St Helens saw their injury issues worsen as they lost two starters inside 20 minutes of their 20-18 win over Leigh Leopards, with Paul Rowley now facing another dilemma.
Spine issues plagued Saints in 2025 and that saw Paul Rowley keen to quickly establish what his one-six-seven-nine combination would be, with the pre-season and round one selections pointing to Jack Welsby, Tristan Sailor, Jackson Hastings and Daryl Clark as the preferred quartet.
Jack Welsby’s disclocated shoulder in round ruined those plans with the full-back facing up to 16 weeks on the sidelines and now they could be without Jonny Lomax for an extended period, with Paul Rowley confirming the veteran suffered a suspected broken arm when speaking post-match, per The St Helens Star.
After Lomax’s early injury, the solution against Leigh saw Harry Robertson shift to full-back with Tristan Sailor and Jackson Hastings re-uniting in the halves, however, a quad injury to Nene Macdonald may mean that Saints cannot afford to move Robertson from the centres in future weeks.
What St Helens’ spine could look like after more injury issues
In simple terms, the dilemma isn’t that different from what Rowley faced after round one as only one of his preferred spine is injured. However, his choice to shift Sailor to full-back and utilise Jonny Lomax in the halves with Harry Robertson as a bench option showed his hand in respects to favouring Sailor as the full-back.
The issue now is that seasoned vet Lomax can’t play in the halves or even be used as the versatile cover from the bench, meaning young star George Whitby may be exposed to first-team action, something that fans crave but that Rowley appears wary of.
Rowley is more familiar than most with the concept of over-exposing young players having been forced to so last season at Salford, but injuries may have already forced his hand this year.
Sailor at full-back and Whitby in the halves
With Mark Percival still not fully fit and the prospect of Nene Macdonald missing significant time, Harry Robertson may have to play in the centres. That would mean Tristan Sailor at full-back, as was the plan in round two, and then a call-up for George Whitby.
That solution sees the fewest positional and system changes, and could look as follows: FB: Tristan Sailor, WG: Kyle Feldt, CE: Harry Robertson, CE: Deon Cross, WG: Lewis Murphy, SO: Jackson Hastings, SH: George Whitby.
Robertson at full-back and Sailor in the halves
If Harry Robertson be deployed at full-back, where he shone on Friday night, then it would likely mean either Owen Dagnall or Matt Whitley in the centres with the preferred halves pairing of Tristan Sailor and Jackson Hastings remaining.
It could well change game by game with Saints’ round three opponents Catalans Dragons being very strong in their outside backs, meaning Rowley may opt to utilise the defensively strong Matt Whitley there and therefore Harry Robertson at full-back.
That solution could look as follow: FB: Harry Robertson, WG: Kyle Feldt, CE: Matt Whitley, CE: Deon Cross, WG: Lewis Murphy, SO: Tristan Sailor, SH: Jackson Hastings.
In both instances, Daryl Clark will offer consistency from hooker and Joe Shorrocks looks to have settled brilliantly at loose forward with the ex-Salford man scoring in the win over Leigh whilst also racking up 46 tackles.
Saints will also be hopeful that Mark Percival can return soon and that Nene Macdonald’s injury isn’t as bad as first feared, with that pair’s availability at centre ensuring a far smoother transition of just shifting Robertson to full-back.
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