St Helens coach expresses fears over Paul Sculthorpe's recovery

Feb 12 2008

St Helens coach Daniel Anderson today revealed his concern over the rehabilitation of injured captain Paul Sculthorpe.

The 30-year-old former Great Britain skipper has endured a two-year nightmare with knee and Achilles injuries and Anderson admitted the loose forward is no nearer to making his comeback than he was a month ago.

The Grand Final runners-up have also suffered two further major injury blows, with Great Britain forwards Jon Wilkin and Maurie Fa’asavalu both ruled out for at least six weeks.

Wilkin tore a knee medial ligament during Sunday’s opening 24-22 defeat at Hull KR and could be sidelined for two months while Fa’asavalu has a broken thumb.

In addition, centre Willie Talau has been ruled out of Friday’s derby with Warrington at Knowsley Road with a calf strain, although he is expected to be back for the trip to Bradford the following week.

Prop Jason Cayless is another absentee as he continues his rehabilitation from knee surgery but it is the news on Sculthorpe that will most disturb Saints’ fans.

Sculthorpe, who underwent surgery on his ruptured Achilles in the autumn, had hoped to be fit for the start of the new season but has yet to resume contact training and Anderson today confessed: “It is a worry.

“He’s hit a bit of a plateau in his rehabilitation, it’s not going as rapidly as it was a month ago.

“He is still running but he’s been stuck at 75 to 80% for a couple of weeks now. He can’t do anything dynamic and he can’t come into the team until he’s 100%. That’s the frustration.

“Until they give me the number that’s very close to 100, I don’t think about it, I just think about what we’ve got available.”

With five regulars on the sidelines and no new signings this year, Anderson admits he will be forced to call on his young reserves earlier than anticipated.

Three-quarter Chris Dean, 19, prop Gareth Frodsham, 18, and half-back Kyle Eastmond, 18, who have three Super League appearances between them, have all been called into St Helens’ initial 20-man squad, with one of them likely to be on the bench against Warrington.

“We’ve had a few setbacks,” added Anderson. “We were healthy two weeks ago and crowing about it. But that’s the way it goes.

“Someone who hasn’t played or has a single digit number of first-grade games will be playing on Friday night. I’ll decide which one it is later in the week.

“I have a lot of senior players who have been in this situation before. You just get on with it. We’re playing our first home match and we’re confident that we’ll stick make it very difficult for Warrington.”

Second-rower Lee Gilmour has been accused of making a careless tackle during Sunday's game but, even if found guilty, he is likely to escape punishment at the RFL's disciplinary tribunal this evening since the charge is at the bottom end of the scale of severity.