St Helens boss Paul Wellens explains latest Konrad Hurrell decision

Paul Wellens has moved to explain the decision to send Konrad Hurrell out on loan while St Helens’ are going through a small injury crisis at the back.

Hurrell has joined up with Championship club Bradford Bulls on an initial two-week loan and he looks set to be involved this weekend when the Bulls take on York Knights at Odsal.

Of course, Hurrell is no stranger to spending time away from the Totally Wicked Stadium, having spent time with and represented both Halifax Panthers and Swinton Lions already this season. Those two spells away came either side of a lengthy injury lay-off for the centre, with the latter being designed to ease him back into action.

However, with Jack Welsby, Mark Percival and Lewis Murphy all being ruled out with long-term injuries over the last fortnight, the expectation might have been that Hurrell would stay at St Helens and provide Wellens with backline depth.

Hurrell was allowed to leave, though, and he’ll be in Championship action this weekend while the Saints face off against lowly Salford Red Devils.

St Helens head coach on Konrad Hurrell

“It was always the plan,” Wellens said when asked about Hurrell’s switch to West Yorkshire. “Konrad has had an injury setback and he’s very much in need of some game time.

“We had discussions with Bradford and they were very keen to get Konrad on board for a couple of weeks and we thought it was the perfect opportunity for him to play a really good standard of rugby at the top end of the Championship. That will give him the best chance to show where he’s at.”

Hurrell has had an important role to play in Merseyside since making the switch from Leeds Rhinos at the end of the 2021 Super League campaign. The centre made 63 appearances in his first three seasons with the club, with 26 tries coming along the way, and he signed a one-year contract extension back in November for this campaign.

He has made just one appearance for the Saints this year, though, against West Hull in the Challenge Cup, with most of his game time coming away from the Totally Wicked Stadium and for many the switch to Bradford in such circumstances gave a firm indication of Hurrell’s standing at the club.

With his contract expiring at the end of the season then, he’ll be keen to impress as he bids to earn a new deal either at Saints or elsewhere.