Following a surprise defeat at Wakefield a fortnight ago Saints have gone ballistic in wins over Huddersfield Giants and Salford Red Devils since. They have scored 126 points across those two wins and conceded only 14. Losing to Wakefield made them very, very cross indeed. The Dragons can only hope that they have calmed down, otherwise another hefty stack of points looks on the cards for Justin Holbrook’s men.
Meanwhile the French side have been setting club records for hopelessness in 2018. Steve McNamara’s hotch-potch outfit had just two wins from their first 11 outings in Super League this year before inexplicably edging out Hull FC at home on Saturday. Rumours that the Dragons hierarchy are to launch an inquiry into how their one-point victory over the Challenge Cup holders could have happened are unconfirmed, but you can bet on the men from the Stade Brutus Gilbert to put that right by folding in a big fat heap in St.Helens this week. And why not, as a former film critic used to say? If the worst happens and they finish bottom of Super League and fail to save their collective skin in the Qualifiers the game’s ravenous need for a team outside of that awful phrase ‘the heartlands’ will likely earn them a reprieve.
Just to laugh a little louder at their opponents Saints have taken the luxury of recalling both James Roby and Adam Swift to their 19-man squad. Roby has missed the last three games with a rib injury while Swift has been out since damaging a shoulder at Hull KR at the end of March. Matty Lees will serve the first of a two-game suspension incurred for his reckless swipe at Salford’s Niall Evalds, with Matty Costello the other man to miss out from last week’s selection.
Note then that the name of Ben Barba is included. There really is no respite for the Dragons, is there? Not on the field at any rate. Barba went down dramatically late on against the Red Devils having spent much of the rest of the game carving Ian Watson’s side open. The sight of the league’s best player being placed on a stretcher with a brace around his neck was an unnerving one, but Barba has been cleared of any serious injury and is in contention to feature. If there is any doubt about Barba’s fitness he should probably have a week off. The same goes for Roby despite his return to the fold. If this Saints side can win at Salford by 50 points without Roby and with 12 men following Lees’ dismissal, it will have more than enough to see off what is still for this writer the worst side in the competition. Giants fans, don’t write in.
Swift’s return opens up the opportunity of resting Barba and leaving the preferred halfback partnership of Jonny Lomax and Danny Richardson unaltered. Tommy Makinson is a more than able fullback and could deputise there allowing Swift to play on the wing opposite Regan Grace. Ryan Morgan and Mark Percival should be the starting centres.
With Lees out the prop rotation will be limited to Kyle Amor, Luke Douglas, Luke Thompson and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, while coach Holbrook must decide whether to use Roby or else take pity on the visitors and offer them a sporting chance by persisting with the combination of Matty Smith and Theo Fages operating at hooker. Jon Wilkin, Zeb Taia and Dominique Peyroux will make up the back row which should leave Morgan Knowles on the bench along with one of Fages or Smith and two of the four props.
Catalans preparations for the visit of Hull FC were hit by the news that Luke Walsh was forced to retire through injury. The former Saint could not come back from yet more ankle damage sustained earlier this season and bows out at the age of just 30. McNamara brought in former Leigh man Josh Drinkwater as a replacement and he had a very impressive debut in guiding the Dragons to that unexpected win over Lee Radford’s side. Drinkwater will again be the man pulling the strings for the Dragons alongside another former Centurion Samisoni Langi, while in the backs Tony Gigot, David Mead, Brayden Williame and Jodie Broughton offer various levels of pace, power and pure comedy.
Up front the main men are moustachioed bad-boy Greg Bird and the ageless trio of Remi Casty, Louis Anderson and Sam Moa. Ex-Wigan head-hunter Mickey Mac McIlorum will swing from the hip as ever fresh from his amusing spat with Hull FC irritant Jake Connor, while the likes of Benjamin Julien, Jason Baitieri and Julian Bousquet have far more potential than their form this year suggests. If they get it right on the day they could be a real handful. They just won’t. Think Tiger Woods soaring back to his major-hoovering best. It could happen one day but it is unlikely, and it certainly won’t be this week.
The last meeting between these two sides was in Round 2 in Perpignan when Saints scored very early but were made to fight all the way for a 21-12 win Yet the Dragons travel rather less successfully, which is saying something given the nature of their dire home record this term. It would be a seismic shock on the scale of Theresa May actually taking responsibility for something she did eight years ago if the Dragons got anywhere near Saints on their own turf.
Squads;
St Helens;
1. Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Ryan Morgan, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Adam Swift, 6. Theo Fages, 7. Matty Smith, 9. James Roby, 10. Kyle Amor, 11. Zeb Taia, 12. Jon Wilkin, 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 14. Luke Douglas, 15. Morgan Knowles, 16. Luke Thompson, 17. Dom Peyroux, 18. Danny Richardson, 19. Regan Grace, 23. Ben Barba.
Catalans Dragons;
2. Jodie Broughton, 3. Iain Thornley, 4. Brayden Wiliame, 6. Samisoni Langi, 8. Rémi Casty, 10. Sam Moa, 11. Louis Anderson, 12. Benjamin Garcia, 13. Greg Bird, 14. Julian Bousquet, 16. Vincent Duport, 17. Jason Baitieri, 19. Michael McIlorum, 20. Lewis Tierney, 21. Benjamin Jullien, 23. Antoni Maria, 24. Alrix Da Costa, 31. Tony Gigot, 33. Josh Drinkwater.
Referee: Robert Hicks
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