Paul Wellens has given an update on the fitness of Kyle Feldt after he sat out of Saturday’s play-off clash with Leeds Rhinos.
The winger picked up a back injury in the latter stages of St Helens’ final regular season game against Castleford Tigers.
Speaking to Serious About Rugby League on Monday, Wellens outlined his hope that Feldt would be fit and the Australian was named in the the club’s 21-man squad to go to Headingley.
However, Feldt was a notable absentee when the team news filtered through an hour and a half before kick-off with Jon Bennison getting the nod to start on the wing instead.
Ultimately, Bennison scored St Helens’ second try of the evening in West Yorkshire to lay the platform for their dramatic victory at the death. With Feldt still carrying the issue though, it seems there’s a chance that Bennison, who will be leaving the Saints at the end of the year, could keep his spot for Saturday’s semi-final against Hull KR.
St Helens boss on Kyle Feldt absence
“He had an injection midway through last week with a view to training on Friday morning and to his credit, he tried his damnedest to get out there,” Wellens said on Saturday night about Feldt. “He trained but it got to 15 minutes and we could see he was really uncomfortable.
“If you can’t get through a training session like that, you’re not going to get through a game.
“We made the strong call there and then to put Jon Bennison in there.
“For Jon, it’s been a couple of rough months for him. He was in the team and then out of the team and he went on loan to Widnes and played. He enjoyed the experience of playing for his hometown team and actually it’s worked in his favour.
“He never dropped his levels or standards, he never dropped his lip, he carried on doing what he was doing and comes out to help the team progress to the next stage of the play-offs.”
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