St Helens boss Kristian Woolf gives latest injury update on Will Hopoate

Spare a thought for injury jinxed full back Will Hopoate who must think he has walked under a ladder.

The Aussie-born Tongan international, who joined Saints at the beginning of the season and looked the perfect replacement for the departing Lachaln Coote, made his debut against the Catalans Dragons in the opening Betfred Super League fixtures of the season but since then has made only eight more appearances in the famous Red Vee shirt.

Significantly, he is still to swallow the bitter pill of defeat since arriving from Canterbury Bulldogs, but sees a specialist on Friday to assess his latest injury picked up against Huddersfield Giants last Friday.

Frustrated head coach Kristian Woolf is not expecting the 30-year-old to return to action for several weeks and with Sione Mata’utia and Morgan Knowles suspended for Sunday’s trip to Wakefield Trinity and internationals Mark Percival and Tommy Makinson already on the sidelines, the boss will still hoping to name a well-balanced 21-man squad, even though positional changes are on the cards.

Of Hopoate injury, Woolf said that the initial news was more positive than they had originally thought but the player’s next step was to see a specialist with the outcome determining when he was fit to return.

“The indicators, however, suggest he will be back playing to complete the season,” said the Saints’ supremo, who added: “We haven’t got a timeline yet, we just need to get that confirmed by the specialist on Friday.”