Paul Wellens has addressed the media today confirming yet more bad news for a St Helens team that has already been hampered massively through injury, as he confirmed that former Leeds Rhinos man Konrad Hurrell is set to spend four weeks on the sidelines.
It means that currently St Helens will be missing both Hurrell and Makinson from their first choice back line whilst there are also huge injuries in the pack, not least Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi who will miss the rest of the season.
Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook is another who picked up knocks alongside Walmsley and Paasi and means they are missing bulk from their pack.
As for their powerful centre Hurrell though, Wellens confirmed to the media today that their Tongan international will miss approximately four weeks following an injury picked up in Saints’ win over Leeds Rhinos.
Wellens told SaintsTV: “Yes, so unfortunately we’ve lost Konrad on the weekend. Konrad’s got a bit of a torn calf.
“I’ve got to pay him a fair bit of respect, to be honest. He did that very early on in the game and managed to stay out there on the field and get through the 80 minutes.
“It’s testament to his toughness as a player but unfortunately we will probably be missing Konrad now for close to four weeks.”
For m0st teams in Super League an injury of four weeks at this stage would mean missing just three Super League games given that the Challenge Cup Final allows teams a week off, but that is not the case for Saints.
Because of the club’s pre-season tour down under in which they lifted the World Club Challenge against Penrith Panthers the Red Vee missed round one of Super League.
That meant that the fixture with Huddersfield Giants was postponed and moved to an unconfirmed later date, presumably to be played on the first Challenge Cup weekend after the two teams had been knocked out.
Given Saints’ run to the semi-final before Leigh Leopards edged them out it means the first available weekend is Challenge Cup Final weekend with the RFL and Super League breaking tradition and allotting St Helens and Huddersfield’s clash on the Sunday, one day after Leigh and Hull KR face off at Wembley.
That means Hurrell will miss clashes with Salford, Huddersfield, Castleford and then potentially both Wakefield and Leigh.
Despite that the ‘Hurrell-caine’ took to social media with a message of positivity, assuring fans that he would be coming back ‘a hungry man’.
Time to reset and come back a hungry man 👊🏽
— Konrad Hurrell (@konmanhurrell) August 3, 2023
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