Fresh from captaining St.Helens to victory over Catalans on Sunday we caught up with Alex Walmsley who reflected on leading out the Saints, his current form and the threat that Hull KR will pose on Sunday.
Walmsley had the privilege of leading the Saints onto the field as captain against Catalans on Sunday as James Roby was rested and the 29-year lead by example with a dominant performance down the middle.
And our powering forward chatted exclusively to Saintsrlfc.com declaring it was an ‘honour’ to be named captain.
“It was a proud moment to be honest. To be able to say you have led a team out as prestigious as St.Helens is a massive honour. You only get so many opportunities like that in life so to captain the side was great and a winning side as well makes it even sweeter.”
There were plenty of new faces who impressed in the win over Catalans and Walmsley paid credit to them, declaring the club has complete faith in the youngsters.
“We knew the young lads would impress. We spoke a lot about the changes coming in, but at no point did we doubt any of the boys coming in. They are at St.Helens for a reason because they are all good players and give them the opportunity they will take it and I couldn’t be more proud of the boys who came in.
Walmsley himself put in an impressive performance which drew praise from Head Coach Justin Holbrook and he admits he is pleased with his current form having frustratingly missed most of last season with his neck injury.
OH SIT DOWN! ✋
OH SIT DOWN! ✋
OH SIT DOWN! ✋
Sit down next to meeee … ?
Big @engywalmsley leading by example yesterday! ??#saintsandproud pic.twitter.com/UTfG4kScFN
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) April 29, 2019
“I was happy with my performance, but it’s never about personal accolades it’s always about the team and leading the boys out I was expected to put in a good performance and I am happy with how I am going at the minute.
“With the lay off I had last year and how I have come back, I am quite happy with how things are. I feel great and you always look for the silver lining having had 12 months out of the game to let me body recover and I hope I can now reap the benefits of that further down the line.”
‘Big Al’ will be hoping he and Saints can continue our winning form as we face Hull KR on Sunday (3pm), but the big prop forward is well aware that the Rovers will put up a strong fight on their home patch.
“They will be tough opposition especially going over to KCOM Craven Park, he continued.
“It’s always a tough place to go, the crowd is always on you and there is always a good atmosphere and we always take a good number of fans too.
“They are a different animal at home and they were good the other week when they came over to the Totally Wicked. They have some good players in Danny McGuire and some big forwards so we are expecting a tough game and we need to make sure we take the attitude we have had for the last few weeks into Sunday.”
Next up for Saints at the Totally Wicked Stadium is a Heaven vs Hell clash with Salford Red Devils on Friday May 17th with a 7:45pm kick off. You can buy tickets for the game online here, or by calling into the Ticket Office at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
