PROP Alex Walmsley has described the joyful and dramatic events of last Thursday in which he helped Saints to two vital league points at Wakefield but missed the birth of his baby son Atticus.

Coach Justin Holbrook earlier this week credited Walmsley’s contribution as pivotal to snatching the victory which kept Saints’ season alive.

But it was the selfless act Walmsley’s partner, Simone Clark, to delay calling that gave Saints that chance of winning – even if was at the expense him not making it to Whiston from west Yorkshire in time for the birth.

Had that call come earlier, Saints would have not had the benefit of Big Al’s surge to the line and offload to set up Theo Fages for the try that got them back in it.

Explaining how the plan was supposed to work, Walmsley said: “Simone was due on the Sunday before the game and I wanted to be there, to be honest she was going to be induced on the Saturday after.

“I spoke with Justin Holbrook as we knew how big a game it was and Simone really wanted me to play.

“She was showing a lot of signs but it was a must-win game and her and her parents thought it was best for me to be there.

“I drove there under instructions that if anything happened, tell me. Everyone at the club, Justin, Simone and her parents played a pivotal part in it.”

However, Simone held on – effectively putting Saints’ play-off mission first.

“Simone had her first contraction at 5pm but left it as long as possible to try and let me get through the game.

"Her mum, Lesley, was with her saying, ‘You’ve got to ring Alex!’ She was like, ‘No, leave it until the second half!’” Walmsley said.

That call came late in the second half, and accompanied by fellow prop and 18th man Kyle Amor, they dashed from the ground.

“Justin gave me the message to come off and I can’t repeat exactly what I said, but it was something along the lines of, ‘I don’t want to come off. I feel pretty good and I’m full of energy. I’m flying here.’

“The conditioner came on and said, ‘That’s you now,’ and Justin said, ‘We’ve had the call. Simone’s gone into labour.’

“So I pretty much ran into the changing rooms, swapped my boots for trainers, grabbed my bag and jumped into the car.

“Simone was at Whiston Hospital, so it was about an hour and a half’s drive from Wakefield.

"Then when I got the call, there was that initial five or 10 minutes of panic but it was a nice feeling to come back to.

"I’d just got on the M62 at the Wakefield end when I got the call to say that the baby had been born,” he said.

So, apart from the boots, Walmsley arrived in the delivery suite resplendent in Saints away kit and sporting his battle wounds, no doubt getting a few looks from the mums and staff there.

“They must’ve thought, ‘Who’s this weirdo?’ I was still in my kit and still strapped up. I actually cut my knee in the game and had to have stitches.

“So I had to leave the delivery suite at 2.30am to go down to A and E and get my stitches put in, then it was back to the delivery suite at 4am and we went home at 1pm on Friday,” he said.

Walmsley revealed why the couple named their son after Atticus Finch, the main character in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.

“It is one of my favourite books.

"Someone said to me, ‘You’ve put no pressure on him there by naming him after one of the greatest characters in modern literature.’ “I read the book again over the summer and we were struggling for names at the time.

" I said, ‘What about Atticus?’ and Simone thought about it for a while and said, 'Yeah, I quite like that, I quite like Atty.’ Walmsley’s form is top notch – again being one of the team’s stand out players and good enough to have earned him a call to join England in the mid-season international, even if he did not play.

Representing England at the World Cup in the autumn is a burning desire for the big man – but if he does get the nod although it would be a wrench to leave his son for so long, it is one he would take.

Walmsley said: “We’ve spoken about that before. I’ve said I’ll go and Simone and Atticus can come out and see me.

“But it’s strange, Tuesday was my first day back at training and I missed him like mad – God knows what I’d be like if I went out to Australia for eight weeks!

“But it’s long been an ambition of mine to represent my country and if I get that chance, as tough as it will be to be away from him, I’ll take it.”