St Helens: Paul Wellens calls out lack of consistency after serious injury to star

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens has called for consistency in how incidents are punished, after an inuury to Joe Batchelor.

Adding to recent injuries to Alex Walmsley, Morgan Knowles, Matt Whitley and Jake Wingfield, Saints are another man down in their forward pack, as they’re now set to be without Joe Batchelor for an extended period of time.

Wellens said: “Joe Batchelor’s got some pretty significant ankle ligament damage and it’s looking like it’s going to be an eight to nine-week layoff for him.”

The tackle that caused it was by Leeds Rhinos player Luis Roberts, who was handed a Grade B Dangerous Contact charge, but it was missed by officials during the game, and since this was his first such offence he was only given a £250 fine by the Match Review Panel.

Therefore, he’s pretty much got away with it, while Batchelor is now looking at a couple of months on the sidelines.

Quiz: Can you name all these ex-St Helens players?

Wellens calls for consistency

Wellens went on to question whether there was consistency surrounding calls like this, referencing recent incidents.

He said: “The only thing I would say is a little bit frustrating is that obviously Tommy Makinson a couple of weeks ago got sent off (at Castleford) after an incident of foul play was reviewed and reviewed again.

“On the weekend there is an incident of foul play that doesn’t get reviewed and the player stays on the field.

“Now, I don’t want that young kid to get sent off – I think it was largely an accident so I have nothing against the young lad there, but we need some consistency around the way we approach those situations.”

Makinson, due to the reserves loophole, did manage to get away without missing a game, but he may have a point.

It also seems like it could be an issue that an incident that causes a player to get a long-term injury, even if an accident, barely gets punished.