St Helens coach Kristian Woolf admits he is counting the cost of a gruelling battle after several players picked up injuries during Friday night’s win over Warrington Wolves.
Saints ran in five tries as they extended their victorious run to five matches at the start of the season, but the two points might have come at a cost.
Sione Mata’utia, Joe Batchelor, Alex Walmsley and Jack Welsby all failed to complete the game and Woolf says they will monitor them before deciding if they will be travelling to France to face Toulouse on Saturday.
“We had to do it tough. We lost both backrowers,” he said.
“Sione’s is a hamstring problem. The way he pulled up and the way he came off, I would expect that he is going to be out for at least a week or two.
“Joe had a few problems at half-time. I’m not quite sure what it is, but he wasn’t good enough to come back on.
“He’s a tough kid, he works his butt off and he doesn’t come off unless he has to.
“There are a few bumps and bruises. Walmsley didn’t quite finish the game. He’s got a bit of a leg injury and the same with Jack Welsby.
“We have to see how we scrub up over the next couple of days. When it comes to injuries, a week is a long time, so we will see.”
Woolf was complimentary about several of his players, including Jonny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, Mark Percival and Welsby, but he singled out Curtis Sironen for special praise.
The close-season signing from Manly Sea Eagles ended up playing more than 40 minutes due to Mata’utia’s injury after missing the win at Hull KR through suspension.
Woolf believes he will end up being a brilliant signing, explaining: “We brought him here for a reason.
“We have a lot of confidence in what we think he can do here. He hasn’t played a lot of footy in the last twelve months. He also had disruption in pre-season which knocked him about a little.
“In the last couple of games – obviously barring last week – I think he’s got better and better.
“He has a real good intensity about him. He’s a handful when he carries the ball because he is a big athletic thing. He’s also got a real desire about his defence. I was really happy with him.”
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