Alex Walmsley

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Alex Walmsley
Alex Walmsley.jpg
Personal information
Full nameAlexander Simon Walmsley [1]
Born (1990-04-10) 10 April 1990 (age 34)
Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England
Height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight18 st 2 lb (115 kg) [2]
Playing information
Position Prop
Club
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
2012 Batley Bulldogs 1970028
2013– St Helens 2805200196
2013(loan)Batley Bulldogs 30000
Total3025900224
Representative
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
2017 England 61004
2019 Great Britain 40000
Source: [3] [4]
As of 29 September 2022

Alex Walmsley (born 10 April 1990) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for St Helens in the Betfred Super League, and England and Great Britain at international level.

Contents

He previously played for the Batley Bulldogs in the Championship and has spent time on loan from Saints at his former club in the second tier. [3] [4]

Background

Walmsley was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England.

Club career

Walmsley started his career in the amateur leagues, playing for Dewsbury Celtic, and his university team, Leeds Met Carnegie. [5] In 2011, he received the National Conference League player of the year award. [6]

In February 2012, Walmsley signed for Batley following a spell on trial at the club. [7] He won Batley's player of the year award and the Championship Young Player of the Year during his only season with the club, before signing with St Helens for the start of the 2013 season. [8]

Walmsley briefly returned to Batley at the start of 2013 on a dual registration before establishing himself in the St Helens first team that season. [9]

St Helens reached the 2014 Super League Grand Final, and Walmsley was selected to play from the interchange bench in their 14–6 victory over the Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Walmsley's form in 2015 saw him named to the Super League Dream Team for the first time as well as earning him a nomination for the Man of Steel award. [14]

He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium. [15]

He played in the 2019 Super League Grand Final victory over the Salford Red Devils at Old Trafford. [16] [17] [18]

Walmsley played in St Helens 8-4 2020 Super League Grand Final victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull. [19]

On 17 July 2021, he played for St. Helens in their 26-12 2021 Challenge Cup Final victory over Castleford. [20] On 9 October 2021, he played for St. Helens in their 2021 Super League Grand Final victory over Catalans Dragons. It was the club's third successive championship victory in a row. [21] On 13 September 2022, Walmsley was ruled out for the remainder of the 2022 Super League season and the World Cup with a foot injury. [22] On 18 February 2023, Walmsley played in St Helens 13-12 upset victory over Penrith in the 2023 World Club Challenge. [23] In round 2 of the 2023 Super League season, Walmsley scored two tries for St Helens in a 24-6 victory over Castleford. [24] In the 2023 Challenge Cup semi-final, Walmsley suffered a knee injury following a cannonball tackle from Leigh player John Asiata. St Helens would go on to lose the match 12-10 and Walmsley was later ruled out for 12 weeks. [25] [26] Walmsley played 18 games for St Helens in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished third on the table. He played in St Helens narrow loss against the Catalans Dragons in the semi-final which stopped them reaching a fifth successive grand final. [27]

International career

Walmsley was a member of the England team which played in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. [28] In the final against Australia, Walmsley came off the bench in England's 6–0 defeat. [29] [30]

He was selected in squad for the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour of the Southern Hemisphere. [31] He made his Great Britain test debut in the defeat by Tonga. [32]

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References

  1. FreeBMD Entry Information
  2. "Alex Walmsley". St Helens RFLC. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "The stars of 2013: The talents that will hit the big time next year". The Independent. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  6. "Top Conference award for Alex". Batley and Birstall News. Johnston Press. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  7. "Batley Bulldogs complete Walmsley deal". Batley and Birstall News. Johnston Press. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  8. "St Helens sign Batley Bulldogs prop Alex Walmsley". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  9. "New St Helens Super League signing Alex Walmsley hoping for big start against Huddersfield Giants". Huddersfield Examiner. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
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  14. Trio up for Man of Steel award
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  31. "Zak Hardaker shock inclusion in 24-man Great Britain squad for tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea". Telegraph. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
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