WITH a side decimated by injuries since late spring, it has once again been left to England prop Matty Lees to lead the Saints pack.
The shortage of available middles has seen the 26-year-old front rower put his hand up for lung-busting 80-minute spells in the toughest of arenas.
It is not an unfamiliar role for the former Rochdale Mayfield junior, having fronted up last year when Saints lost Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi for the second half of the campaign.
But what is remarkable is the way that Lees has been able to bring such high-octane performances, leading the aggressive defensive line, despite being hospitalised in pre-season.
(Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Lees took ill while on best man duties for team-mate Morgan Knowles’ wedding in Mauritius during the winter off-season – but it was only when he returned was the severity of the shoulder infection detected meaning a couple of weeks laid up in hospital.
He explained: “Initially I thought I had pulled an old shoulder injury from the season, but it got worse every day. At one point Tommy (Makinson), who was also on the trip was trying to work on it with his elbow to try and loosen it up.
“It was only when I got back and went to hospital that they diagnosed a serious shoulder infection, pretty close to Sepsis, and had to stay in hospital for a few weeks and that set me back a little bit.
“Obviously not having the off-season I wanted and then I think there was just a bit of a knock on effect at the start of the year.”
(Image: Ed Sykes/SWpix.com)
He came back to training even leaner than normal, but was straight back in to start the campaign at home to London only to be hospitalised again in week two at Huddersfield after taking a bang to the chest and coughing up blood.
Lees is no stranger to the hospital bed having suffered a ruptured bowel during a game against Leeds in 2019 that surgeons described at the time as resembling a car crash victim.
But he says he has learned a lesson from this year's situation in coming back in too soon and in being too tough for his own good.
“Me being the way I'm always going to put my hand up to play but it caught up with me a bit,” he said.
“I think I just need to be a bit smarter in the future and listen to my body.
“There was always going to be a knock-on effect with something so serious like that but I have got back to the weight I wanted.
“It did affect me at first, but I'm all good now.”
(Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Saints have been without key middles like Alex Walmsley and Morgan Knowles, with Joe Batchelor, Matt Whitley and Jake Wingfield also sidelined for a long spell. That casualty list has been joined by arguably Saints’ player of the year so far, Sione Mata’utia, meaning that Lees has again had to roll his sleeves up.
He has been assisted by the strong efforts of young props George Delaney and recent debutant Noah Stephens, with Agnatius Paasi slowly building up his match fitness after a year out with serious injury.
“It's probably similar to last year when I was out there and I'm sort of one of the senior players now and it's weird to say that with only being 26,” Lees said.
“But with the injuries we've got, we've all had to step up. But I think that just shows how good our Academy system is.
“We have got players who just slot in there and everybody who throws on the Saints jersey is good enough to do the job.
He highlighted the work of 19-year-old prop Noah Stephens in what he has done since stepping up into the first team in May.
“When I was coming through, I never performed like that in my first couple of games but Noah has slotted in so well.
“The other lads who've got their debuts, Jonny Vaughan and Jake Burns are people who work really hard in pre-season. They're winning all the fitness drills and really pushing the first team spots.
"And I think that just makes the team better on the whole because they're training so hard, it puts pressure on your spot.
"If they can keep hold of those jerseys, they'll be there for the future," Lees said.
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