St Helens dealt double injury blow following brutal Leigh Leopards win

St Helens have lost both Jonny Lomax and Nene Macdonald to long-term injuries following their early withdrawals in Friday night’s home win over Leigh Leopards.

Saints ended up 20-18 winners in Paul Rowley’s first game in charge at the BrewDog Stadium, claiming their first two competition points of the year in Super League as a result.

But those two points came at a big cost, with vice-captain Lomax and Macdonald now sidelined, potentially alongside team-mate George Delaney.

St Helens dealt double injury blow following brutal Leigh Leopards win

Veteran half-back Lomax lasted less than three minutes, leaving the field having made a try-saving tackle on Leigh’s Andrew Badrock. Come the 20-minute mark, centre Macdonald then limped off and never returned.

In his post-match press conference, Rowley detailed: “It’s a long list of injuries.

“Jonny and Nene going off so early had direct impact on tonight, not in terms of the result, but our fluidity, particularly offensively.

“What it’s going to do to us in the forthcoming weeks, (we’ll have to wait and see), but you learn more about people in adversity.

“Buckle up, fasten your seatbelt and we’ll see where we get to. Mid-season, we’ll have an influx of top-line players coming back.

“Jonny’s got a fractured arm, we’ve got our own seats at A&E now! That’s to be confirmed, but it’s what we suspect.

“Nene took a bang to his leg, we’re waiting further investigation on that over weekend or early next week.

“He isn’t one for picking up injuries, so we’ll give him some guidance and a steer on that.”

Elsewhere, Deon Cross came through a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) late on in the second half to return to the field, but Delaney was forced off for a HIA with six minutes remaining, and it would appear the outcome of that remains to be seen.

Rowley explained: “It was gumshield data that said he (Delaney) had to have a HIA, so I’m not sure how that one works.

“Some satellite in the sky on Mars said he had to come off, so he came off, and he’s in there wondering why. It’s a mystery, isn’t it?”