St Helens coach Kristian Woolf played down injury concerns over his injured trio Agnatius Paasi, Mark Percival and Lachlan Coote after his side’s 29-6 opening win over Salford on Friday night.
Debutant Paasi was helped from the field after a huge collision with the ball carrying Pauli Pauli at the start of the second half, and he did not return.
Centre Mark Percival limped off shortly after scoring on the hour mark, after having been restricted to just six matches last season, while Coote missed the game altogether as a precaution.
But Woolf hopes that none of the three injuries are major issues, although Paasi looks almost certain to miss this weekend’s clash with Hull KR.
“Agnatius is fine and has recovered really well,” said Woolf.
“You certainly don’t want to see that, but I thought during his time on the field that he was really good and made some great carries and looked for some good impacts in defence.
“He showed what he’s going to have for us, that’s for sure.”
On Percival, Woolf added: “Mark went off with a bit of a twinge but we don’t think it’s anything to worry about.”
Coote was replaced by youngster Jack Welsby, despite being in the squad, but Woolf clarified: “Lachlan could have played tonight – but he has had a couple of niggles at the back end of pre-season.
“When you are a fullback, with the new rules, there is a lot more work to be done and that creates fatigue.
“The fullbacks run nine kilometres a game and we didn’t think he had the base to do that without putting him at risk.
“With it being round one we didn’t want to do that.
“He should be available next week and we need to get some running in him to see that he is closer to the mark.”
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