Warrington Wolves v Saints - A Look Ahead

You've waited all winter for this. Sure, last week's Challenge Cup annihilation of Workington Town was fun, but after some underwhelming showings under Paul Wellens in recent years you can't wait for the Super League action to get started.

There is renewed optimism with the appointment of Paul Rowley as head coach to replace the departed Wellens. After three seasons of Woolfball-lite we are longing to be entertained. Who doesn't want to come home from a game - win or lose - thinking that they've had their money's worth? And maybe even looking forward to the next game. I can remember when that's what watching Saints was all about.

Not that I'm advocating a return to recklessness with a total disregard for outcome. We want to win. Wellens' departure was as much about the results as it was about the five drives and a kick tedium his team served up. It was modelled on Woolf's style which had been outrageously successful. But if you employ conservatism and don't win in St Helens you are unsubtly invited to leave. Club legend or not.

Providing the first test of the Rowley era are Warrington Wolves. The level of underachievement in the league by Sam Burgess' men in 2025 was even more stark and obvious than what was going on at Saints. Though uninspiring and pathologically incapable of beating a top three side in 2025 Saints did at least scrape into the playoffs. They even made an imprint with the 'Right To Wright' try that made Harry Newman cry as Leeds crashed out. It's somewhat ironic that the last play of the Wellens era was a post buzzer, 16-pass miracle. 

Meanwhile Warrington finished eighth, but that's only half the story. They were fully 10 points adrift of Wakefield Trinity who occupied the sixth and final playoff spot. Yet as Wellens was thanked and sent on his way Burgess remains. He's also been linked with NRL clubs and the England head coaching job after Shaun Wane jumped before he was not so much pushed as catapulted through the RFL door. It's amazing what perceived charisma can achieve but I suspect it might only work at a club that has got used to not winning titles. They haven't won one since 1955. 

Their journey to the Challenge Cup final, were they were agonisingly (amusingly?) beaten by Hull KR in the final moments might just have been enough to keep faith with Burgess. That and the media attention he still attracts having crossed the divide to play in the Rugby Union World Cup a decade ago. 

We got a glimpse of what a Rowley side looks like in the 98-2 shellacking of the Cumbrians last time out. Saints were the anti-Wellens, the anti-Woolf in fact. The level of opposition might have been influential but risk taking was encouraged. 

Saints ran in 17 tries and many of the movements began with Jack Welsby fielding a kick near his own line and then slinging a ball half the width of the pitch to bring other skill players into play. For the last six years a Saints fullback in a similar position has been compelled to pass to the nearest player who has proceeded to run at the defensive line with no thought to anything but set completion.

Yet Warrington, troubled though they may be, are no Workington. Realistically Town are two leagues below Saints. Nominally they are in the second tier Championship but only because one of the crackpot outcomes of Nigel Wood and the cartel of club owners wresting back control from IMG is the merger of the Championship and League One.

With that in mind there might be a slight adjustment of the gameplan, even from Rowley. Hopefully Saints will look to play expansively when the opportunity presents itself but they're unlikely to abandon all thoughts of game management completely. There's still a sense that against a well matched opponent like Warrington that the right to play needs to be earned. 

Otherwise there is risk which just wasn't there against Workington when Saints knew that if a handling error occurred there would be another opportunity to build an attack soon. There must be smart decision making and a healthy respect for Warrington. We can snigger at their constant inability to win the title but this is a side which for all its troubles beat Saints three times in 2025 including a Challenge Cup quarter-final. They have pace and they play an attacking brand of rugby. They shouldn't be afforded cheap possessions and opportunity.

It doesn't help Rowley that he has already lost his new captain for a significant period. Matty Lees was given the armband - interestingly replacing the still present Jonny Lomax - but suffered a medial ligament injury at Derwent Park. Lees doesn't need surgery but is expected to be out for at least a couple of months. As vice captain and permanent on-field presence Welsby should take over. But the loss of Lees will be more keenly felt in Saints' front row department.

Rowley doesn't have a like for like replacement to bring into the fold. Noah Stephens is out as are Agnatius Paasi and Jake Wingfield. Though how much either would add were they fit is something fans have long since started to question. 

A lot will depend on how David Klemmer settles in having come over from Newcastle Knights in the NRL. Alex Walmsley's minutes were reducing under Wellens. That isn't a criticism of the ex-coach. Walmsley is 36 in April. He's unlikely to be someone who Rowley will lean heavily on. 

After that there is George Delaney. There are those who hail him as another great product of the Saints academy. There are others - like this observer - who can't help but notice that though he runs hard he invariably stops dead as soon as he makes contact with anything resembling a defender. One of the areas of concern coming into 2026 is around who exactly is going to get us down the field so the new look back division can prosper.

Which brings me on to the guys whose job it is to see that Rowley's promise of a more expansive style pays dividends. Mark Percival is currently injured but the signing of Nene McDonald from Salford is exciting enough to stop many from worrying about reports that Percival could leave the club. Those rumours appear to have been dampened - at least until he sees out this final year of his contract - but when he returns It's no longer a no brainer to select him. 

If McDonald provides the performances that he is capable of consistently he has to play. Meanwhile dropping Harry Robertson to make way for Percival would be regressive. With Deon Cross and Owen Dagnall around suddenly there's depth in a position that not so long ago was pressing back rowers like Matt Whitley, Sione Mata'utia and even Curtis Sironen into action. 

So there is firepower available. But guns need loading, highlighting how important it was to improve the halfback options this term. Lomax no longer looks like a Super League halfback. Judging by the team selection at Workington he is more likely to be used as a back up nine to Daryl Clark. Having been lucky enough to home two all time greats of the position for the last 30 years in Keiron Cunningham and James Roby Saints suddenly have a bare cupboard. Lomax would offer good distribution and defensive nous. None of which will be welcome news to Jake Burns. 

George Whitby established himself and then didn't under Wellens. The academy product played eight games in a row as Lomax's decline was brutally dealt with. Yet in the end Wellens decided to send Whitby on loan, favouring the sticking plaster that was the now departed Moses Mbye. 

We wondered whether Rowley would take the gamble of restoring Whitby. Then came the surprising addition of former Salford and Wigan man Jackson Hastings. He has never set the NRL alight since leaving Wigan but he is a former Super League Man Of Steel who will give Saints more attacking options. 

The predictability with Mbye at seven seemed almost by design. Now at least we will have a halfback who can beat teams with a run, a pass or a kick. The fans seem so excited about it that there has been relatively little griping about the decision to restore Tristan Sailor to the stand off role. Or maybe it's the excitement of the appointment of Rowley that has quietened that grumbling. Rowley has credit in the bank. His time at Salford saw him have relative success with an enjoyable vibe.

You might be wondering how Warrington shape up coming in to this one. Know your enemy. There have been some key departures. Matt Dufty, Roderick Tai and Lachlan Fitzgibbon are back in Australia while prop Paul Vaughan has joined the project at newly promoted York Knights. 

In have come Toff Sipley - a prop with almost 100 appearances for Manly Sea Eagles, ex-Wigan plodder Liam Byrne as well as Albert Hopoate. The latter is a centre or winger signed from Canberra Raiders. He's the brother of former Saint Will Hopoate and the major addition to a back division that will still be without the prolific Matty Ashton as he continues his recovery from an ACL. 

George Williams has announced his intention to leave the club at the end of the season. Yet for now he remains to partner Marc Sneyd in what ought to be one of the best halfback pairings anywhere. It showed early promise in 2025 but couldn't fully compensate for the injuries to Ashton and others in the backs. On a sad note centre Connor Wrench has retired at age 23 having suffered two ACL injuries in recent seasons.

Last season would have hurt Warrington. Their league form was appalling as the squad struggled to cope with the injuries, and top players failed to perform. The late, late cup final loss no doubt took a psychological toll but the fans will expect better if they are to keep patience with the Burgess regime. They will provide a genuine test for Saints as they move into what will hopefully be an exciting new era.

Workington Town 2 Saints 98 - What Did We Learn?

Officially, Saints returned to competitive action on Friday night (February 6). Unofficially, a 98-2 ravaging of Workington Town was about as competitive as a goldfish racing a cheetah.

That said it's hard to get too carried away with this Challenge Cup stroll. Full time professionalism has made it all but a physical impossibility for a part time team like Town to compete with the game's elite. But that is not to say that there weren't things to enjoy and to learn from Saints' performance.

A report of a match in which Saints ran in 17 tries feels redundant. Far better to focus on the team's approach to the game under new head coach Paul Rowley and on how his new recruits fitted into his ideas. Four players in the starting 13 were on their competitive debuts for the club after an off season of much needed refreshment.

Rowley pitched all of Nene McDonald, Jackson Hastings, David Klemmer and Joe Shorrocks into the starting lineup and all were prominent in different ways. McDonald offers pace and power which this admittedly modest opposition couldn't handle. But it was Hastings who was most interesting. 

Could he solve a halfback problem that has been an issue for a long time? On first showing he looks like he might. He was involved in pretty much everything Saints did in attack and ended the night with 38 points from two tries and 15 goals. That's just two points shy of the club's individual single game points scoring record of 40 held by Paul Loughlin. Yes kids, rugby league did exist before Eddie and Stevo. 

Klemmer took Alex Walmsley's starting role. His job took on extra significance when new skipper Lees hobbled off early. He wasn't placed under undue pressure on the night but his level of responsibility goes up if Lees misses next week's Super League opener at Warrington. Shorrocks was a surprising success, showing good handling skills and intelligent decision making.  But there's no getting away from the fact that everything achieved here has to be placed in context because of the gulf in class between the sides. 

Tristan Sailor was given the stand-off role despite not convincing everyone in it last term, while Jonny Lomax was used as a bench hooker to spell Saints' only experienced specialist Daryl Clark. That positional switch could extend Lomax's career meaningfully, helping him add to his 379 appearances. 

Wellens did not experiment with this last year when it was becoming abundantly clear that Lomax's days as a Super League halfback were in the rear view mirror. The worry is the wear and tear on the body given that he's had so many injuries over the years. But if Rowley uses him sparingly in the hooking role it might just work. 

His distribution is elite when compared to the other nines in the league and he's always been an outstanding defender. Frankly, we had better hope that it does work because outside of the hitherto unconvincing Jake Burns there isn't an obvious back up to Daryl Clark in this squad. 

The most common gripe during the Wellens years was around the style of play. The appointment of Rowley has brought optimism that we will see something more expansive this year. We certainly got that in this one. There was a willingness - an urgency even - to shift the ball wider no matter where on the field the set of possession began. Time and time again that brought dividends as Workington found Saints too quick and strong. 

The question I have is whether we'll see that kind of open rugby against Super League sides. At Workington it felt like the team were not so concerned about making a mistake, even in their own territory. They were rightly confident that their defence would cope if the ball was turned over cheaply. I'm not sure they will be as keen to risk putting themselves in taxing defensive situations against teams at the highest level. 

Saints have had one of the best defences in Super League for a while now but even their dam will break if they offer good sides too many opportunities. One of the more compelling elements of the start of the league campaign is in finding out if Rowley can find the right balance to succeed and - just as importantly for many including me - entertain.

But optimism should remain. Saints did exactly what was expected of them and won the game with ease. Only the fact that the defence and game management skills weren't tested leave nagging doubts about how well 2026 will go. Saints' only other pre season game was Lees' testimonial against Castleford Tigers. But they're not exactly elite either so hardly provided a rugged examination of those traits. It's the top three sides that Saints need to relearn how to compete with after Wellens' tenure, and for that they'll need resilience and intelligence on a level not required in Cumbria.

The Lees injury might be a problem given the current absence of Noah Stephens and the restricted minutes given to Walmsley in his twilight years. It could make the contribution of George Delaney more important. But overall Saints look in good shape to address what was an appalling record against Sam Burgess' Wolves in 2025. Wire beat Saints three times last season, ending their Challenge Cup hopes in the process. 

Those dreams remain alive for 2026 but much stiffer tests are lurking before thoughts can turn towards another Wembley day out.

Strategy Or Sentiment: Is Percy On The Move?

With just a week to go until the start of the Super League season there's been a late surprise in Saints' squad planning for 2026 and beyond. 

Mark Percival - a Saints academy product who has been a fixture of the first team for almost 13 years - could be heading for the exit. A Love Rugby League 'exclusive' suggests that a two-year contract offered to him by the club has been withdrawn. The report also states that he has been 'made available to other clubs immediately'.

It's not totally clear whether the contract offer was an extension of his current deal which expires at the end of this season, or whether it would have started in 2027 and kept him at the club until the end of 2028 when he will be 34. The club has yet to comment at the time of writing, further muddying the waters.

So let's take it at face value and assume that Percival will depart. As popular as he has been over the years the question of whether to move on from him or not is still a divisive one among the fan base. This is a player who has made 274 appearances in the red vee and has been a part of five Super League Grand Final winning squads. Twenty-five of those 274 appearances were starts in 2025. This calls into question the time honoured grumble that you'll never get a full season out of him.

And yet for all that I can see the logic in letting him go. He might have been on the field a lot last season - and in 2024 when he made 21 appearances - but that isn't the same as being effective. Peak Percival - using his pace and strength to lay waste to opposition defences - has been an idea and not a reality for some time now. 

His body has been pummelled by the constant requirement to run the ball in at a set defensive line early in the tackle count. He might as well have been playing second row as opposed to centre, so scarce were his opportunities to find space to run into. A lot of that is tactical as successive coaches have all but abandoned the concept of expansive rugby. 

Wherever you want to lay the blame he just isn't the same player. With the arrival of Nene McDonald to add to existing centre options Deon Cross and Harry Robertson it just might make sense to free up Percival's cap space for greater need. Like hooker, where cover is thin. Soon to be 33-year-old Daryl Clark is Saints' only reliable option. A club which had two of the all-time greats at 9 spanning a 30-year period now finds itself short in that department.

Social media is in overdrive in reaction to online suggestions that a two-year contract had been offered to Percival and then withdrawn. Love Rugby League's piece states only that discussions had been held about a new deal which would have taken the former England international past the end of his current agreement. It then hedges its bets rather by suggesting that it is 'believed' that such a deal is no longer an option. Wherever the truth sits, failure to come to an agreement in discussions is not the same as offering a contract and then withdrawing it. But when did social media users ever wait for clarity?

From the club's point of view the decision to let Percival go - if it transpires - is strategic and not personal. The timing is off just a week before the season opener at Warrington on February 13 but it should be remembered that Saints have a new head coach who may still be formulating his long term plans. Perhaps Paul Rowley has seen something in pre season training that has swayed his thinking. 

Despite most fans calling for him to do so, it doesn't look as though Rowley will opt to move Robertson to six any time soon. This might surprise anyone who saw him weave through the Leeds Rhinos defence in the build up to Shane Wight's 'shite to Wright' playoff miracle at Headingley in September. Or any number of occasions on which Robertson's ball skills and elusiveness have been apparent. 

As it is it leaves the youngster to continue his outstanding development at centre. In turn that could have left Percival surplus to requirements with McDonald and Cross also vying for game time. Owen Dagnall is another centre option even if his breakout games so far have been as a winger. His future could be at centre with 31-year-old McDonald currently something of a stop gap.  If Percival isn't needed then sentiment should not insist on him.

If there is a chase on for Percival's services then online rumour has it that Leigh and Warrington are leading it. There's a good argument against strengthening a potential playoff rival. Yet ultimately there's a better argument for making the right choice for your own needs. You can't always control where players end up if you decide to cut them loose. 

If one of those or any other Super League club snaps Percival up they will be getting a hugely experienced, highly decorated performer who might be more of a threat in a team with a more expansive gameplan. He's also still a pretty good defender. Just don't ask him to consider the wishes of his winger if he does find himself in open space. It would be a wrench for him to leave Saints I'm sure but it could also be the reset that the latter part of his career needs. 

What are your thoughts on the situation? Do you think a move will happen? If it does, will it prove to be a bold but correct decision by Rowley or an absolute disaster? Or somewhere in between. Only a Sith deals in absolutes, after all. Tee off in the comments.

McDonald Arrives - Do You Want Tries With That?

Saints' 2026 recruitment has been something of a slow burn. Only back rower Jacob Host was added before the dying embers of the uninspiring Paul Wellens' reign finally burned themselves out. 

It's been a different picture since Paul Rowley took over from Wellens. There will be many who already feel that the additions of David Klemmer and Jackson Hastings were worth waiting for. That argument is strengthened with the news that Papua New Guinea international centre Nene McDonald joins on a two-year deal. 

McDonald has real pedigree. If the aim of recruitment is to sign players who are better than those you already have and who will strengthen your team then Saints have nailed this one. McDonald's combination of strength, speed and flair is everything we have been missing since Kevin Naiqama left the building in 2021. Konrad Hurrell was always watchable - and his contribution significant - but it's fair to say he was different.

Where McDonald is similar - and where we might hear the faint sound of an alarm bell - is in age. Or what might euphemistically be called experience. McDonald is 31 which is around the same age that both Naiqama and Hurrell were when they arrived. He's a short term fix but so was Jamie Lyon. For now McDonald still retains the pace, power and skill needed to do the job at this level.

So about that pedigree. McDonald is a veteran of almost 100 NRL appearances, 54 appearances across spells with Leeds Rhinos and Salford Red Devils and 22 for the PNG Kumuls. He also played a big part in helping Leigh win promotion into Super League from the Championship in 2022. He's long been the subject of excited transfer chatter on the journey to and from the stadium on match days and on social media. We're getting what we want. 

A lot of fans will have noticed his prowess during battles with a Salford side that was among the league's most exciting under Rowley before financial Armageddon took hold. Many of us looked on in envy at the partnership between McDonald and Tim Lafai. The contrast between their willingness to play more expansively and our devotion to 'sticking to the process' was stark. More often than not Saints won those battles but I can't be the only one who found the style in which we achieved it fairly joyless. 

All good so far. And I hate to poop the party but here's my reservation. Saints will be McDonald's 10th club in an 11-year career since making his debut for Sydney Roosters in 2014. We only need him to last for two seasons at this stage but it should be pointed out in the interests of cool-your-jets-ery that he has only managed to complete back to back seasons at one club four times in his career. 

He's never been at any club for more than two seasons. It's a miracle he hasn't used the international board's farcical eligibility rules to get himself a move out of Papua New Guinea too. He might reasonably be described as restless. He packs a light suitcase. Objectively he's a slight gamble even if he brings his A-game. Especially if he brings his A-game as that would make the impact harsher if he doesn't see out his contract. 

But let's be optimistic and assume he doesn't get ants in his pants and engineer a move to Hull FC.  His presence shakes up a three-quarter corps that has been badly in need of it. Suddenly there are options for Rowley that are not just viable but attractive. The pairing of Harry Robertson and Mark Percival were barely challenged last season but now the dynamics change. There are realistic scenarios in which neither make the first 13, at least not in the centres.

Percival has been an automatic starter virtually since his competitive debut in March 2013. But for injuries he would have made many more than his 266 first team appearances. Yet it might be time to revisit that. To have one of those honest conversations beloved of Wellens. 

As each year has passed - and with the last two head coaches implementing systems which regard outside backs as battering rams - his effectiveness has dwindled. In 23 appearances last term he crossed for only six tries. Across his Saints career he's a one in two man.

Perhaps Tristan Sailor holds the key. If he is to be given another opportunity at stand-off alongside new halfback Hastings then that leaves Percival, McDonald and Harry Robertson contesting two centre spots. Throw in Deon Cross and Owen Dagnall too. It's not a massive leap to imagine that Percival could be among those watching from the sidelines. 

If Sailor doesn't convince Rowley that the number on his back should identify his position then Percival's chances increase. In that scenario Rowley would likely be making the move that many fans advocate. Namely moving Robertson out of the centres and up alongside Hastings. 

That would leave Cross and Dagnall as Percival's main competition to partner McDonald. Considering winger Lewis Murphy's miserable fitness record both Dagnall and Cross are likely to fill in on the flank at various stages of the season. So even if he is no longer first choice it's easy to see Percival racking up more appearances. It's a nice problem to have for Rowley and we can rest assured that sentiment won't form part of his logic.

This veritable smorgasbord of options should ensure that barring a horrific injury crisis we won't see Matt Whitley filling in at centre going forward. The ex-Widnes and Catalans man hasn't let anybody down there - especially given the restrictions placed on the position by Wellens' adaptation of Woolfball - but he's going to be of more value in the back row. It's uncertain whether he will still nail down a regular starting slot. Host will expect to get minutes on the field. But Whitley will be a handy interchange at worst. 

With the ex-Salford coach now at the helm at The Brewdog our recruitment does have a flavour of getting the band back together. McDonald is the fourth former Red Devil to sign a permanent contract with Saints since Rowley's arrival. 

He follows Shane Wright, Joe Shorrocks and Hastings while Cross was already in the building. Yet it would be unfair to suggest that Rowley is turning Saints into anything like the basket case that his old club were in 2025. You won't convince me about Shorrocks but all of the others are exciting acquisitions who should add value. Overall - and paraphrasing Brian Clough's old maxim about not playing on paper - Saints look a stronger proposition now than they did 12 months ago. 

We will see if these moves - and especially the arrival of McDonald - really were worth the wait.

Hasting Arrives - Let The Battle To Partner Him Commence

Totally ignoring my piece last week about their recruitment for 2026, Saints have made another significant move with the arrival of Jackson Hastings. 

The halfback - who will turn 30 before the new season gets underway - joins from Newcastle Knights after four seasons in the NRL. Yet it's his performances for Salford Red Devils and Wigan Warriors prior to 2022 which fans in this hemisphere will remember most. And which we must hope he can replicate in the red vee. 

Hastings is a Steve Prescott Man Of Steel winner. That year - 2019 - he also led Salford to their only Super League Grand Final. He was on the losing side as Saints triumphed 23-6 at the start of their run of four Super League titles in a row. A year later he suffered the same fate at Wigan. Jack Welsby's glorious and frankly jaw-dropping late score lifted some of the Covid gloom but left Hastings empty handed once more.

Hastings possesses a number of qualities which have been sorely lacking for Saints in recent years. He can organise, has a good kicking game and the skills to take risks in possession and see them come off. It feels like an eternity since we've had the latter two in particular. 

Remember how excited some fans got about Moses Mbye's ability to hoist a bomb? And if you're looking for a 7 who didn't mind taking on the line and managed it quite effectively you might have to go back to 2013-14 and a pre-ankle knack Luke Walsh.

However there are caveats. Whenever a player comes to Super League from the NRL there are caveats. They wouldn't be coming if everything was going swimmingly down under. Hastings made only five appearances in his final season with the Knights. He was largely frozen out by Head Coach Adam O'Brien. 

The hope here is that players deemed not good enough for a poor NRL side can still be good enough for a top Super League team. That may ring true, but it might be fanciful to expect Salford era Hastings to rock up to the Brewdog. Yet we have often seen players considered past their best in the NRL become cult heroes in Super League. Lachlan Coote and Kevin Naiqama confounded early skepticism to become pivotal to Saints' success.

Hastings finds himself among our number now. But his acquisition looks to have crowded an already congested halfback group. Head Coach Paul Rowley might have a plan. And he won't have acquired an NRL half to see him sit in the stand. But with Jonny Lomax, Tristan Sailor, George Whitby, Jack Welsby and Harry Robertson all in the frame for two halfback and one fullback slot, there's some options on the table to discuss.

On the subject of players maybe not reaching earlier heights the capture of Hastings throws up questions about the future of Lomax. Fans have long been calling for the skipper to be replaced as his ageing, battered body prevents him from contributing to anything like his peak level. 

It almost happened last season. Paul Wellens benched his captain at Magic Weekend, only to view the 17-4 defeat to Leeds as evidence that he needed him. He was never nudged out of the 17 for the rest of the season. Meanwhile Whitby - who had been enjoying a run of form since being introduced to the side - did not feature in the first team after the middle of July. 

Lomax is 35 now and entering the final year of his contract. It's possible that new boss Rowley will be less sentimental about him than we might have expected his old teammate Wellens to be. It's equally possible that Lomax - a club legend weighed down with winners' medals in a 378-game Saints career - will be allowed to bow out on his own terms. There's precedent. Few would argue now that James Roby was relied on for a season or two longer than was good for anyone.

It's not only the older citizens who may be impacted. If Whitby seemed a little marginalised by Wellens last term he now looks even further away from a starting spot. But he's 19 years old. If he's good enough his time should still come. Another season on loan won't please him but it will get him valuable experience above youth or reserve level. Or Rowley might keep him around as cover and to gain experience occasionally while others rest for a week.

The counter argument to that is that he needs more first team experience now to prevent him from stagnating. After all, he had begun to establish himself until Wellens had a change of heart and sent him to Halifax. 

It's true that first team experience could help him learn and develop quicker. Yet those who fiercely advocate it are usually the most scathing when inexperience starts to get expensive for the team. There were howls for Lewis Dodd to be included long before Kristian Woolf let him loose. 

Twelve months later the idea that Dodd wasn't all that after all was ubiquitous among the fan base. Few tears were shed when he made the implausible move to South Sydney. Hastings' deal is only for one year at this stage. The timing could be perfect for Whitby if neither Hastings or Lomax are around in 2027.

It's reasonable to assume that a fair chunk of salary cap money is finding its way into the pocket of Tristan Sailor. He arrived from Brisbane at the start of 2025 amid some fanfare. But he's not convinced everyone of his value. I am personally an advocate for his inclusion in the side because he has pace, the one commodity we were pitifully short of throughout the Wellens tenure. But where does he fit in? 

He has never convinced as a genuine 6 and was shunted around by Wellens. He played a lot of fullback when Welsby was out injured, but was often shoehorned onto the wing when Saints' talisman returned. Rowley may be tempted to try him again at stand-off now that he'll be playing alongside a more rounded and experienced halfback. There are plenty of stand-offs who are predominantly ball runners, not ball handlers. We may no longer need Sailor to morph into Sean Long. 

Some would leave Sailor in the wilderness until his contract expires. Or try and get someone else in to replace him on the cap if not directly on the field. We could use a quality centre. Indeed there has been talk of Jake Averillo arriving from Woolf's Dolphins. To which it is tempting to respond that the 25 year-old is the wrong centre to sign from that club. But if that doesn't happen or Sailor is retained anyway he could still be an important figure for Rowley.

If a starting centre arrives then there will likely be a change of circumstances for Harry Robertson. The 21 year-old academy product could be moved to stand-off. Many people - among them highly decorated former Man of Steel turned Sky Sports pundit Sam Tomkins - believe stand-off is his best position. Tomkins went so far as to say that Robertson is 'wasted' at centre.

Ignoring the paranoid conspiracy theory that Wigan legend Tomkins might not want what's best for Saints, he's probably someone worth listening to. It takes one to know one, they say. A great stand-off, that is. But if Sailor stays and is given a shot at 6 and then Averillo turns up Robertson could yet be the odd man out. Yet if Averillo's arrival is dependent on Sailor's premature exit then Robertson becomes the prime candidate to play alongside Hastings in the halves. 

You can like these permutations or not but you would have to agree that the halfback combination looks like being stronger than it was when it was occupied by Mbye. A minor gripe might be that a one-year deal doesn't show massive faith in the new man. It's not evidence of long term thinking. But it may just be something which ultimately protects both parties. 

Quite what happens if none of Hastings, Lomax nor Sailor are around in 2027 is another question. The popular solution is to combine Robertson with Whitby in a youthful and dynamic partnership. But even they will need backup options. Saints could still find themselves halfback shopping again this time next year.

I think we have seen that there are risks to bringing in a 30 year-old who has lost his way in recent seasons, albeit in a tougher environment. But we have also covered the potential benefits. The options it gives to Rowley in the halves and the potential for those already at the club to improve. 

Many of us are already more optimistic than at this time last year. Or at any time during 2025 when only the real happy clappers insisted we could compete with the top sides.

What do you think of the acquisition of Hastings? Does an exciting new season await or is it an ex-Salford character too far. Let me know...