It wasn't a knock. It was a muscle tear. Jon Wilkin has just had one too, to his calf, and he is on crutches. Should he be bouncing back in a couple of days as well? Don't be silly. If it had been a knock, he probably would have missed one match or played through the pain.

If he has yet another muscle injury, the question needs to be why he has so many, he's way past unlucky. Not a pop at Gary at all but a serious question for the conditioning and medical team!

I suspect a lot of these problems are to do with asking kids to perform at SL level against physically mature and experienced pros before they have matured physically themselves. If this is the case we can expect Wheeler's tally of appearances to begin increasing from next season.

Says who? You a qualified doctor with inside knowledge on what his injuries are?

LMS back for this week?

Yes

We could be adding Lee Smith and Ben Jones Bishop to our list and possibly Harauki.
But we have got Cross back.

Could be, BJB is a definate six weeker at least, Lee Smith has another week FWIH

Should be an interesting game Saturday. A team with no props versus a team with no half backs. Will saints allow Sinfield to run the show.

On Friday's showing, definitely! If the attitude changes before Saturday then maybe not.

According to League Express a Gary Wheeler played at No4 for our reserve side at the weekend when they beat Quins.
This is confirmed on the Saints website:
[urlhttp://www.saintsrlfc.com/news/page/650[/url

He couldn't recover from a muscle tear that quickly surely?

At least he might be back with the first team for the leeds game?

He's been out since Cardiff, so that's four weeks. I suppose the length of time he spends out of the game would depend on how bad the muscle tear was? I dunno, frankly. Glad he came through the u20s game unscathed anyway! Maybe we will see him in action at Leeds.

There is an injury and then there is a Gary Wheeler injury. One is real and the other is as real as my affair with Beyonce.

unless shes cheating on me, thats unlikely

This is what I liked from the match report;

[iThis was a much better performance giving the Reserves a much needed boost after a disappointing loss at Salford. Man of the Match was Adam Swift whose enthusiasm and running at the line always had Quins worried, but he was pushed all the way by [size=150Gary Wheeler [/sizeand both starting props Forster and Jordan Hand making his starting début at this level.[/i

Promote them all!!!

I'm a big fan of Wheeler as a player, but I's leave him in the reserves for a month until he can show he can string a few appearences together (it may also sharpen his mindset, if there's anyflaws there).

Wheeler's just as likely to get injured playing in the reserves as for the first team. Arguably MORE likely as he might not be 100% focussed.

If he's fit then he should be picked in the centre against Leeds on Saturday. He's one of the few players that can beat a man.

If he's not fit then I'd move meli to centre. I know his defence is terrible there but it gives us some size and attack on the flanks and puts him away from a possible kicks to the wing from sinfield.

IMO Royce has go to change things to give some players a kick up the backside. We can't keep going on how we are.

I know he ain't got many options but something got to change and fast!

If Wheeler could stay fit he'd be the best centre at the club IMO, including Shenton.

I really hope he can, he could be a superstar. I just hope these injuries disappear as he matures

I think wheeler can be very good centre as he's got good footwork and looks like he loves to attack but the injuries are a worry.

I think Shenton has everything to be a top class centre not just at club level but also international level. He's big, fast, good foot work, great attitude but is being wasted through getting no good ball due to having no halfbacks.

But lets face it, if his career is going to carry on like it has been so far, he's not exactly a player to be making plans round.

There is a chance that he just hasn't turned the corner into a player that will just suck it up, strap it up and get out on the pitch, which I'm led to beleive is part and parcel of SL.

If dropping him to the reserves at this point reduces his focus, then he's got a way to go as a professional. Wheeler has some catching up to do and a run of a few games in the reserves would be benificial for him, assuming the 1sts don't need him.

I'm happy to give him time to see if he grows out of these injuries as his body matures, but it's the major reason why I cannot understand some people's clamour to put him in at 7 now.

My nephew knew him from his blackbrook days together with a number of other young 'un's.

He reckon Gary is the best of the lot talent-wise.

Lack of focus isn't Gary Wheeler's problem. Lack of game time is. By plonking him the reserves you could well end up with a self-fulfilling prophecy. So far the lad has done little wrong with the opportunities he's been given. He just needs more of them. My guess is that if he could string together a dozen or more consecutive games he'd be a completely different player.