{"id":493764,"date":"2026-03-25T03:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/493764\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T03:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:40:10","slug":"st-helens-boss-airs-hard-done-by-injury-sentiment-but-highlights-standout-who-stepped-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/493764\/","title":{"rendered":"St Helens boss airs \u2018hard done by\u2019 injury sentiment but highlights standout who stepped up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

St Helens head coach Paul Rowley says the club can feel a \u2018little bit hard done by\u2019 with some of their injuries as he aired frustrations over those injuries that have come as a result of foul play.<\/p>\n

One obvious injury that came off the back of foul play was Jacob Host\u2019s fractured leg with Bradford Bulls\u2019 Loghan Lewis subsequently banned for two matches<\/a> after his tackle technique was deemed \u2018dangerous contact\u2019.<\/p>\n

Whilst Lewis will return this Thursday night following a ban, St Helens are without Host for the forseeable<\/a> as the NRL recruit recovers and Rowley noted that aspect of the club\u2019s injury crisis when speaking to the media on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the manner of the injuries is the problem. There are pretty much a lot of long-term injuries,\u201d explained Rowley when asked if he could see positives in the fact that their injury crisis has come at the start of the season, as opposed to the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a couple in there from foul play, but we\u2019re not allowed to get exemption unless they\u2019re out for the year, so you almost feel a little bit hard done to in that respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re compromised in terms of squad and availability in terms of numbers, through no fault of our own and so it\u2019s difficult to navigate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luke Robinson sacked, Hull KR struggling and why it could actually be Warrington Wolves\u2019 year? \u2013 click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show<\/a><\/p>\n

St Helens boss addresses hooker depth after latest injury<\/p>\n

Circling back to the initial point, Rowley did accept that the injury crisis has offered opportunities to a number of players, many of whom are thrived though he admitted:\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019d rather have a healthy squad.\u201d<\/p>\n

One man who has earned an opportunity having returned from injury himself is Jake Wingfield with the forward making his season appearance in the Challenge Cup tie against Castleford Tigers, before performing well again last week.<\/p>\n

Daryl Clark still needs to pass checks before returning after a HIA whilst fellow hooker Jake Burns is out for \u2018three to four months\u2019 with an ankle injury<\/a>, meaning Wingfield could be set for an expanded role.<\/p>\n

On the number nine position, Rowley said: \u201cI think most clubs have got a bit more hefty cover there but we\u2019ve got versatility and I think Jake Wingfield has been very, very good at nine.\u201d<\/p>\n

As such he admitted: \u201cIt\u2019s not something that we\u2019re in an urgency to fill a hole. We don\u2019t see as a hole, so to speak. We\u2019ll just roll with that one and see where we\u2019re getting and what we think we need to do later down the track.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wingfield specifically, Rowley added: \u201cHe\u2019s been great. Really good. Yeah, I\u2019m pleased for him as well. He\u2019s another one who\u2019s just been waiting for that little bit of consistency in terms of staying on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a popular lad and we understand why. What he does on the field and off the field is very, very good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St Helens head coach Paul Rowley says the club can feel a \u2018little bit hard done by\u2019 with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-493764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}