The 21 years old 6ft 5in Walmsley earned rave reviews in his first full season with the Batley Bulldogs in 2012. He agreed a three-year contract and linked up with Saints in the close season.

Eamonn McManus, St Helens Chairman related that Alex was one of the most promising and exciting prospects in the game. The Saints were delighted to have secured his services ahead of stiff competition.

He is a powerfully built player who was highly praised by his former coach at Batley,John Kear. In 19 matches in the 2012 Championship season Alex powered over for 7 tries for the Bulldogs.

Alex was pencilled in for the 2013 campaign as a year for his development and gradual assimilation into first team duties. Circumstances and some early powerful displays prompted coach Nathan Brown to accelerate his career. By the end of the year Alex had featured in most matches and established himself as a firm favourite with the Saints crowd with his characteristic strong runs and crunching tackles.

This form was everpresent in 2014 when Alex helped the Saints to a Grand Final victory over Wigan. His progress was so marked that Alex was the stand out Super League forward in 2015 resulting in a shortlisting for the Man of Steel Awards.

Over the next five years Alex worked tremendously hard on his game to add awareness and an offload to his basic power based ability to scatter defences at will. this progression was sadly halted in the 2018 season when Alex suffered a career threatening injury to his neck which saw him on the sidelines for most of the season. his determination in his rehabilitation paid huge dividends in the 2019 campaign when he returned to the fray to stamp his authority in the packland of the League. his combination with Luke Thompson and James Roby generated a platform which was unstoppable as the league season progressed.At the conclusion of that record breaking campaign the Saints were 16 points clear at the top of the league and having been crowned Super League Champions on a glorious Old Trafford October night.

In the 2020 season Alex remained a key ingredient as the Saints retained their Super League crown with a pulsating last second victory over arch rivals Wigan. His powerhouse runs set up the backs and James Roby exploit opponents’ defences to score. Furthermore, he was instrumental in developing younger forwards players who were emerging from the ranks of the Saints. Alex scored 10 tries in just 20 matches during a campaign which suffered greatly from the Covid pandemic.

2021 proved to be his best season with the Saints. He demonstrated again his professionalism in the way he led and cajoled the team on the pitch. In a fairy tale season Alex collected a Challenge Cup winner’s medal as the Saints prevailed over Castleford at Wembley Stadium. A third successive Grand Final victory over Catalans Dragons was marked by a near faultless display of power and mean defence.

Dave Dooley