St Helens’ Mark Percival has revealed he underwent surgery over the off-season to resolve a troublesome ankle injury.
Percival made 23 appearances for the Saints last season, scoring six tries and kicking 33 goals in what was an up and down season under Paul Wellens. However, the centre was playing through the pain of ankle injury.
The 31-year-old did miss a small chunk of the season after going under the knife for a bone spur in his ankle. And, he had another operation following the conclusion of the 2025 campaign.
Percival is still in recovery from the latest procedure but he believes he should be fully fit by the turn of the year and he can enter the 2026 campaign under new boss Paul Rowley without any fitness concerns.
St Helens man Mark Percival gives fitness update
“I’m fine, yeah,” Percival told St Helens’ YouTube channel on his health. “I played through an ankle injury through most of the year last year and the surgeon thought it was best going forward with my career just to fix it.
“I go into the season then with no qualms over my body. I feel fresh, feeling good and I’ll be fit just before January.
“I’m looking forward and I’m getting a lot of good training in now so I’ll be well fit for the season and I’m looking forward to getting started.”
Given his age, Percival is now one of the oldest and most experienced members of the St Helens dressing room, with the six-cap England international making 266 appearances for the Saints as a player.
As such, while he will be striving to push on towards that 300-game milestone, Percival is also looking to play more of a leadership role within the group.
“I’ve had chats with coaching staff and I’ve tried to go into that bit more of a leader at times but I want to keep that character as well,” he added. “I like having a laugh with the lads and keeping everyone quite relaxed.
“It’s something that I’m trying to tap into even more and I feel like I’ve done that in the past but I’m a lot more actions based, I try and do my best on the field for the lads and that’s in training or on the pitch playing as well. I’m trying to tap into that but I feel like I’m getting there the older I get.”
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