Paul Wellens provides St Helens injury update

Speaking today ahead of their Grand Final rematch with Leeds Rhinos, St Helens coach Paul Wellens has given an injury update.

Wellens initially explained the absence of skipper James Roby as being down to a “groin issue” before adding: “James is one of those blokes that if I asked him to play he absolutely would but for us this is essentially Round Two and he’s 37.”

In terms of prop Agnatius Paasi, Wellens said:

“He’s coming along okay, he has done some running but he is a little sore.

“He is probably similar to James Roby, he would put up his hand to play but we don’t want to take unnecessary risks where we don’t need to.

“That’s not to say we don’t understand that it’s an important game, we do. But at this stage of the year we don’t want to be risking people when we have other fit bodies who can also go out there and do a job.

“It is disappointing but I don’t imagine the layoff will be much longer. He will probably be back to Leigh, if not the Huddersfield game the week after.”

Meanwhile, Mark Percival is set to feature despite an ankle injury:

“He is looking like he will play. He had a rolled ankle, it is a bit sore. We will see how he progresses. We purposefully have delayed the naming of the team to allow players to prove his fitness.

“We have a session in the morning and after that the big decisions will be made.”

Wellens also gave his take on Leeds:

“I think they will be disappointed with the results. I’ve watched both games, I am sure they were disappointed with the performance against Warrington but they were much better last week against Hull and probably not to win the game given the fact they had a couple of opportunities when you would expect them to score.

“It is quite clear how much Rohan Smith has improved them since he has been there and we’re expecting them to get better and they will be highly motivated to come and get a result.”

He also spoke fondly of Leeds boss Rohan Smith:

“No he’s not conventional, you have to respect that. I think I heard him do an interview with his uncle Tony about doing things their own way which I respect and admire.

“The game would be very boring if we all did the same thing all the time.

“There are certain elements about winning games but there are certain differences that you can have as a coach and I think Rohan would never shy away from any opportunity to improve his side.”