SAINTS coach Kristian Woolf wants off-contract half back Theo Fages to remain at Saints.

The 26-year-old French international scrum half is in discussion with Saints over a new deal.

Although Woolf says he would like to keep the two-time Grand Final winning number seven – he is resigned to losing some of his squad due to the effects of the salary cap.

Woolf said: “We have a couple of blokes off contract this year, and everyone in our starting 17 at the moment is someone we would really like to keep and a priority.

“Theo in particular falls right into that category.

“He has been here at the club for six years, been our half back for the last two and a Premiership winning half back for the last two.

“Obviously he is well respected and really well liked within the group and he is a player we would love to keep here.”

Upgrades of existing contracts and recruitment understandably eats into the club’s cap – and big decisions will inevitably be taking place at the club about priorities, not just for next year but moving forward.

Saints have tied up a number of players already this term, including Alex Walmsley, Jonny Lomax, Josh Simm and Regan Grace.

But there are a number of players off contract, including Kyle Amor, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Lachlan Coote, Kevin Naiqama and James Bentley. 

Woolf commented: “At the end of the day sometimes there are other things at play when it comes to contracts and we are in a salary capped sport as well.

“Salary cap is designed to squeeze strong players out of teams – that is essentially what it is there to do and make them go to other teams.

“That is not specifically related to Theo – but what it does mean is that we are going to lose some players due to the salary cap.

“We have some terrific young kids coming through, but with regards to Theo we would really love to keep him and made that clear to him.”