It was the plates in his leg that caused the delay. They were uncomfortable and so he had them removed. The ankle was operated on prior to Christmas. He came back early from Oz for the op. Apparently this was a clean out as once again it was feeling uncomfortable. From what someone has said to me on Twitter it sounds more like a psychological problem than anything else as there was nothing to clean out. He just felt uncomfortable on it.

So what did the operation consist of then if there was nothing needed doing? You never fail to amaze me with the complete and utter tripe you post.

I know it's too early to judge but without the confidence to tackle or be tackled he's going to struggle. At the moment it's a case of him getting rid of the ball as any opposition approach and keeping out of the way on the wing in defence.

I don't agree. He's taken quite a few knocks on it already and can't be accused of avoiding collisions. Yes he's defending out on the wing at times but to suggest he is getting rid of the ball as quick as he can is ridiculous.

Rogues are you the Grim Reaper?

You are certainly always reliable for delivering bad news for any other club than Wigan

Another bad signing

Because obviously Brown and McManus could predict that he was going to suffer a serious injury.

Really??

In terms of his fitness that wasn't the only injury he suffered last season. He was out for a few weeks before that injury.

Saints wouldn't have risked him if they didn't think he was a hundred percent. But an injury can come through surgery/rehab and then full training - only to blow up on match-day. No amount of stress testing and training can fully simulate the rigours of professional SL.

One only need consider the countless occasions Paul Sculthorpe or Ellery Hanley returned after serious groin injuries only to fall apart before they'd played a handful of games.

They too would have sailed through the same process of post-operative evaluation, full training etc.

I'm not going to rule out some kind of psychological rather than physiological explanation because it's now widely recognised that traumatic injuries such as the one Walsh suffered often leave behind mental scar tissue. At the very least one requires time to feel confident in the integrity of the repair.

I don't want to sound like I'm wishing it on him but I'd prefer to be dealing with some kind of psychological side-effect which we can attempt to treat rather than a serious physiological complication. From what I've seen in collision sports of all descriptions over the years, as the number of "corrective surgeries" rises incrementally, the chance that the player's career is effectively over goes up exponentially.

TBF, he is playing for Saints so there is a very high chance it would happen.

How would everyone on here feel about Walsh staying now? Would keeping him be a good idea? It's not looking good for him at the moment, he was always going to need time to get fit again, but has suffered and sustained another injury. I would previously have loved him to stay, but the way things are going, replacing him is starting to look the better option.

Shall we get Matty SMith back to replace him?

Always players available. Chris Sandow is being touted around as a free agent on the Wire board. Is he any good?

We can cope without Walsh. He's absolutely brilliant with the ball in hand but we've been carrying him defensively and it's a team game were all 17 have to put a defensive stint in to win a game.
Charnock earned himself some respect with his performance against Wakey so he'll probably be stepping into the 17 now. I think Saints need to focus on getting Walsh ready for the vital run in/playoffs and maybe get used to the idea of not having him as much as they'd have liked for the regular season.

The problem here is less one of personnel but TIME. We're inching toward the business end of the season. Ideally we wanted Walsh back and fully integrated with his half-back partner by now - giving us an excellent playmaking platform for the playoffs.

But successive set-backs now mean Walsh & Burns really aren't going to have a lot of time to develop their relationship and maximise its potential. It's still possible, largely because Walsh & Burns know each from the NRL, but we're really cutting things tight. Past experience makes me think Walsh might still be in the balance come the playoffs. And pinning your hopes on a long-term injured player to return at the last minute and perform has always been a recipe for disaster.

Yes, I suppose we could look at someone like Chris Sandow. But again - TIME is against us. He'd know absolutely nothing about our tactics, overall strategy etc. Could he assimilate the lot and be ready for the playoffs? I doubt it. Most imports take anywhere between six months to a year to settle down. We just don't have TIME.

IMO we should be thinking very seriously about putting Wilkin back at seven. He's better than anyone we can get in at short notice and he doesn't need any period of acclimatisation.

I know I'll take some stick for this but Wilkin really has developed into a very good scrum half. We played our best rugby of the season with Wilkin at seven - not least because he's a much better tactician than Travis Burns has proved to be so far. I said it in the other thread, the moment Wilkin got injured our tactics have been mediocre.

He might not be a natural ball handler - but Wilkin is an absolutely first rate tactician. I certainly have no issues with him at seven should Walsh be injured.

One issue might be the strength of the backrow with Greenwood and Vea out for a while still.

At a push I'd go with Roby at loose. LMS & Sav in the back row. Wilkin at seven. The kid at nine. With Roby interchanging occasionally to confuse the defence.

Savelio's going to have to step up to full speed at first team level sooner or later.

I,m sure if it was the back end of the season and the play offs Walshy would carry on with the niggly injury, its probably the lesser of the two evils to get it sorted now or risk possible long term damage, Wilkin and Burns did OK for quite a few games this season. We do seem to have had this injury jinx of about 7 years now and you get the feeling its never going to disappear ever.

No different to Josh Perry.

Quote ="SaintsFan"It was the plates in his leg that caused the delay. They were uncomfortable and so he had them removed. The ankle was operated on prior to Christmas. He came back early from Oz for the op. Apparently this was a clean out as once again it was feeling uncomfortable. [uFrom what someone has said to me on Twitter it sounds more like a psychological problem than anything else as there was nothing to clean out. He just felt uncomfortable on it.[/u'" www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/sai ... me__Walsh/ Yes, definitely all in his head. The operation is a waste of time.

Quote ="SaintsFan"It was the plates in his leg that caused the delay. They were uncomfortable and so he had them removed. The ankle was operated on prior to Christmas. He came back early from Oz for the op. Apparently this was a clean out as once again it was feeling uncomfortable. [uFrom what someone has said to me on Twitter it sounds more like a psychological problem than anything else as there was nothing to clean out. He just felt uncomfortable on it.[/u'" www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/sai ... me__Walsh/ Yes, definitely all in his head. The operation is a waste of time.

Thankfully it sounds like it's a separate injury. We need a bit of a break from the bad luck afflicting Walsh.

With Walsh missing for 4+ weeks I think we will see a better Burns in these next 4 or 5 games, he was a little less involved and effective when Walsh came back, the pressure is back on Wilkin especially with his kicking game. We are not too bad position wise as other teams falter along the way, Leeds will be going into there 4th super league game without a win, Wigan are going OK and Warrington are a bit Jeckyll and Hyde.

I know their playoff pedigree is questionable to say the least, but Huddersfield are worth a mention as well, the most effective defence in the league this year.

Paul Anderson seems to have combined what he learned on defence under Anderson Snr. at Saints with the attacking philosophy which existed at Huddersfield previously under Nathan Brown.

It's worked, too.

If they had a classy and, more importantly, consistent half they'd be a major threat.