Alex Walmsley

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.

Alex Walmsley
Personal information
Full nameAlexander Walmsley
Born (1990-04-10) 10 April 1990
Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England
Height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight18 st 2 lb (115 kg)[1]
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2012 Batley Bulldogs 19 7 0 0 28
2013– St Helens 200 35 0 0 140
2013(loan) → Batley Bulldogs 3 0 0 0 0
Total 222 42 0 0 168
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2017 England 5 1 0 0 4
2019– Great Britain 4 0 0 0 0
As of 9 January 2021
Source: [2][3]

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.[2][3]

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.[4] In 2011, he received the National Conference League player of the year award.[5]

In February 2012, Walmsley signed for Batley following a spell on trial at the club.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9][10][11][12]

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.[13]

He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[14]

He played in the 2019 Super League Grand Final victory over the Salford Red Devils at Old Trafford.[15][16][17]

Walmsley played in St Helens 8-4 2020 Super League Grand Final victory over Wigan at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull.[18]

International career

Walmsley was a member of the England team which played in the 2017 Rugby League World Cup.[19] In the final against Australia, Walmsley came off the bench in England's 6–0 defeat.[20][21]

He was selected in squad for the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour of the Southern Hemisphere.[22] He made his Great Britain test debut in the defeat by Tonga.[23]

References
  1. "Alex Walmsley". St Helens RFLC. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  2. "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "The stars of 2013: The talents that will hit the big time next year". The Independent. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  5. "Top Conference award for Alex". Batley and Birstall News. Johnston Press. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  6. "Batley Bulldogs complete Walmsley deal". Batley and Birstall News. Johnston Press. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  7. "St Helens sign Batley Bulldogs prop Alex Walmsley". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  8. "New St Helens Super League signing Alex Walmsley hoping for big start against Huddersfield Giants". Huddersfield Examiner. 10 January 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  9. "St Helens 14 Wigan Warriors 6: Moment of madness from Wales international Ben Flower costs Wigan dear". Daily Telegraph. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  10. "St Helens win Grand Final after Wigan's Ben Flower is sent off". Guardian. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  11. "St Helens 14–6 Wigan Warriors". BBC Sport. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  12. Cartwright, Phil (11 October 2014). "St Helens v Wigan as it happened". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  13. Trio up for Man of Steel award
  14. "St Helens 4-18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Daily Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  15. "St Helens give Justin Holbrook the perfect send-off with commanding Grand Final victory over Salford". Telegraph. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  16. "St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  17. "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
  18. "Super League Grand Final: Wigan 4-8 St Helens". www.bbc.co.uk.
  19. "England rugby league World Cup squad revealed - and James Roby is back in the fold". Daily Mirror. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  20. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/dec/02/rugby-league-world-cup-australia-beat-england-in-the-closest-final-in-decades
  21. http://www.sportingnews.com/au/league/news/2017-rugby-league-world-cup-final-australia-england-teams-players-times-dates-venues-streaming-watch-television-broadcast/v9io7j93safi1c1djdw4kw57b
  22. "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.
  23. "Great Britain left bruised at Tonga party". Times. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
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