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St Helens cancel reserves clash amid injury crisis as 7 youngsters sent out on loan A general view of the BrewDog Stadium take during St Helens' Challenge Cup quarter-final victory over Catalans Dragons in 2026 St Helens have cancelled this weekend’s scheduled reserves clash against Hull KR due to their ongoing injury crisis, with seven youngsters sent out on loan to the Championship instead. Saints’ injury crisis has led to plenty of youngsters being handed first-team opportunities over the last few months. Thursday night’s defeat at home against Hull FC saw Tom Humphreys, Billy Keeley, Matty Evans and Chris Matagi involved alongside young faces that have already become familiar like Jake Davies and George Whitby. The extent of the club’s injury problems have though resulted in gaps being left further down the food chain, and as a result, Saints are now unable to fulfil Saturday’s reserves game against KR. St Helens cancel reserves clash amid injury crisis as 7 youngsters sent out on loan The Red V announced the decision to cancel the game via a press release on Friday afternoon. That press release explains: “Due to a severe and unprecedented injury crisis across the Saints’ squads, and with some intense fixture congestion over the coming weeks, St Helens are unfortunately unable to fulfil this weekend’s reserves fixture against Hull KR. “This decision has been made to prioritise player welfare and to try to best serve our younger squad integrity. “St Helens’ reserves were scheduled to play the Robins at Ruskin Drive on Saturday, August 8, 2026, but this match has been cancelled.” Some of the players that had been set to line up for the reserves this weekend have instead now been allowed to head out on loan to the Championship to gain experience at first-team level. Seven loans have been confirmed in total, including those of Alfie Tate to Salford and Luca Walsh and Sam Oakes to Swinton Lions, all three of which had already been announced by those respective Championship clubs who square off this weekend. Elsewhere, Saints have confirmed young duo Alfie Sinclair and Cole Marsh have linked up with Whitehaven, while Luckas Sableman-Blue and Oliver Evans have joined Halifax Panthers. Sinclair and Marsh will hope to help play-off hopefuls Haven to a win away against Rochdale Hornets on Sunday afternoon. Sableman-Blue and Evans meanwhile will feature for Fax as they host high-flying Barrow Raiders. All seven of Saints’ loaned stars have only been sent out on initial one-week deals. As per the loan system though, any of the moves could be extended on a week-by-week basis.