Alex Walmsley has taken an unusual route to the top of rugby league, but the St Helens prop has more than made up for lost time as he enters his 10th Betfred Super League season aiming for more glory with the reigning champions
Wednesday 9 February 2022 11:37, UK
Since being awarded a testimonial in recognition of his 10 years as a professional player, Alex Walmsley has had to put up with some good-natured ribbing about his age from some of the younger members of St Helens’ squad.
At 31 though, the prop is hardly the "grandad" the likes of Jack Welsby and Lewis Dodd - two players very much at the start of their professional journey - have been calling him, particularly given he was a relative latecomer to the professional game in his early 20s.
Walmsley has more than made up for lost time, and the past two seasons in particular have seen him play arguably the best rugby of his career, with the England international showing no signs of slowing down as he and Saints set their sights on an historic fourth-straight Betfred Super League title in 2022.
"The route I've been on as a player, the career I've had and the way I've came into the game as well, to have 10 years at a club like St Helens and be awarded a testimonial is a real proud and humbling moment," Walmsley said.
"That being said, it has also made me feel really old having 10 years and getting some of the lads like Jack Welsby and Doddy calling me 'grandad' and talking about my hairline every other day comes with the title I suppose.
"It's a funny one really because 10 years into my career, you'd think I'd be slowing down, but I feel like I'm playing as well as I've ever played and my body feels as well as it has ever felt. I'm very much looking beyond that and hopefully there are a few more years left in the tank."
Passed over by the scholarship and academy set-ups of professional clubs in his teenage years, Walmsley made his start in rugby league with renowned amateur club Dewsbury Celtic, winning National Conference League player of the year in 2011, and playing for what is now Leeds Beckett University's team while there as a student.
Eventually given a chance in the professional game by Championship side Batley Bulldogs in 2012, the powerful forward caught the eye enough to earn a move to Super League giants St Helens after just one season with the part-timers and has been a mainstay of the side since 2013.
Current Saints head coach Kristian Woolf has seen Walmsley continue to develop since taking over ahead of the 2020 season and believes there is still plenty more to come from a player who has been part of four Super League Grand Final wins and a Challenge Cup success over the past decade.
"I think he has got improvement in him and if you look at the last couple of games he played in last year, he was absolutely exceptional," Woolf said.
"You'd certainly go as far as saying he's in the top few players in the competition, and a big part of why we had success and some terrific runs along the way of that success. You look at Leeds in the semi-finals and how dominant he was, he was a really crucial cog in our success there.
I feel I'm as fit and strong as I've ever been, and I'm hopeful that will be recognised in my performances on the field [in 2022].
"You can't expect he's going to have that dominance or play like that every single game all year, but the more consistency we can get into him and playing at that level every game, that's his biggest improvement area.
"He's been able to do that over a terrifically long period and for years and years on end, and I think he's showing real signs of getting a little better in terms of his consistency over the past couple of years I've been here."
Given how his career has panned out, not to mention earning international recognition with both England and Great Britain, it may come as something of a surprise to hear Walmsley admit he did not initially have any thoughts he might one day get to play at the highest level.
Indeed, he confesses even after joining St Helens he was suffering from imposter syndrome and it was not until the first experience of a derby clash with old rivals Wigan Warriors that he felt he truly belonged.
"Not going through scholarship or academies, it was probably never in my destiny or dreams to be a professional rugby league player," Walmsley said. "I loved my time at Dewsbury Celtic in the amateur days and I've got some real fond memories of those times.
"But getting the opportunity to go Batley was huge and then to St Helens, but there was almost a feeling of I was a bit of an imposter and eventually someone would figure me out and I'd be back at Dewsbury Celtic.
"The first I felt like I could be a Super League player and make a career was when I played in the Good Friday game against Wigan in 2013, and that gave me the confidence and the belief I could have a career in the game.
"Thankfully, it has worked out really well and I'm really grateful for St Helens giving me the opportunity in the first place - and I like to think I've taken that and had a good career as well."
Walmsley and St Helens will be aiming to roar back into action for the 2022 season opener on Thursday night when they face a rematch of last year's Grand Final against Catalans Dragons, live on Sky Sports.
Having celebrated his testimonial with a 16-6 win over Leigh Centurions in Saints' sole pre-season outing, he heads into what will be his 10th Super League campaign feeling as good as ever and with his sights set on playing until at least the end of his current deal in 2024.
"The way the body feels, I don't feel like I'm slowing up - but I might feel different six or seven games into the season when the body starts hurting," Walmsley joked.
"Genuinely, I feel I'm as fit and strong as I've ever been, and I'm hopeful that will be recognised in my performances on the field. I'd hate to put a time limit on the playing days."
Sky Sports will again be broadcasting extensive live coverage of the Betfred Super League in 2022, including 25 games between February and April, Magic Weekend and the Grand Final. Watch reigning champions St Helens and Catalans Dragons face off in a rematch of last year's Grand Final in the season opener on Thursday, February 10.
