been at Saints since he was 14. Cunningham and Bailey were two of seven academy players handed full-time contracts following a successful season with Saints Under-19s side in 2016.

Cunningham scored five tries in 14 games for Saints reserves side in 2017 and made his senior bow with two appearances on dual registration with Sheffield Eagles in the Championship in September 2017.