St Helens star “out for significant period” after “incredibly dangerous” tackle

Leigh Leopards and St Helens served up a brilliant Challenge Cup semi-final at Warrington Wolves’ Halliwell Jones on Saturday.

However, there were some blemishes on the game namely some nasty injuries for St Helens stars.

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook suffered a quad injury with both Morgan Knowles and Alex Walmsley playing on with knocks to the knee.

The worst one though was Agnatius Paasi. The prop is set to be out long term after his knee was “blown to smithereens” according to Paul Wellens on Saints TV.

“I think he’s had his knee blown to smithereens and it’s an unfortunate one but as it stands now it looks like we could lose Agnatius Paasi for a significant period. So it’s a tough one.

“Louie came off and he has got a bit of a quad issue which again we’ll get investigate.

“As you can imagine in a game like that players always come out with bumps, bruises and scrapes and things like that.

“Other than Agnatius and Louie, I don’t think there’s anything really significant there although Morgan Knowles and Alex Walmsley both had the knee strapped up in the game as well.

“So who knows what the next 24-48 hours might throw up.”

Paasi’s injury came following a tackle Jon Wilkin labelled “incredibly dangerous” on social media though he stressed he felt that there was no intent behind it but in a period where tackle height is discussed at length he highlighted it.

“Lot of talk about tackle height, these may be the most dangerous tackles I’ve seen. Two players seasons over,” he said on his Instagram story.

“I’m sure it’s not malicious, but it’s incredibly dangerous.”

This could be a huge blow in what many people have been calling St Helens’ “drive for five.”

They are chasing a fifth consecutive Super League title and have been considered favourites for much of the season by the vast majority of fans and pundits.

Though this is a blow, the Saints have proven in the past that they can cope with injuries winning the Grand Final last year without Alex Walmsley and Lewis Dodd.

It now seems that they will have to do it without Agnatius Paasi in 2023.

It remains to be seen if Walmsley, Knowles and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook will have long lay-offs.

The Saints should have Mark Percival and James Roby back next week whilst surely Curtis Sironen will also be back in the mix soon.