He is developing at a very quick rate.
When i saw him on his debut against Hull he was puffing and blowing after 10 mins, and was out of his depth with the speed of SL.
He has managed in a few short months to get to grips with the higher level.
Worrying for other clubs though i think he still has quite a bit of development left in him.
He first made me get excited by his performance in the Wakefield match, were according to Opta he made a massive 173 metres. This was tempered though by the knowledge that Wakefields team was decimated by injury. I therefore wanted to see how he went on in a big game. Wigan in particular i felt would be the ultimate test. Not because they have the best pack, but because defensively they are the best at controlling opposition packs momentum around the ruck area.
They just could not handle Walmsley. Time after time when he hit the ground, it was on his front rather than his back. As a consequence Saints could start to get a role on. With Roby in the team and speed in the halves we could have then caused all sorts of issues. Sadly due to our sticking plaster side that was not to be.
One other thing that was noticeable in the Wigan game, was how Wigans pack fatigued the longer he was on. I think this was in part because they were having to use lots of energy up in trying to bring him to the ground.
Walmsley may end up with that rare ability of being a blockbuster who also is an opposition pack killer. Most blockbusters are purely 20 minute impact players like Faasavalu or Paleasina. Its the bigger slower less noticeable guys that normally do the softening up, by draining the life force out of the opposition forwards.
