ST HELENS’ try-scoring winger Leah Burke might be fit and raring to go, but her coach Derek Hardman knows the club should not expect too much too soon from the returning 27-year-old.
Burke missed the whole of last season after sustaining a second ACL injury in 18 months during the 2024 Grand Final defeat to York.
She’d made a comeback earlier that campaign after suffering damage to her other knee in June 2023.
As well as being fit to return for Saints, Burke is also back in the latest England national performance squad and has her eyes firmly set on representing her country once again in this year’s World Cup.
But co-coach Hardman knows the club have a big role to play in helping her achieve that.
“It’s great to have Leah back, but sometimes we have to save her from herself a little bit,” he said.
“She probably could have played at the back-end of last season and made the semi-final and the Grand Final, but we didn’t want to rush her back. We wanted to make sure she was 100 percent ready.
“For players it can be frustrating and difficult to deal with when you’re being held back a bit, but we have a duty to look after them.
“There is the World Cup at the end of the year and we want to protect all our players to make sure they have every chance of going out there and playing.
“Some people never play again after the injuries she’s been through, so for Leah to come back from two of them and be in shape she’s in is testament to her.
“She has had a great pre-season so far and I’d love to think she’ll come back as strong as she was, but only time will tell.
“The game is improving and accelerating year on year, and all the players are getting better and better so the challenge is there for Leah to go out, compete with everyone else and be the best she can be.”