The goalkicking loose forward announced his retirement from the game at the age of 30 following the latest in a catalogue of injuries that have plagued him over the last three years of his career.

St Helens chairman Eamon McManus led the tributes to the club captain, saying: ''Scully has been a colossus of the game, both at club and national level.

''We are blessed to have had a player and a person of such high calibre at the club over the last decade.

''He has been instrumental to both our success, image and reputation. He is too high quality a person and too rare a commodity to be lost to the club.''

Sculthorpe, who has been restricted to just 26 appearances in the last two years due to knee, Achilles tendon and shoulder injuries, was told in mid-season that St Helens would not offer him a new contract and proposed moves to Salford and Wakefield fell through.

''The last three years have been a horrendously difficult time for me in terms of injuries and quite simply, I want to finish when I am on top of the game,'' he said.

''I've had a great career and I have no qualms with retiring. I have a young family and I want to look after my body so I can look after them.''

Despite the stop-start nature of his last two seasons, Sculthorpe will be recognised as one of the greatest players of his generation and will always be synonymous with a golden era in the history of St Helens.

He began his professional career at Warrington and signed for Saints in 1997 for a then world record fee for a forward of £370,000.

Sculthorpe became a central figure as Saints continued their domination of the Super League era and became the first man to win the coveted Man of Steel Award in consecutive years when he picked it up for the second time in 2002.

He was appointed Saints skipper in 2004, lifted the Challenge Cup following a triumph over Wigan in Cardiff and produced one of his finest moments when he came off the bench to inspire his side to a memorable victory over Brisbane Broncos in the 2007 World Club Challenge at Bolton.

His last competitive match proved to be this year's Challenge Cup final at Wembley when he suffered a dislocated shoulder in the opening moments of Saints' win over Hull.

With 1,246 points from his 261 appearances, Sculthorpe is ninth in St Helens all-time list of scorers.

On the international front, Sculthorpe established himself as a world-class player for Great Britain, winning 26 caps and four for England, and succeeded Andy Farrell as Great Britain captain in 2005, although he led his country on just one occasion.