St Helens boss Paul Rowley has explained the loan signing of Jed Cartwright, after the back rower joined the club yesterday from Hull FC.
Cartwright has potentially played his final game in a Black and Whites shirt, with Saints securing his services for the next month. The Red Vee have a view to make the move a permanent one until the end of the season, so if that comes to fruition, his time at FC could have come to a premature end.
Rowley’s side is significantly down on troops this week, with a number of injuries picked up at the Magic Weekend event, which saw the side lose to rivals Wigan Warriors.
George Delaney, Alex Walmsley, Daryl Clark and David Klemmer were added to the ever-growing injury list, with Saints now having around 15 injuries within their squad.
As such, Cartwright was brought in to be an experienced body in the side, and Rowley is happy he has got a player of his calibre on board.
He said: “[It’s] exactly like I said in the press release really, to get somebody of Jed’s quality available when we’re so short on troops was a fantastic opportunity.
“We know about Jed and he’s a great lad and a very good player, so we’re delighted… He’s a back-rower, his best qualities are his size, his presence, how he moves, so he’s an experienced back-rower and does everything right, so he’s the full package really.Â
Explaining how the move came about, Rowley said that the switch was completed only yesterday, which coincided with Ethan O’Neill joining FC on a permanent basis from Leeds Rhinos.
There are some concerns from fans that Cartwright’s injury record could come back to bite Saints. Rowley disagrees with that claim, for the short-term at least.
“He’s on loan. It means it’s not our risk at this point. Further down the line, if we were to make a decision and we came to an agreement of an extended stay, then it becomes our issue.
“The facts are the facts in terms of being able to get on the field. I’ve got to say, it’s no coincidence that the teams with the best training facilities seem to have the fewest injuries.
“I don’t think Hull have been blessed in that situation. I think they train on 4G. I might be wrong. That’s not a criticism of Hull, I’m saying it of ourselves as well.
“The game’s moved on so fast and we’re trying to compare to NRL all the time. The resources and facilities, NRL to here, is significantly different.
“If we’re trying to make our product as quick and as fast as that, then we need to accelerate off the field stuff as well.”
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St Helens boss reveals grim David Klemmer injury update
As mentioned, Klemmer will be missing in this week’s game, and it doesn’t sound like he will be back any time soon, with Rowley explaining further about his injury.
He revealed that the former World Cup winner has bleeding around his organs and has three broken ribs, but still put his hand up to play this week.
“Not playing him is protecting him from himself on what could be life-changing injuries,” the boss said. “But he reflects rugby league players, not just our club, but in general. So, I think we’ve all got a responsibility to protect the lads from themselves.”
Clark will be another huge miss, with the hooker’s ankle forcing him to miss out on around two months of action. Walmsley and Delaney should be out for just a week after failing HIAs.
