There’s a chance Jack Welsby could start at loose-forward for St Helens once more this week. That’s according to head coach Paul Wellens who was pleased with what he saw from the England international in the position.
It was a selection that caught many off guard last week as Welsby made his way into the middle to play in the Saints pack in Morgan Knowles’ absence. The full-back had his moments in the role with the ball in hand and he defended well too before tiring as he get caught up in the grind.
As such, Welsby spent a period of the game on the sidelines, something he’s not exactly accustomed too, before returning to the role in the second half.
Knowles won’t play against Leigh Leopards this week either, with a specialist advising him to take more time off following the blow to the head he took against Hull KR a fortnight ago and Wellens admits Welsby could be the man asked to play there once more.
St Helens boss on Jack Welsby
“There’s a chance he can,” Wellens said when asked whether the full-back would play 13 again. “He showed some nice touches last week I thought at the start of the game.
“When I played him in that position the challenge was always going to be the amount of defensive work he would have to do in comparison to what he would normally do. I thought he handled that really well but any player in that position, even Morgan Knowles and Matty Lees get tired in that position, even thought it might not look it at times.
“I thought he acquitted himself brilliantly, I thought he showed particularly with ball in hand how dangerous he can be and it’s not something that he’s done a lot of but he did it for us in a couple of spells last year and handled it really well then.
“I know what position Jack prefers to play in but it’s a credit to him that he’s prepared to do what I felt was best for the team.”
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On the challenge of playing 80 minutes, Wellens added: “Even the best find that difficult, particularly in those types of games. I never went into the game thinking Jack Welsby would play 80 minutes given what I was asking him to do. It might have come as a surprise to others that Jack came off the field but it was part of the plan.”
Another potential option would be Shane Wright, who is a second-rower by trade but has been known to play at loose-forward in the past. Wright arrived at St Helens last month on loan from Salford Red Devils with an injury, but Wellens believes he is more than ready to make a debut.
“He’s looked really good,” the Saints boss added. “I think given the nature of his injury, it was a pectoral injury, he’s been able to do a lot of running.
“He was with Salford for the majority of his rehab time but credit to whatever the medical staff at Salford were doing with him and credit to himself, because he’s come in and his fitness levels are right where they need to be for someone who has been out and not played for so long. Hence why he’s in the squad and in contention to play.”
