Paul Rowley has had to deal with more than his fair share of injury issues during his short time in charge of St Helens so far.
The Saints head coach saw his captain Matty Lees suffer a long-term blow in his first competitive game in charge of the club and Jack Welsby has now joined the club’s injury list.
Welsby suffered a dislocated shoulder in the loss to Warrington Wolves in round one and he looks set to miss the next three months of action at least.
The head coach will have to shake up his side heading into round two then, and he’ll currently be pondering who plays full-back against Leigh Leopards on Friday night.
The positive is that Rowley has an abundance of options at his disposal within his squad, with Tristan Sailor, Harry Robertson and Nene Macdonald all able to play at full-back.
Here’s a look at some of the Saints boss’ options.
St Helens full-back options
Tristan Sailor
This one feels like the most obvious choice, with the Australian being a natural full-back. He has produced his best stuff for St Helens at one and it seems likely that he will be putting his hand up to step back and pick up the full-back reins in Welsby’s absence.
That would leave a spot in the halves for either Jonny Lomax, George Whitby or Harry Robertson to fill and play alongside Jackson Hastings, who will take on most of the creative responsibility.
The only down side is that Rowley clearly sees Sailor as his best stand-off option, which is why he started the season there in the first place. As such, moving him to full-back for a few months prevents him from getting the reps he needs alongside Hastings in the number six role.
Harry Robertson
Robertson burst onto the scene as a full-back in Welsby’s absence back in 2024, but he’s been used as a centre ever since with his ball-playing skills being put to use on the right edge.
He came through the youth ranks as a spine player, though, playing in the halves or at full-back, and his performances earlier in his career demonstrate that he is more than capable of nailing down the role at Super League level.
Moving the 20-year-old from centre would surely see Deon Cross moved in off the wing to take up that spot, with Lewis Murphy and Owen Dagnall battling it out for the final spot in the outside backs. Whether Rowley would be willing to make that many changes to his side, though, remains to be seen.
Nene Macdonald
Macdonald has spent much of his Super League career as a centre, but he’s just as comfortable at full-back and he’s represented Papua New Guinea in the position on more than one occasion.
He’d provide a major running threat as a number one, exploiting gaps with speed and power and, having worked with him at Salford Red Devils previously, Rowley will know exactly what he is capable of.
Of course, such a switch would prompt a reshuffle in the outside backs, as mentioned above, but Macdonald can certainly be trusted to do a job at one, should Rowley be reluctant to move others from their current positions.
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