Paul Wellens provides key update on status of St Helens stars

It’s been two weeks since the Challenge Cup semi-final in which St Helens were defeated 12-10 by Leigh Leopards, a crushing defeat for the Red Vee and what that came at significant injury cost.

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook picked up a knock but the major injuries happened to fellow forward Agnatius Paasi and Alex Walmsley who both suffered season ending injuries during carries into contact with Leigh skipper John Asiata.

It provoked outraged from Paul Wellens, who confirmed that Paasi will miss nine months with Walmsley sidelined for three months, with the Saints boss launching a scathing attack at the RFL who he claimed had failed to protect his players given what he dubbed an ‘out of control’ tackle technique from Asiata.

Ahead of facing Salford Red Devils tomorrow Wellens provided an update on the pair and the progress of their recovery.

He confirmed to SaintsTV: “Yeah, Alex has had his operation, it’s obviously just a waiting game for him at the moment. He’s obviously only a week post-surgery, so he’s still getting over the effects of the operation and then he will obviously start very quickly on his rehab to obviously put him in contention to get back playing and get back training for us in pre-season.

“So it’s obviously been a difficult couple of weeks for Alex, handling the disappointment of not only losing in the Cup semi-final but picking up the injury that he did.

“We’re going to allow him a bit of time away, I think that’s important for him to clear his head but we’ll provide him with all the support that we can and then like I say just let him get on with his recovery.”

As for Paasi who tore both his MCL and ACL, it’s a much longer process.

“No, Agnatius is waiting for the MCL to heal which is going to take around six weeks time and only when that’s happened can he then undergo surgery for the ACL so again it’s a waiting game for Ignatius at the moment.

“Then like I said with Alex, we’re providing him with all the support necessary. But what Agnatius is, is a very level-headed person. Whilst he’s very disappointed, he understands what lies ahead of him and he’s very quickly trying to get his head around that.”