St Helens injury update as Paul Wellens provides further detail on 5 players
George Delaney, Mark Percival, Jake Wingfield and Sione Mata'utia in action for St Helens
St Helens coach Paul Wellens has provided a full injury update on his sidelined squad members ahead of Thursday’s clash with Salford Red Devils.
Speaking in his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Wellens confirmed that key prop Alex Walmsley would make his return against Salford after almost four months on the sidelines with hamstring and knee injuries.
And the Saints boss provided a wider update on his squad, starting with club stalwart Mark Percival, who missed their win at Hull FC last time out through suspension, but has also been nursing a minor knock. Wellens says he is hopeful that Percival will be fit enough to feature this week.
“It has settled down a little bit,” Wellens said. “Even if he hadn’t been suspended, I don’t think he’d have been in a position to play last week. It’s allowed Percy the opportunity to get himself right.
“He’s done some running on the field today (Tuesday) and looked comfortable so we’re hoping that will stay the same and that he’ll be in contention to play on Thursday night too.”
READ MORE: Major Alex Walmsley update as St Helens prop’s injury recovery detailed with return date confirmed
Meanwhile, highly-rated young prop George Delaney will again be absent from Wellens’ 17 that takes to the field against Salford due to a knee injury.
“The knee problem that he kind of re-injured at Leigh a couple of weeks ago is still kind of rumbling on a little bit,” Wellens added.
“We have to be sensible with young players like George who we have asked a lot of in recent times. He’s still only 20 so he’s a young front-rower in the infancy of his career in professional sport so we’ll allow him the best opportunity to recover well from this injury.”
St Helens have been able to welcome back key players such as Tommy Makinson, Matt Whitley, Joe Batchelor and Morgan Knowles in recent weeks: and there’s positive news on forward duo Jake Wingfield and Sione Mata’utia, who Wellens says are now just a ‘few weeks’ away from being available for selection.
“Potentially in a few weeks Jake Wingfield might come back into contention, we’ll see how he progresses now,” Wellens added.
“Sione Mata’utia is another one that will come close in a few weeks but what we can’t do with either of those yet is give a definitive timeframe but, within a few weeks, both should be pushing for selection.”
READ MORE: St Helens, Leigh Leopards, Hull KR provide 8 players in Team of the Week
And Wellens confirmed that centre Konrad Hurrell underwent successful surgery on his neck injury over the weekend.
The Tonga international, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is unlikely to play again in 2024: and Wellens insists the club’s immediate priority is to look after Hurrell in his rehabilitation process, with talks surrounding his future to come later down the track.
“He only had surgery on Saturday morning which I’m pleased to report went really well so Konrad can start his recovery process now,” Wellens continued.
“A great sign of Konrad is that he came around from his operation and the first thing he did was getting in touch to congratulate the team on finally getting the win after a few weeks (of losing).
“Konrad is all for the team and always has been so we’ll support him in the best way we can. Any decisions around his future will be kept at bay for now.”
