ST HELENS fullback Jack Welsby will have an operation on his shoulder on Wednesday after dislocating it in Saints’ opening match of the Super League season at Warrington last Friday.
Coach Paul Rowley revealed the news at his weekly press conference today (Tuesday).
“Yeah, Jack’s, in for an operation tomorrow, so he’ll be out with a shoulder dislocation for several weeks,” said Rowley, who admitted that Welsby’s injury, following closely on captain Matty Lees knee injury, which could keep him out for ten weeks, is a major blow.
“Losing a marquee player and our captain is a huge loss.
“A couple of players will be missing for long periods of time that have a big influence on this team. So it’s not ideal.
“But that’s the nature of the sport that we’re playing and the challenges get thrown our way and that’s the whole point of having a squad.
“We move on and try and manage with what we’ve got.”
Fortunately Saints had no other injuries after Friday’s game.
“No, we came through okay,” said Rowley, who now has to decide who will step into Welsby’s shoes for the visit of Leigh on Friday.
“We’ve got several options. Harry (Robertson), Nene (Macdonald) and Tristan (Sailor) are all comfortable at fullback.
“So we’ll decide on which way we take that one.
“But we don’t want to be swapping and changing if we can help it.
“So if we can if we can get some consistency in that area, that’s the preferred route.
“We have practised with different combinations and people in different spots.
“Our job is to pick the players that they have performed consistently in training and earned the right, and that will facilitate the rest of the team in the best way they can.
“But, like anything in Rugby League, the situation’s fluid.
One player who isn’t yet available for selection, however, is centre Mark Percival.
“He’s not available yet,” said Rowley.
“He’s still rehabbing. I don’t think he’s far off now, so hopefully he’ll be available in the next couple of weeks.”