Wellens Q&A: Updates on Alex Walmsley, Mark Percival and Will Hopoate

We caught up with the Saints boss for his first Q&A session to catch up on off season matters.

MC: It seems like a quite short break since the Grand Final, but are you glad to get back on to the training paddock?

PW: It has been good to get back. When we started last week it was a lot of the Academy players who have made up to full time, plus the new lads Tee and Wes, it was a case of getting those going with some of the more experienced crew have joined this week.

It is exciting to get back and the lads have come back with a freshness and an energy bout them after a good break and we got straight down to work.

After a long year the players always feel like they need to get away from rugby completely, but I know from my experience as a player, you get two or three weeks into a break and you have an eye on pre-season and where you need to put yourself physically and mentally to get back to perform again.

I have seen evidence of that from our players and they have a real determination to want to work hard again and that is what we ask for every pre-season.

The more experienced players who have come in this week have set a great example for the younger players to follow.

The younger players are finding out what full time rugby league is about and what a first team environment is like.

When you have the likes of Jonny, Louie and Robes around there are no better people to be learning off. If we can accelerate their learning process by being around these guys who have been seasoned professionals.

MC: Some new faces in Tee Ritson and Wes Bruines, plus those promoted from the Academy – how are they welcomed to this environment?

PW: They are a very easy group to fit into in the sense that the club is very welcoming and the players go out of their way to make them feel comfortable. That is certainly a good starting point.

I am sure there will be a little bit of apprehension on their part because they haven’t been full time before and haven’t gone through a pre-season before. I have spoken to them about this club and the support network there for them to help them through this first five weeks up until Christmas while they settle in.

We don’t expect these guys to come in and hit the ground running straight away. We expect them to work hard, but at times they are going to make mistakes. With young players, or those who are full time for the first time making mistakes is part and parcel of growing as a player.

We have an environment here which will allow them to do that.

MC: Who have you not got back yet?

PW: James Bell and Dan Norman (who were knocked out in the World Cup group stages) will return in early December, Agnatius Paasi stayed on with Tonga and played in their trial game and he has an extra bit of time and comes back at the end of November. The England lads, who made the semi-final of the World Cup will only come back after Christmas.

After the year they have had in Super League with us and with England, they are deserving of that break. It would be foolish of us to bring them in any earlier.

MC: And what of Will Hopoate. He came off early the World Cup quarter final?

PW: It is obviously a disappointing one for Will, he has had a re-occurrence of a similar injury throughout the course of the year.

With Will this year he’s has always been looking at the clock to be wanting to get back playing. What this period now gives us is a chance to have a thorough look at him.

The physios have things in mind that they can do, but this 10-12 week period gives us a chance to get him in a position where he can get back and take the field because what we have seen during his time at the club is that when he takes the field he is an influential player.

Even in the quarter final for Tonga against Samoa – he was playing fantastic until he had to leave the field.

We want a healthy, fit Will Hopoate week in, week out because we have seen what he can bring to the team.

We are confident he will be back for the start, but the medical team are really going to take their time and be diligent with him and not feel that we need to rush things.

The most important things is when he comes back, he’s in a position to play consistently and regularly. In the past we have tried to get him back for certain games and that has not helped as much.

MC: Can I check on how some other players are recovering; Jonny Lomax, Mark Percival, Alex Walmsley and Lewis Dodd.

PW: Jonny returned to pre-season this week and is feeling good. There are no issues with Jonny.

Lewis Dodd has just started running on the field and is due to start doing some small skill based work with the squad.

He has started to move very well and has got that spring back in his step that we were accustomed to seeing when he has been playing.

Alex is not too dissimilar to Lewis and will be looking to get on the field in the next couple of weeks.

READ: Wellens gives update on Lewis Dodd's Saints return.

Mark Percival is a bit more of a longer term one. It is similar to Will in the sense that we have to be really patient. He is doing a fair bit of training off feet and we are giving his knee an extended period of non-weight bearing so the bone bruising can heal.

At the same time we are confident that if we follow the process that has been assigned to him by the medical staff he will be ready to go by the start of the season.

MC: Have you come across an injury like Mark’s before?

PW: No, not really if I am honest. It is a strange one and our medical staff have done a fair bit of research there and come across people who have encountered this type of injury and how best to treat it. But there is no definitive timeframe.

We are having Percy regularly assessed in terms of how the process is going and we can make decisions off the back of that information.

Percy is obviously frustrated because in himself he feels fine, he is not in pain and fells like he can run – and it is harder for players to get their heads around that when they are feeling great.

So it is about him and ourselves being patient.

It is similar to Will – he is an unbelievable player who adds a lot to our team when he is fit. We want him out on the field.

MC: Jonny Lomax played on with that ruptured bicep last year – did it heal by itself or did he require surgery?

PW: It is an injury that he’s allowed to heal and is one he has become more comfortable with. We watch how he plays week-to-week and he plays the game tough.

He had that injury, plus he also took a lot of other knocks at the end of year as well.

There were a number of things going on with Jonny and the break that he has had has freshened him up mentally and physically and is a break he certainly needed. He has come in re-invigorated.