Hull KR 52 Saints 10 - Tesco Bag Defence

It was hard not to cringe as Saints suffered a humiliating, reality-checking 52-10 shellacking at Hull KR on Friday night (March 27).

Despite an injury list longer than Joey Barton's charge sheet, Paul Rowley's side had been on a good run of form. They'd won five games in a row in all competitions since losing their opening Super League game at Warrington in mid-February. But that all came crashing down as the champions clicked into top gear following a sluggish start to their league campaign. Saints had no answers. It was ugly.

George Delaney's handling error on the first play of the game undeniably set the tone. It shouldn't have. There were only seconds on the clock. But things seemed to get worse from there. Like a rot had already set in. Saints - admittedly depleted through injuries and the suspension of Kyle Feldt - never really recovered.

Joe Shorrocks and Daryl Clark returned but boss Paul Rowley was still without several key men. Shorrocks was available again after a two-game suspension while Clark had sat out last week's 30-16 win at Toulouse due to concussion protocols. But joining Feldt on the absentee list were Jack Welsby, Nene McDonald, Jonny Lomax, Alex Walmsley, Matty Lees, Curtis Sironen, Jacob Host, George Whitby and Jake Burns. 

Still, there was enough quality in the Saints 17 to be competitive. It feels naive now but many of us were further encouraged by Rovers' Super League form in the early part of 2026. The champions had won only one league game out of four prior to this - a 32-6 win at bottom of the table Huddersfield Giants. This should have been a contest.

Although Clark was available, Rowley took the decision to keep Jake Wingfield in the starting nine role. Hindsight genius alert - but we're in the midst of an injury crisis. If you get your international hooker back you should probably get him on the field sooner rather than later. Wingfield covers most pack positions - in a fashion - and is therefore a bench option more than he is a starter. It could just have been a case of trying to manage Clark's minutes. But if there was any doubt around the ex-Warrington man's health or fitness he shouldn't have been there at all. 

The manner in which Saints were dominated is what is truly alarming. Consider some of these stats. David Klemmer - two carries for seven metres; Shorrocks - seven carries for 14 metres; Delaney - six carries for 24 metres; Agnatius Paasi - five carries for 30 metres. 

There are more of these abject tales of woe. On the face of it they look like pathetic, unacceptable efforts. And they are. But they are also partly explained by the fact that Saints had very little possession throughout. And that's defensive. It stems from an almost total inability to get the ball back from the opponent.

Rowley lamented his side's defensive problems in his post match interview. He acknowledged that Saints were beaten in the contact more often than not. That allows opponents - particularly those good enough to currently hold all three domestic trophies and the World Club Challenge - to roll down the field too easily.

But it may have helped if - during the rare occasions when Saints held possession - they had stood a little deeper to counter the Robins' line speed. The attack always looked flat even if there are those who will insist that this was down to Rovers standing offside at the play-the-ball. Without getting the tape measure out the referee wasn't calling it even if it was offside. In that situation you need to make an adjustment.  With all this it is no surprise that Saints had to wait 14 minutes for their first play-the-ball in Rovers territory. 

The pressure on the defence led to some bewildering decision making. Deon Cross and Tristan Sailor gave up tries through trying to stop what they thought might happen rather than what was actually happening. Sailor's decision to stand off Joe Burgess as the winger tore down the sideline was particularly perplexing. 

It was possible - likely even - that he would have passed to Owen Gildart on his inside if Sailor had confronted him. But surely you make him make that pass? The man with the ball is the biggest threat. Particularly if he's the fastest player on the field. Cross took a similar decision which allowed Tyrone May to slice through and create a score for Jez Litten. 

Saints' inability to stop runners was a theme all night. Wearing their retro 1996 blue and white striped shirts they looked like Tesco carrier bags and defended with a similar resilience. Yet they didn't need to be defending to take a firearm to their own hooves. The game was over by the time Matt Whitley's wild pass from dummy half could only be parried by Jackson Hastings. 

But as James Batchelor picked up the scraps and ambled in for another try it summed up the entire slapstick farce. As did the reaction of one Saints fan, captured by the Sky Sports cameras looking very glum. His only nod to acknowledging his screen time was lewd gestures. It wasn't a good moment to be on TV.

Not wishing to go overboard and declare a full blown crisis but the performance does raise questions about squad depth. Any pack would be weakened by the absence of Walmsley and Lees while any side would also miss Welsby. Recent revisionist assessments of the fullback on social media don't change the fact that he's one of the best players in the competition. 

Feldt splits opinion in terms of his work rate but is a prolific try scorer. He has 30 in 24 Saints appearances. His prowess under the high ball suggests he may have prevented Burgess' first try from a cross-field kick. Which if nothing else might have calmed the troops after the fraught start provided by Delaney's error. 

Jacob Host and Curtis Sironen have great experience and are reliable if not always spectacular. Saints also lost Mark Percival who was spared having to re-emerge for the second half with the game already gone. I haven't even considered the impact of the absences of Lomax, McDonald or Lees. There were a lot of very useful performers unavailable to Rowley. 

But are the back-ups good enough? In Cross, McDonald, Hastings, Shorrocks and Wright we have recruited a lot of players with Salford Red Devils on their CV. Hastings probably gets a pass because he moved on to prove himself elsewhere, and his time at the AJ Bell was under the leadership of Ian Watson rather than Rowley. But there's an air of Rowley having got the band back together with the others. On this night the band was absolutely honking. I'm not sure we have as much depth as we thought if this evidence is anything to go by.

If we're looking at positives to take it's what General Melchett would have called a barren, featureless desert. Perhaps the only one is the brief impact made by Noah Stephens. He showed his promise when he crashed through Mikey Lewis before aiming a perfect pass for Dagnall to score one of Saints' two tries on the night. The other was scored by Wright, who like Feldt doesn't look like a world beater but has an impressive early try scoring record. He has managed five tries in just 11 appearances, three of those this term.

Beyond any of this, what is there? Well, we didn't concede 60. On a serious note there's a good case that this kind of defensive meltdown wouldn't have happened under Wellens. They were a hard watch but defence kept them in most contests. And it's not as if Rowley's more open style led to the breaking of the dam. 

It was that lack of physicality and poor defensive decision making which helped Rovers past the half century. And it hasn't done Saints any favours in the points difference column. We have seen before how playoff places can rest on such things. 

And it wouldn't kill us to give KR some credit for their performance. They have won all the trophies available to them in the last 12 months for a reason. This was a return to form for them. They played fast, smart open rugby league but also dominated defensively. If head coach Willie Peters' impending departure at the end of the year doesn't prove too much of a distraction they will challenge for all the major honours again in 2026. 

There's no let up as we enter the Easter weekend. Our traditional Good Friday meeting with Wigan is the next assignment. They were unbeaten until they somehow managed to lose at home to previously unbeaten Huddersfield Giants last time out. That result offers us a modicum of hope but we thought that about Rovers' form coming into this week. The reality is that a repeat of the flaws which infested this performance will translate to another defeat.

Feldt will not be back as he serves the final game of his ban, but Whitby and Burns have a chance to be available again following concussion protocols. Saints may sweat on the availability of Percival but the other absentees aren't coming back in time. A similar 17 will be relied upon to get the job done. 

Sitting fifth after the most recent fixtures. Both Leeds and Wakefield leapfrogged Saints thanks to wins over York and Warrington respectively. But it is hardly time to panic. There are 21 regular season games left. That starts with the local rivals. A tough matchup on the back of a thrashing. But that may prove to be an aberration by the end of the campaign. 

A little less cringe is the first request...

Saints 26 Bradford Bulls 22 - Saints Hold On - For Now

That was exciting. A little too exciting, maybe. 

It's not as if we weren't warned that Bradford Bulls would be competitive in Super League. Our club owner told us so, prematurely declaring that the decision to expand to 14 teams has been vindicated by the start made by Bradford, York and Toulouse. All have won two of their first four games in the top flight. 

But I think Mr McManus has gone a little bit early on this one. Let's see where those clubs are at the end of the season. By then injuries, suspensions and the sheer volume of higher intensity games than they've been used to are likely to have taken effect. For now, his view is supported by the events of this one.

If our players had seen the montage of 1996 highlights on the big screen before the game it may have inspired a stronger performance. To my mind watching Keiron Cunningham ruin the league, Danny Arnold scoring a Good Friday hat-trick and Tommy Martyn, Bobbie Goulding, Alan Hunte and Anthony Sullivan working their magic was a lot more entertaining than the lights show which preceded the last home game.

It's 30 years since that team clinched the inaugural Super League crown. It was a first title since 1975 and therefore a first during my lifetime. It followed on from a first Challenge Cup win since 1976. Bradford were the Wembley opponents in that 1996 final, an absolute epic in which Saints came back from a 14-point deficit to triumph. They came back out of a 12-point hole in this one but somehow it didn't quite have the same vibe. 

We may look like that side with the retro shirt, but Saints' 2026  side is still very much a work in progress. Fortunately this vintage operates within different parameters. In 1996 we won the league by a single point. There's no need to finish top now. Head coach Paul Rowley just has to steer the ship into the top six to keep the Grand Final dream alive. But after the last two seasons of relative mediocrity and a mixed start to this campaign it remains a dream for now.

What we can say about this side is that it has a different intent than the one led previously by Paul Wellens or even those of Kristian Woolf before him. Rowley is not so wedded to the modern conservatism that is eating the game alive. Perceived wisdom says that if you receive the opening kickoff you get through your set and boot the ball down the field. Flip the field position. 

So it was a surprise to see Saints shift the ball out to the right edge on the very first play. The problem was that when he received the ball in a bit of space Kyle Feldt didn't have anything like the pace to get around his opposite number Ethan Ryan. He's just not that sort of winger, but to be fair to him not many around the league are these days because of that tactical shift. 

I was going to call it evolution but that implies progress. It's regression for me even if it's successful. I just don't want to win that way. The game is screaming for a champion team to emerge playing flair rugby. Then others will copy. Why can't that be Saints? It may take a little time but at least we'll be entertained if we fall short. 

Snippets like the opening play here seem to suggest that Rowley gets it. That he's also sick of five drives and a kick. And even if shifting it didn't produce the spectacular on this occasion it had the Bulls scrambling early when they would ordinarily expect to only have to defend the middle of the field. 

Not to pick on him, but Feldt was also a little slow to react to Rowan Milnes' kick in behind the defence which opened Bradford's try scoring account. By then Saints were already on the board through Shane Wright's second try in as many games and his fourth in just his eighth appearance for the club. Another assist for Jackson Hastings. Although George Whitby made a surprise return to the starting 13, as Harry Robertson was sent back to the bench, Hastings remained the dominant half.  

This was one of Whitby's more anonymous performances. But that isn't necessarily a criticism. In his previous appearances he's had the onus placed on him to lead the team around the park. That responsibility currently falls on Hastings. So far we have seen little evidence of Whitby as a running 6 or 7 able to work off a lead half in the way that Sean Long did when he arrived to find Bobbie Goulding still entrenched at 7. 

It's still valuable experience for the youngster even if it's hard to make the case that it should happen at the expense of Robertson's game time. At this point it's still more plausible to me that Robertson becomes a star of the league than it is Whitby. Robertson is already on his way there, with comparisons to Jack Welsby not outrageous. Like Welsby before him, Robertson has handled every first team challenge thrown at him, encompassing a number of different roles. He's a keeper. Whitby is still a maybe.

Last week I asked for more from David Klemmer and we got it. The former Newcastle Knights man rather trundles in with the ball but he did so to the tune of 125 metres. That was so important in the context of the absence of Alex Walmsley who has a foot injury. Daryl Clark was the only other Saints forward to break 100 metres but the real problem up front is a deepening injury crisis. The word is that it's so bad that we may have to recall Agnatius Paasi from his loan at Salford. 

Alongside Walmsley and skipper Matty Lees, Saints have now lost Jacob Host and George Delaney. Host has suffered a broken leg in what looked suspiciously like a disgraceful hip drop by Loghan Lewis. The former South Sydney Rabbitohs man has been generally used for impact off the bench but now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Lewis will serve a two-game suspension. 

There are psychological challenges to that when you have flown half the way around the world to do a job that you suddenly won't be able to. That's before you start worrying about the hard yards involved with rehab. I am sure he will get the full support of the club and that we will see him in a Saints shirt again soon. In the meantime it must be especially galling to be placed in that situation by the recklessness of a fellow professional. You could tell all was not well when you saw him tapping his foot on the turf in what looked a mixture of agony and frustration. It was a sad moment.

The one knock on Klemmer concerned a loss of discipline. A quarter of the way into proceedings he was invited to take a 10-minute rest after hitting Bulls hooker Andy Ackers in the head with a shoulder. Video referee Tom Grant saw it as nothing more than a yellow which was perhaps fortunate, particularly in the context of the growing injury list in the pack. That crisis isn't helped by a two-game suspension for Joe Shorrocks. Step forward Agnatius.

Shorrocks was yellow carded for an horrific cannonball tackle on Ed Chamberlain. The Bulls back rower was already held up by two Saints defenders when Shorrocks decided to pad his tackling stats by joining in as third man. Only he did so with a reckless cannonball tackle which I would rather Mr Shorrocks didn't bring here from his grubby rugby league education at Wigan. 

But that happened late in the game. The immediate aftermath of Klemmer's indiscretion cost eight points on the scoreboard. First Milnes converted the resultant penalty and then Connor Wynne got over for the first of his two tries on the night. As the ball was shifted left to right by the Bulls Saints just ran out of numbers to defend with. It was a quick illustration of the potential cost of ill discipline. 

Unfortunately it isn't just the pack where injuries are having an effect. We were already without Welsby and Jonny Lomax so losing Nene McDonald after barely 20 minutes didn't help. Even if it did grant my wish of getting Robertson off the bench and on to the field. That's not the way I would have chosen for it to happen. It's not the first time McDonald has started but failed to finish a game in his early Saints career. 

Is this repeated bad luck or - as seems more likely - is there an underlying issue which keeps making an unwanted appearance? I am inclined to suggest that if he isn't fit then he shouldn't be risked. He has a connection with Rowley from Salford, so it is easy to see why the coach has such belief in him. 

But from a Saints perspective he's yet to make himself indispensable. Especially now that Robertson, Deon Cross, Owen Dagnall and Mark Percival offer depth at centre. Although it's not impossible that the latter may be needed in the back row next week. The new Kallum Watkins, strike centre turned workhorse. 

Percival looked on his way out a week ago - with Huddersfield favourites to sign him - but now he has a deal to keep him at Saints until the end of 2027. He was in the 21 for this one but missed out on the match-day 17. Which makes you wonder how fit he is.

Matt Whitley can certainly expect more game time in the back row at Castleford in the cup next week. Certainly more than the 11 minutes he was afforded here. Whatever your thoughts on the ex-Widnes man it's a head scratcher when you consider that we had lost Host and Delaney by this point as well as McDonald. Such was the chaos perhaps Rowley was trying to save interchanges for the back end of the game. 

I would argue that Whitley isn't someone who fatigues easily and needs to be protected. He could have played longer. But when you see your squad being decimated before your eyes perhaps over protection is understandable. There are things to think about beyond this game.

The incident which has robbed us of Delaney's presence next week arguably won us this game. The young prop was hit in the head by Bulls interchange forward Eliot Peposhi who - after a long deliberation from Grant - was issued with a straight red card. He could have little to complain about. If the Bulls are smart they'll accept his three-game ban and move on.

By then Saints were in the middle of a purple patch which felt almost like a dissociative experience when compared to the rest of the performance. They had slipped 16-4 behind, but hit back through Curtis Sironen and Tristan Sailor before Peposhi's discipline left him. With only 12 Bulls on the field Saints were able to create the space for Feldt to cross in the south east corner of the stadium. His 29th try in 23 Saints appearances. That's a Newlove-esque strike rate but I think most would agree that it has been achieved in a slightly different manner. But they all count. 

Then came Shorrocks' head loss. He was fortunate not to be sent off but with only 15 minutes left he was already missing a large chunk of what time remained. There have been suggestions that he was allowed to return early. I doubt any of us in the stands had the stopwatch on it so it will be interesting to see if anything further develops there.

Shorrocks' departure gave Kurt Haggerty's men new life. Andy Ackers fought his way over to put them back in front at 22-20. It fell to Cross to rescue his side, fighting his way over on the left. Even with Hastings' conversion the last few minutes were nervy. Saints held just a four-point lead at 26-22. They managed to hold on as Joe Mellor broke free but his speculative kick was swept up by Sailor.

The win leaves Saints fourth in the table as the Super League takes a break for next week's Challenge Cup action. Bradford slip out of the top four down to fifth, but can be relatively pleased. Both with the way they have started the campaign with a couple of wins from four outings and at having pushed Saints so hard at the Brewdog.

Looking at next week Noah Stephens has suddenly become an important figure. The youngster made his first appearance of the season here. He ripped off 94 metres and was named as player of the match by the sponsors. He will need to build on that form with Lees, Walmsley, Delaney, Host and Shorrocks now unavailable. Retaining Paasi for this season suggests they must be willing to use him when the need arises. The need has arisen. Jake Wingfield also looks certain to feature for the first time since August. 

Castleford have only won one from their first four but with the Saints pack so horrifically butchered it's not exactly a bye. 

It could be exciting. A little bit too exciting.

Saints v Bradford Bulls - The Bulls Awaken (a little bit)

It'll be just like old times as Bradford Bulls visit the Brewdog Stadium on Saturday night (March 7).

On the day Mario Goetze scored the only goal to help Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup final, the Bulls made their last league appearance at The Stadium Formerly Known As Langtree Park. They were sent packing following a 46-22 defeat. Recently departed head coach Paul Wellens scored two of his 231 tries for Saints. Tommy Makinson, Mark Percival, Adam Swift, Lance Hohaia, James Roby and Mose Masoe also crossed. 

It was also the last year that Super League had 14 teams. The Bulls and London Broncos were marooned at the bottom as it became evident that the player pool couldn't take the strain. Twelfth-placed Wakefield Trinity finished 11 points better off than the Bulls while the hapless Broncos only managed one league win all season. The player pool still isn't strong enough for 14 teams but we have gone and done it anyway. Hence the return of the Bulls to the top flight. I should make it clear that this has nothing to do with Nigel Wood being restored as RFL chairman in the offseason. Right? Right...?

In Bradford's previous incarnation as a successful Super League club they made serious waves. They won four of the first 10 Super League titles and faced Saints in two other Grand Finals and three Challenge Cup finals. These teams were sick of the sight of each other. Not having faced them for so long feels weird for anyone old enough to remember those late 90s-early 2000s battles. 

The two coaches have more recent history. Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty assisted Saints boss Paul Rowley at Salford for four seasons. He was all set to take over from Rowley until the Red Devils endured a Bearings Bank level financial meltdown. Then the opportunity to take over the Bulls cropped up. His boyhood club. A giant that is not so much sleeping as utterly comatose. Although the son of Saints cult hero Roy Haggerty grew up within a spent firework's throw of this writer, it was Bullmania that caught his attention. 

Both teams will be fairly happy with how they have started 2026. Saints and the Bulls sit in the top four having won two of their three games so far. All of which has sparked much nostalgia with Bulls' peak-era powerhouses Leeds and Wigan also in that leading group. Haggerty's men have enjoyed victories over both French sides while going down 27-20 to Hull FC. 

Meanwhile Saints started with defeat at Warrington but have since earned wins over Leigh Leopards and Catalans Dragons. The Leigh win removed a monkey from Saints' back. They had failed to beat Adrian Lam's side in 2025. Meanwhile, the Dragons' current lineup isn't the best we've ever seen but any time you can leave Perpignan with a 32-point margin of victory it's a satisfying outcome. 

Two wins out of three is a respectable but not awe inspiring start for Saints. After the drudgery of the last two seasons - and with a new coach and an influx of new players - expectations have been revived. If they ever went away. The playoffs are a minimum requirement for the only club that has never missed them in the Super League era. But if Rowley's side scrape in it will be viewed as stagnation. More of what we have seen the last two years. That's why beating Leigh feels significant even this early in the season. It's progress but it's essential that it's built on. You sense there's a hunger and a will to do that. But saying it, wanting it and doing it are all different things.

The mission isn't helped by some early season injury concerns. Captain Matty Lees has been out since sustaining a knee injury at Workington, Jack Welsby didn't finish the Super League opener at Warrington before dislocating his shoulder and Jonny Lomax fractured an arm in the early minutes of that home win over Leigh. Now you can add Alex Walmsley to the absentee list owing to a foot injury. The veteran prop was highly influential in breaking the stubborn resistance of the Dragons last week but we now won't see him for around six weeks.

Without Walmsley others will need to step up. George Delaney went very well at Catalans and may get a chance to shine from the start. David Klemmer is currently averaging around 73 metres per game and 22 tackles. Those aren't quite the numbers you'd expect from a former Kangaroo playing in a league constantly denigrated by everyone from Australian pundits to English NRL aficionados. Either Super League isn't as far away from the NRL as everyone says or the ex-Newcastle Knight needs a bit more time to acclimatise. 

Noah Stephens is at the opposite end of his career to Klemmer. Yes he's still a little raw but he should be getting an opportunity with Lees and Walmsley out and Agnatius Paasi shuttled out on loan to Salford this week. Paasi. The new Konrad Hurrell. Given a new deal to the almost audible head scratching of all and sundry, before being hidden away in the hope that we'll forget about this egregious profligacy. Jake Wingfield hasn't featured since August but is in contention again. But selecting him ahead of Stephens - if both are fully fit - would be regressive in my opinion. And would you put the house on Wingfield being fully fit anyway?

It seems insane to say it, but suddenly there is a surplus of options in the backs now that a new deal has been agreed for Mark Percival to stay. The highly decorated centre was apparently on the verge of joining Huddersfield Giants but will now be at his only club until at least the end of 2027. He's also fit enough to be in this week's squad. I'm not sure I would have taken the same decision on his future or that I would select him for this game. But Rowley just might.

If he does then someone has to make way. The leading candidate for me is Lewis Murphy. But it could be Deon Cross. Whoever misses, out the inclusion of Percival appears to push Owen Dagnall further away from a first team return. He'll still only be 22 by the end of Percival's new deal but it's easy to see his development stalling in the meantime. He's probably too good to be sitting around idly already. Another two seasons of that feels as wasteful as whatever chunk of cash has been spent keeping Paasi around. 

Harry Robertson and Nene McDonald feel like certain starters when fit. But with Welsby out one of them will have to operate at fullback. At present you would trust both more as runners in that position than as passing playmakers. Which increases the burden on Jackson Hastings and Tristan Sailor in the halves. 

A quick look at the Bulls squad shows a potential return to St Helens for Waqa Blake. The former Parramatta Eel had one of the most underwhelming spells of any NRL import when he spent 2024 with Saints. His inability to score a try on one infamous occasion at Leigh will live with many fans for a long time. But he's back with a new hairdo and a bit of form. He has four tries in his first three Super League outings with the Bulls. He managed 11 in 24 for Saints. But it wasn't that which disappointed. It was his often disinterested body language coupled with reports of his being...well...socially distracted. 

They may have been fast tracked back into the top flight but the Bulls are not just a collection of Championship level players. They have Super League experience in their ranks in Andy Ackers, Joe Mellor, Ed Chamberlain and Ethan Ryan among others. Ryan Sutton and Caleb Aekins both turned out for Canberra Raiders, while centre Esan Marsters has almost 100 NRL appearances across spells with three clubs.

This one might not match the intensity or quality of those early Super League and Challenge Cup meetings. Bradford aren't expected to compete at the top in their first season back in the big time. And anyway it's impossible to have a Wide To West moment in Round 4, or anything to match the out and out joy of Sean Long's 2002 Grand Final winning drop goal. 

But after 14 years it takes on a significance of its own.