St Helens coach Kristian Woolf was delighted with the way Josh Simm took his chance to shine at Hull FC, in what could be a new position for the youngster.
Simm replaced the injured Will Hopoate for Saturday’s victory and scored two first-half tries to cap a solid overall performance.
The 20-year-old had played eleven Super League games across the previous three years but has been helped in his attempts to break through by trying to add another string to his bow over pre-season, playing wider out after having previously appeared mostly as a centre.
“Josh has had a really good pre-season, he’s tried really hard, his conditioning is the best I’ve seen it,” said Woolf.
“There’s a lot of parts in his game that he’s tried really hard to improve and he spent most of pre-season working to become a winger as well, to be able to play winger and centre and give himself some versatility.
“He probably didn’t take his opportunities last year as well as he could have when he did get them.
“He had to wait for them but you’ve got to take those opportunities when you get them. That’s what I’m happy about.
“I thought he really took it (at Hull) and showed why he deserves another one.”
Simm gained from Hopoate being unavailable for the match due to the rib damage suffered on his competitive Saints debut against Catalans Dragons the previous week.
Woolf had hoped the Tongan centre would be able to play, and still rates it likely he will be available for the visit of Wakefield Trinity on Friday.
“Earlier in the week we thought he might be okay, but later in the week he just didn’t improve as much as we thought he would and he was still quite uncomfortable,” explained the Saints coach.
“It’s a fracture in the cartilage in his ribs. It’s one of those injuries where you get caught in a bad position or cop a heavy knock and that can hang around for a fair while and get worse. We just thought the smart decision was to give him a break.”
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