St Helens

St Helens injury boost as star named in squad for first time since April

by
Sam Cook
August 6, 2024

St Helens have received a major boost ahead of their clash with Salford Red Devils with prop forward Alex Walmsley named in a squad for the first time since April.

The two sides meet on Thursday night at The Totally Wicked Stadium with Salford aiming to complete an unprecedented clean sweep over Saints after beating them twice already this season.

A loss for St Helens would mark another serious dent in their playoff hopes and all but secure Salford’s place in the top six, however, a Saints win would see them leapfrog the visitors.

When Salford played away against Saints earlier in the season, they managed to end a 44-year wait so to win twice in the same year would be some achievement.

Both teams are coming off the back of a win with St Helens finally snapping their five-game losing streak when they hammered Hull FC on Saturday, with Salford defeating Leeds Rhinos 22-16 just hours later.

St Helens receive Alex Walmsley boost

Credit: Imago Images

Both coaches have now named their 21-man squads and there are just three changes in total across the two squads but the most notable is the inclusion of Alex Walmsley in the St Helens squad.

The 34-year-old prop could play his first game since April when he left the field injured in the Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat to Warrington Wolves.

Since then, Walmsley has undergone knee surgery but is now named in a squad for the first time in almost four months which is a massive boost for Paul Wellens.

More experience is added as Mark Percival returns from suspension meaning youngsters Will Roberts and Jonny Vaughan drop out. Captain Jonny Lomax remains suspended whilst Jack Welsby is another on the lengthy injury list.

😇 𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗗 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦

Paul Wellens has named his 21-man squad for this Thursday’s home game against @SalfordDevils at the @twstadium

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— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) August 6, 2024

As for Salford, they’ve lost centre Tim Lafai to suspension after he was sin-binned and later banned for one match following his high shot on Leeds Rhinos’ Lachlan Miller.

Paul Rowley spoke after the game explaining that he had no issue with the card and the coach has now replaced Lafai with stand-off Cade Cust in Salford’s only change.