Alex Walmsley has told The Bench Podcast it remains unclear when he will be able to return to action from a hamstring injury.
The St Helens prop has missed his side’s last two matches, last featuring against Warrington Wolves in the Challenge Cup on April 14.
The 34-year-old hopes a possible return date will become clearer after further tests in the coming days.
“At the minute there’s a lot of cloud around it,” Walmsley said.
“There’s a few other checks that we need to line up and hopefully we’ll get an answer in the next few days to see where we end up.”
Earlier in April Walmsley signed a contract to extend his stay at the club to 14 years with a deal that runs until the end of the 2026 Super League season. The forward has made 280 appearances and scored 52 tries during his time with the Merseyside outfit.
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Walmsley explains why he turned down opportunities to move to the NRL, insisting he’s always been happy at the club
Reflecting on his journey, Walmsley admitted his career had not taken a traditional route but it is a path he takes pride from nonetheless.
“I was a bit different,” he said. “More often than not I’d like to think that players who come through the Championship have done a scholarship or academy at some point,
“I stopped playing rugby at 16. I just didn’t enjoy it, I was quite an overweight kid and it was something I just didn’t enjoy doing. I came back at 18 and got back playing at amateur (level) and at university and like anything I just loved it so much.
“I’ve been fortunate, I’ve had such a great career at Saints, I’ve won so much silverware at the club but so often my fondest memories were of the amateur days playing for Dewsbury Celtic.”
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Walmsley has been with St Helens since he joined in 2012 from Batley Bulldogs. Despite offers in the past to move to play in the NRL, he’s happy with his decision to stay in Super League.
“It boils down to being happy,” he said. “The first real opportunity came as early as 2015 when I was going into my third year at St Helens.
“At that point, I’d only left part-time rugby 18 months ago, so I was still learning the game. I was cementing myself as a first-team starter at Saints, it just didn’t feel like the right time to go and I’d just recently lost my mum and my dad was a big part of my rugby.
“I didn’t want to take that away from him so that was part of the decision.
“I’ve always been happy at St Helens. Being successful brings happiness and I’ve been fortunate these past six, seven years to be a part of a side that’s been successful in bringing in silverware and we’ve had some unbelievable moments.”
