Two sides with rather more pressing engagements on their minds meet on Friday night (September 28, kick-off 7.45pm) as Saints host Castleford in the final Super 8s game.
The pair have long since guaranteed their places in next week’s semi-finals and at this stage their opponents for those games are also known. Saints will host Warrington, fresh from handing Steve Price’s side their backsides at the Haliwell Jones Stadium last time out. Meanwhile Castleford will attempt to do the whole of the western world a favour by knocking Wigan out of the running for what would be a reflex-gag-triggering third title in five years. They must be stopped.
First up though is what will no doubt be billed another phoney war as the Tigers come to town. Saints coach Justin Holbrook surprised everyone last week by sending his team out with a playoff mentality just as everyone was starting to think that both sides would trot through the motions. This week he has chosen to rest a few of his stars as the preparation for the rematch with Warrington continues.
Chief among these is Jonny Lomax. The headgear-adorning stand-off and some time fullback has been one of Saints best performers in a year which we should not forget has already yielded one piece of silverware. The League Leaders Shield was secured a fortnight ago even if you wouldn’t know it from the look on the players’ faces at the end of the Hull FC win which clinched it. It was Saints eighth League Leaders Shield since the wholly underwhelming circular gong was introduced. Though he featured in many of those successes it’s still somehow hard to believe that Lomax has been around long enough to qualify for a testimonial by the RFL but that’s exactly where we are. Having made his debut in 2009 next season will see local boy Lomax reach the not inconsiderate milestone of 10 years service with Saints. He’ll get the opportunity to celebrate that news with his feet up.
As will Luke Thompson who picked up the Player Of The Year, the Players’ Player Of The Year and the Fans Player Of The Year awards at the club’s annual shindig earlier this week. Thompson has been phenomenal for Saints this year particular since the injury to Alex Walmsley placed huge pressure on the 23-year-old’s shoulders. Despite their fairly serene journey to the top of the Super League table the Saints pack has been challenged at times and occasionally clobbered. Thompson is just about the only one alongside the robotic James Roby who has stood up on a consistent basis. He’ll be sorely missed this week but if the rest leaves him at full throttle for next week it will have been worth it. Thompson has gone from a player with potential to a key performer in a relatively short space of time.
Roby is in that category of player too. The players who at their best can take a game away from almost any opponent by not only their ability but their sheer endless will to get the job done. Unlike Thompson, Roby needs this game having been out of the side through injury since the defeat to Wigan at the end of August. This could be the warm-up he needs to be at his absolute maximum level when it will matter most. He will lead a pack that is likely to again feature Luke Douglas and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook with Jack Ashworth, Matty Lees and Kyle Amor all fighting for game time too. Behind them Jon Wilkin is left out but Dominique Peyroux’s return to action at Warrington was incredibly timely with the knockout games around the corner. James Bentley has been superb in his first two Super League appearances for Saints and deserves another chance to stake his claim for a semi-final spot. Zeb Taia and Morgan Knowles should feature and Jake Spedding is recalled after he was left out for the trip to Warrington.
With Lomax out Matty Costello is drafted back into the 19 and will compete for a centre spot alongside Mark Percival and Ryan Morgan. The latter should play if possible, having only recently returned from another head injury. He was outstanding at Warrington and should be given the chance to build on that form. His defensive qualities in particular will be needed when the heat is turned up over the next couple of weeks. Lomax’s starting six role will likely be filled by Theo Fages with Ben Barba lining up at one behind the centres and the wing pair of Tommy Makinson and Regan Grace. Danny Richardson has seen Matty Smith off now to the extent that the former Wigan man’s third departure from Saints was officially announced last week. It will be interesting to see if the Fages/Richardson partnership gets a chance to gel having helped Saints rack up plenty of points during the 2017 season before the arrival of Barba. Yet whatever they do, you get the sense that Lomax will be inserted straight back into the halves so long as Barba is fit to play fullback.
As for Barba, it was finally announced this week that the Australian star will join North Queensland Cowboys for the start of the 2019 season. At a fans forum on Wednesday Eamonn McManus reiterated what Holbrook has been telling us for a while, that Barba has been carrying injuries for around the last 10 weeks, hence the dip in his form. The fact that his hypnotic return to form arrived just after the finalising of his NRL deal may or may not be a coincidence. If contract negotiations have some kind of healing power I might try it myself. I’ll just pop in and ask the boss for a raise on Monday morning and see what happens. It has to be better than travelling to Lourdes, sitting in a freezing cold bath and jabbering away under your breath at an alleged virgin. However it came to pass, Barba’s resurgence against the Wolves was a joy to watch and the kind of display that, if he can replicate it a couple more times before he leaves, will bring home the goods.
Our visitors are no doubt equally keen to get this one out of the way. Avoiding injuries and maximising preparation for next week are the goals for all four sides left in now. Tigers boss Daryl Powell has made four changes to his squad with that in mind. Michael Shenton won’t play on the ground where he wore the red vee with varying degrees of success at the start of the decade, while try machine Greg Eden is left out along with England forward Mike McMeeken and Junior Moors. Joe Wardle, Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e, Lewis Peachey and another former Saint Jamie Ellis come in to the 19 which again includes England half Luke Gale as he continues his return to full fitness. His battle with Richardson should be an intriguing one. Richardson has scored points in Saints last 32 games, currently the longest scoring streak in Super League.
Without Eden Greg Minikin is the star turn on the wing, with James Clare, Jake Webster and Peter Mata’utia likely to feature along the backline. Gale could be joined in the halves by either Jake Trueman who has made great strides in 2018 or by the rather more mature presence of Ben Roberts, by turns brilliant and perplexing. Though McMeeken and Moors do not feature the pack still includes Paul McShane, one of the better number nines in Super League this year, as well as former Hull FC prop Liam Watts, Jesse Sene-Lefao, Grant Millington and Adam Milner. It's a mobile unit with good hands which has allowed Castleford to play some of the more attractive rugby league on show over the last two seasons.
Castleford have not won in the town of St.Helens since 1992 when they recorded a 12-8 victory at Knowsley Road in the Regal Trophy. For their last league win at Saints you have to go back to a 29-16 win in 1990. They have yet to win at the stadium I like to call Langtree Park since its opening in 2012, in which time they have suffered nine straight defeats. That run includes a 46-6 pummelling on the opening day of this season when the Tigers came in as League Leaders Shield winners from 2017. That was the first of three meetings between the sides so far in 2018. Saints won 40-18 at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle at the end of May, that after a 36-18 win at the same venue just 12 days earlier in the Challenge Cup.
So will this be the phoney war that last week’s visit to Warrington was going to be before Mike Cooper introduced Bentley’s head to his forearm? Or will Castleford adopt the same approach as both Saints and Warrington from a week ago and fly in knowing that this is exactly the right time to show the other contenders that you have hit form? Cas have lost just one of their Super 8s games in 2018 when they went down 24-22 to Wigan in their opener and have won eight out of their last 10 in Super League all told. They have ratcheted up their performance levels as we have got closer to the endgame which is what winning Grand Finals in a playoff system is all about. It will be interesting to see how much desire they have to keep that winning run going, and whether their squad goes as deep as Saints’ given the men that both coaches have chosen to do without.
I don’t think Saints can help themselves now. Even with star names out those who will come in will be desperate to show that they can be relied upon in the knockout games if needed. Their slightly greater depth allied to their home advantage should just about see them home.
Squads;
St Helens;
2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Ryan Morgan, 4. Mark Percival, 6. Theo Fages, 9. James Roby, 10. Kyle Amor, 11. Zeb Taia, 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 14. Luke Douglas, 15. Morgan Knowles, 17. Dom Peyroux, 18. Danny Richardson, 19. Regan Grace, 20. Matty Lees, 21. Jack Ashworth, 22. Jake Spedding, 23. Ben Barba, 24. James Bentley, 30. Matty Costello.
Castleford Tigers;
1. Ben Roberts, 2. Greg Minikin, 3. Jake Webster, 6. Jamie Ellis, 7. Luke Gale, 9. Paul McShane, 10. Grant Millington, 11. Oliver Holmes, 13. Adam Milner, 14. Nathan Massey, 15. Jesse Sene-Lefao, 16. Joe Wardle, 21. Jake Trueman, 23. Mitch Clark, 25. Will Maher, 26. James Clare, 32. Liam Watts, 34. Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e, 36. Peter Mata’utia.
Referee: Scott Mikalauskas
5 Talking Points From Warrington 14 Saints 34
This was no phoney war
There has been a lot of talk this year about how the Super 8s throw up too many dead rubbers. So much so that the Super League clubs drew up a plan for immediate change last week. That brought about the improvements they wanted even if the methodology was highly questionable.
Once the new structure was voted through everyone seemed to agree that the Super 8s was a bunch of nonsense after all. So when Wigan's win over Huddersfield on Thursday rubber stamped the semi-final match-ups with most teams still having two games to play many people would have been happy to climb into Bill and Ted's phone box and skip the next couple of weeks. In particular, Saints visit to Warrington was expected to be a phoney war with neither side thought likely to put too much on the line ahead of their last four meeting on October 4. That prediction turned out to be about as accurate as my tips on Wakefield on the WA12 Rugby League Show. Tune in on Monday at 6.00 for another chance to laugh at my hapless inability to forecast the fortunes of Chris Chester's side.
From the very beginning both teams played this one with a level of intensity up there with any Super League match in 2018. To their credit, both sides added a flair and expansiveness to that intensity which made for a stunning spectacle until Warrington fell away in the second half. Yet it was less a capitulation from Wire than a scintillating display from Saints which simply overwhelmed Steve Price's side. Ben Barba's performance was on a par with his stunning displays at the start of the season, Regan Grace won a wonderful wing duel with Josh Charnley and the returning Ryan Morgan beefed up Saints edge defence.
It could be explosive when these teams meet when it really matters in nine days time.
Offloads were the key
In among the biff and bash in the early going there was some exhilarating rugby league being played. Both sides seemed desperate to keep the ball alive and were able to do so without resorting to wild speculators. Most of the passes stuck which made for an entertaining game before Saints swamped Wire in the second half.
It was that ability to offload on a consistent basis which wore down the Warrington defence. Jack Ashworth was instrumental in this, managing to get rid of the ball in the tackle on four occasions in a team total of 17. Ashworth wasn’t born when the likes of George Mann and Kevin Ward were lighting up Sunday afternoons at Knowsley Road with this kind of shenanigans, but here he evoked memories of some of the best Saints front rowers playing in the once feared style of the entertainers. Saints had been averaging just over nine offloads per game before this one, even under the Holbrook regime which is widely viewed to be far more expansive than the sterile fair served up by Keiron Cunningham’s side. To be fair, I boiled an egg the other day which was a culinary act more expansive than the sterile fair served up by Keiron Cunningham’s side. Yet the added risk in Saints approached reaped dividends. With so many men thrown into the tackle in the modern game a well-placed offload can kill a defensive structure. Saints almost doubled their average number of offloads per game at the Haliwell Jones and it was a joy to watch.
All of which was quite fitting on the 18th anniversary of the much feted Wide To West try, when Saints snatched a last-gasp playoff win at home to Bradford Bulls thanks to Dwayne West’s improbable break which followed Harlem Globetrotters-like antics from Seans Long and Hoppe and Kevin Iro before Chris Joynt finished it off and Bernard lost his head. Here it wasn’t just Ashworth serving up the second phase play. In a brilliant return to form Barba chipped in with two, as did the usually sticky-handed Luke Douglas along with another returnee Zeb Taia. Mark Percival matched that tally in another all-action display from the England centre, the highlight of which was a quite dreamy flicked pass inside to send Jonny Lomax over for a second half try in the middle of a dizzying, positively Saintsy spell. We shouldn’t forget about Barba’s role in that try too as he danced outside his man to create the space before handing on to Percival. That ability to get outside a defender has been missing from Barba’s game in recent weeks but was a feature of his devastating form in the early months of the season. If that is back for the rest of the season we could be in for a climax more thrilling than an elongated bomb diffusing scenario on Bodyguard.
Card capers
Before Saints cut loose after the break the physical intensity of this contest threatened to boil over on more than one occasion. Three players received first half yellow cards while the guiltiest culprit escaped like Michael Scofield and his witless brother. A tattooed update on Bill and Ted. Mike Cooper started it all off with a quite scandalous forearm smash to the head of Saints young back rower James Bentley. The former Bradford Bull was playing just his second Super League game for Saints and is very lucky that he remains fit enough to play any more before 2018 draws to a close. Cooper had no intention of making a legal tackle and should have been instantly red carded. Instead referee Chris Kendall saw fit to award a scrum to Warrington for the inevitable dropped ball by Bentley as he lay on the ground looking for his marbles.
This understandably angered one or two of the Saints team and when Matty Lees flew in at Tyrone Roberts, missing him completely but sparking him out with a stray knee the whole thing had gone off. Lees was sinbinned, which was unfortunate in many ways because there was little intent to hit Roberts with a knee. But there was arguably too much aggression in the way Lees went about his business following the Cooper flashpoint. It is not as if it is something we haven’t seen before from the young prop. He is making great strides but he needs to be able to learn to control that aggression. There are many who would be pleased to see him develop into a dog of a player who offers physical presence but may walk a disciplinary tightrope. But can you really expect, no matter how hard you think you are, to intimidate a rugby league player? I don’t really believe that any professional rugby league player is genuinely scared of any other. You need physicality especially when other teams not too far away live and die on their shithousery, but I’m romantic enough to believe that we can be successful without the need for a bully in the pack.
The battle is won….but not the war
For all this game’s ferocious intensity and high level of skill we should not get too carried away, or assume that victory over Warrington in the semi-final will be a formality. Saints have certainly laid down a marker if I can wipe myself down with the towel of cliche for a moment. Still there are plenty of examples throughout Super League history of a team bouncing back from a bit of a chasing to walk away with the spoils in the end.
Our very own Saints are masters of this sort of chicanery. In 1999 Saints were walloped 40-4 at Odsal by Bradford Bulls in a playoff game only to edge home 8-6 in the Old Trafford Grand Final just two weeks later. Michael Withers’ infamous knock-on is rugby league’s grassy knoll moment. Everyone has their own theory on whether or not he got a fingertip to that ball before Leon Pryce streaked away to score but since Withers later signed for Wigan it probably served him about right in any case.
Similarly Saints shipped in 50 points at the Bulls in August 2002, a season which culminated in Long’s late, late drop-goal breaking Bradford hearts again. This is the nature of playoff football and is what we signed up for when we agreed to ditch the notion of first past the post. It could just as easily happen to us in the semi-final if we do not continue to build on this kind of form. Remember beating Leeds Rhinos in the 2007 playoffs only to lose at Old Trafford? And that after having won the League Leaders Shield, one point clear of Leeds. Or what about 2008 when we gubbed Leeds 38-10 in the playoffs and then, yes, lost against them in the Grand Final? You get the picture. The battle is won, but the war is far from over.
The Departed
Before we go we must just mention the elephant in the room, the announcement today of Barba’s departure to North Queensland Cowboys for the start of 2019. It had seemed inevitable for weeks before it was confirmed, with Saints chairman Eamon McManus assuring fans that the club have received an ‘acceptable’ transfer fee and will make a further announcement on an ‘NRL signing’ soon. Quite how much an acceptable transfer fee is we don’t yet know. Perhaps Mr McManus will address this question at this Wednesday night's forum at the club. Tickets are still available and I along with several other members of the WA12 Rugby League Show will be in attendance.
Some will feel that the fee better be big. Barba signed a two-and-a-half year contract on his arrival last year but as he did so my immediate reaction was that if we could get one full season out of him it would be a triumph. His recent dip in form means his legacy may now rest on whether Saints can pick up the Super League trophy in a few weeks from now, but there is no doubting that at times Barba has been majestic, wonderful to watch and devastatingly effective. Despite the recent lull he would still get my vote for the Steve Prescott Man Of Steel (if I had one) and I say that in the context of another superhuman year from James Roby and even considering the heroic efforts of Luke Thompson who was named the club’s player of the year at their annual awards dinner on Monday night.
A departure can still be sad regardless of how long you have been expecting it, so there’s a disappointment in the air at today’s news. But Grand Final or not Barba goes with my best wishes and thanks for some great memories. But if he wants to be remembered alongside Mal Meninga and Jamie Lyon we need less of the money-counting and just one other thing, a big fat trophy with the Super League logo on it.
Also departing Saints at the end of 2018 will be the much less trumpeted Matty Smith. Smith was a controversial signing when he was brought back to the club for a third spell from Wigan, particularly after his badge-kissing histrionics while wearing their shirt. He immediately broke his leg in a pre-season friendly against Widnes and has not managed to regain his place since losing it to the emerging talent of Danny Richardson. Smith looks likely to join Catalans Dragons, much to the absolute fury of current Dragons halfback Josh Drinkwater. He has dragged Steve McNamara’s side up by the short and curlies. The league’s worst side in the first half of the season ended August with the Challenge Cup on the sideboard thanks in no small part to Drinkwater's influence.
Now Drinkwater will be cast aside for Smith who, at 32, is nearing the end of his career which to be fair to him has taken in appearances for England and two Grand Final victories for that lot, in 2013 and 2016. He’s been unfortunate in all of his spells at Saints, first blocked by the legend that is Long, then discarded as Saints gambled and lost on Kyle Eastman. His latest spell has been hamstrung by injury and the arrival of a coach who wanted that bit more from a half. And given the results of that decision it is hard to argue a case for Smith's retention at the club. Saints will probably be taking a large chunk off the cap by offloading Smith which makes sense since he has consistently failed to make even the 17 man squad throughout this season. There is no justification in a salary capped sport for paying big money to players who aren’t featuring. I wish Smith all the best across the channel except when Saints visit or he rocks up back in his home town.
Much of this and much more was discussed on this week's WA12 Rugby League Show which you can listen to now at wa12radio.net
There has been a lot of talk this year about how the Super 8s throw up too many dead rubbers. So much so that the Super League clubs drew up a plan for immediate change last week. That brought about the improvements they wanted even if the methodology was highly questionable.
Once the new structure was voted through everyone seemed to agree that the Super 8s was a bunch of nonsense after all. So when Wigan's win over Huddersfield on Thursday rubber stamped the semi-final match-ups with most teams still having two games to play many people would have been happy to climb into Bill and Ted's phone box and skip the next couple of weeks. In particular, Saints visit to Warrington was expected to be a phoney war with neither side thought likely to put too much on the line ahead of their last four meeting on October 4. That prediction turned out to be about as accurate as my tips on Wakefield on the WA12 Rugby League Show. Tune in on Monday at 6.00 for another chance to laugh at my hapless inability to forecast the fortunes of Chris Chester's side.
From the very beginning both teams played this one with a level of intensity up there with any Super League match in 2018. To their credit, both sides added a flair and expansiveness to that intensity which made for a stunning spectacle until Warrington fell away in the second half. Yet it was less a capitulation from Wire than a scintillating display from Saints which simply overwhelmed Steve Price's side. Ben Barba's performance was on a par with his stunning displays at the start of the season, Regan Grace won a wonderful wing duel with Josh Charnley and the returning Ryan Morgan beefed up Saints edge defence.
It could be explosive when these teams meet when it really matters in nine days time.
Offloads were the key
In among the biff and bash in the early going there was some exhilarating rugby league being played. Both sides seemed desperate to keep the ball alive and were able to do so without resorting to wild speculators. Most of the passes stuck which made for an entertaining game before Saints swamped Wire in the second half.
It was that ability to offload on a consistent basis which wore down the Warrington defence. Jack Ashworth was instrumental in this, managing to get rid of the ball in the tackle on four occasions in a team total of 17. Ashworth wasn’t born when the likes of George Mann and Kevin Ward were lighting up Sunday afternoons at Knowsley Road with this kind of shenanigans, but here he evoked memories of some of the best Saints front rowers playing in the once feared style of the entertainers. Saints had been averaging just over nine offloads per game before this one, even under the Holbrook regime which is widely viewed to be far more expansive than the sterile fair served up by Keiron Cunningham’s side. To be fair, I boiled an egg the other day which was a culinary act more expansive than the sterile fair served up by Keiron Cunningham’s side. Yet the added risk in Saints approached reaped dividends. With so many men thrown into the tackle in the modern game a well-placed offload can kill a defensive structure. Saints almost doubled their average number of offloads per game at the Haliwell Jones and it was a joy to watch.
All of which was quite fitting on the 18th anniversary of the much feted Wide To West try, when Saints snatched a last-gasp playoff win at home to Bradford Bulls thanks to Dwayne West’s improbable break which followed Harlem Globetrotters-like antics from Seans Long and Hoppe and Kevin Iro before Chris Joynt finished it off and Bernard lost his head. Here it wasn’t just Ashworth serving up the second phase play. In a brilliant return to form Barba chipped in with two, as did the usually sticky-handed Luke Douglas along with another returnee Zeb Taia. Mark Percival matched that tally in another all-action display from the England centre, the highlight of which was a quite dreamy flicked pass inside to send Jonny Lomax over for a second half try in the middle of a dizzying, positively Saintsy spell. We shouldn’t forget about Barba’s role in that try too as he danced outside his man to create the space before handing on to Percival. That ability to get outside a defender has been missing from Barba’s game in recent weeks but was a feature of his devastating form in the early months of the season. If that is back for the rest of the season we could be in for a climax more thrilling than an elongated bomb diffusing scenario on Bodyguard.
Card capers
Before Saints cut loose after the break the physical intensity of this contest threatened to boil over on more than one occasion. Three players received first half yellow cards while the guiltiest culprit escaped like Michael Scofield and his witless brother. A tattooed update on Bill and Ted. Mike Cooper started it all off with a quite scandalous forearm smash to the head of Saints young back rower James Bentley. The former Bradford Bull was playing just his second Super League game for Saints and is very lucky that he remains fit enough to play any more before 2018 draws to a close. Cooper had no intention of making a legal tackle and should have been instantly red carded. Instead referee Chris Kendall saw fit to award a scrum to Warrington for the inevitable dropped ball by Bentley as he lay on the ground looking for his marbles.
This understandably angered one or two of the Saints team and when Matty Lees flew in at Tyrone Roberts, missing him completely but sparking him out with a stray knee the whole thing had gone off. Lees was sinbinned, which was unfortunate in many ways because there was little intent to hit Roberts with a knee. But there was arguably too much aggression in the way Lees went about his business following the Cooper flashpoint. It is not as if it is something we haven’t seen before from the young prop. He is making great strides but he needs to be able to learn to control that aggression. There are many who would be pleased to see him develop into a dog of a player who offers physical presence but may walk a disciplinary tightrope. But can you really expect, no matter how hard you think you are, to intimidate a rugby league player? I don’t really believe that any professional rugby league player is genuinely scared of any other. You need physicality especially when other teams not too far away live and die on their shithousery, but I’m romantic enough to believe that we can be successful without the need for a bully in the pack.
The battle is won….but not the war
For all this game’s ferocious intensity and high level of skill we should not get too carried away, or assume that victory over Warrington in the semi-final will be a formality. Saints have certainly laid down a marker if I can wipe myself down with the towel of cliche for a moment. Still there are plenty of examples throughout Super League history of a team bouncing back from a bit of a chasing to walk away with the spoils in the end.
Our very own Saints are masters of this sort of chicanery. In 1999 Saints were walloped 40-4 at Odsal by Bradford Bulls in a playoff game only to edge home 8-6 in the Old Trafford Grand Final just two weeks later. Michael Withers’ infamous knock-on is rugby league’s grassy knoll moment. Everyone has their own theory on whether or not he got a fingertip to that ball before Leon Pryce streaked away to score but since Withers later signed for Wigan it probably served him about right in any case.
Similarly Saints shipped in 50 points at the Bulls in August 2002, a season which culminated in Long’s late, late drop-goal breaking Bradford hearts again. This is the nature of playoff football and is what we signed up for when we agreed to ditch the notion of first past the post. It could just as easily happen to us in the semi-final if we do not continue to build on this kind of form. Remember beating Leeds Rhinos in the 2007 playoffs only to lose at Old Trafford? And that after having won the League Leaders Shield, one point clear of Leeds. Or what about 2008 when we gubbed Leeds 38-10 in the playoffs and then, yes, lost against them in the Grand Final? You get the picture. The battle is won, but the war is far from over.
The Departed
Before we go we must just mention the elephant in the room, the announcement today of Barba’s departure to North Queensland Cowboys for the start of 2019. It had seemed inevitable for weeks before it was confirmed, with Saints chairman Eamon McManus assuring fans that the club have received an ‘acceptable’ transfer fee and will make a further announcement on an ‘NRL signing’ soon. Quite how much an acceptable transfer fee is we don’t yet know. Perhaps Mr McManus will address this question at this Wednesday night's forum at the club. Tickets are still available and I along with several other members of the WA12 Rugby League Show will be in attendance.
Some will feel that the fee better be big. Barba signed a two-and-a-half year contract on his arrival last year but as he did so my immediate reaction was that if we could get one full season out of him it would be a triumph. His recent dip in form means his legacy may now rest on whether Saints can pick up the Super League trophy in a few weeks from now, but there is no doubting that at times Barba has been majestic, wonderful to watch and devastatingly effective. Despite the recent lull he would still get my vote for the Steve Prescott Man Of Steel (if I had one) and I say that in the context of another superhuman year from James Roby and even considering the heroic efforts of Luke Thompson who was named the club’s player of the year at their annual awards dinner on Monday night.
A departure can still be sad regardless of how long you have been expecting it, so there’s a disappointment in the air at today’s news. But Grand Final or not Barba goes with my best wishes and thanks for some great memories. But if he wants to be remembered alongside Mal Meninga and Jamie Lyon we need less of the money-counting and just one other thing, a big fat trophy with the Super League logo on it.
Also departing Saints at the end of 2018 will be the much less trumpeted Matty Smith. Smith was a controversial signing when he was brought back to the club for a third spell from Wigan, particularly after his badge-kissing histrionics while wearing their shirt. He immediately broke his leg in a pre-season friendly against Widnes and has not managed to regain his place since losing it to the emerging talent of Danny Richardson. Smith looks likely to join Catalans Dragons, much to the absolute fury of current Dragons halfback Josh Drinkwater. He has dragged Steve McNamara’s side up by the short and curlies. The league’s worst side in the first half of the season ended August with the Challenge Cup on the sideboard thanks in no small part to Drinkwater's influence.
Now Drinkwater will be cast aside for Smith who, at 32, is nearing the end of his career which to be fair to him has taken in appearances for England and two Grand Final victories for that lot, in 2013 and 2016. He’s been unfortunate in all of his spells at Saints, first blocked by the legend that is Long, then discarded as Saints gambled and lost on Kyle Eastman. His latest spell has been hamstrung by injury and the arrival of a coach who wanted that bit more from a half. And given the results of that decision it is hard to argue a case for Smith's retention at the club. Saints will probably be taking a large chunk off the cap by offloading Smith which makes sense since he has consistently failed to make even the 17 man squad throughout this season. There is no justification in a salary capped sport for paying big money to players who aren’t featuring. I wish Smith all the best across the channel except when Saints visit or he rocks up back in his home town.
Much of this and much more was discussed on this week's WA12 Rugby League Show which you can listen to now at wa12radio.net
Warrington Wolves v Saints Preview
Newly confirmed League Leaders Shield winners Saints go through the motions of completing their final Super 8s campaign until the next EGM ever when they visit Warrington on Saturday afternoon (September 22, kick-off 3.15pm).
The most undervalued title in sports since the Intertoto Cup was secured with a 38-12 win over NCL Hull FC last time out leaving Saints to use this trip and next week's visit of Castleford as preparation for the semi-final on October 4. Put that in your diary. Yes it's on Sky, no you can't use your season ticket and yes the likelihood is you'll get away with parking at Tesco. Either Warrington or Castleford will be Saints last four opponents. If the Tigers beat Wakefield tonight (Friday) it will be the Wolves honour to make the journey to St Helens.
That eventuality may leave Justin Holbrook and Wire coach Steve Price reluctant to show too much of their hand. And after several players were drafted in from outside of the named 19 by both Saints and Hull FC last week predicting how these two will line up in a dead rubber is probably the act of desperate fool. Fitting the bill and game as ever I will nonetheless have a stab.
Saints may not field quite so many of their locally produced players as featured against FC and in the win over Catalans Dragons the week previously. Ryan Morgan is back after his latest bump on the head at the expense of Matty Costello, while Louie McCarthy Scarsbrook is back under consideration following an ankle injury. Yet perhaps the most important returnee is Dom Peyroux who makes the squad for the first time since playing on against Warrington in a 14-12 win in July. The once mocked Peyroux has become a key player for Saints under the guidance of Holbrook and his return would be a very welcome one. His regular second row partner Zeb Taia missed the Hull game but is also included while James Bentley keeps his place in the squad after an outstanding Super League debut against the black and whites.
Plenty back on deck then but there is not such good news on James Roby. The England hooker has not played since the defeat to Wigan three weeks ago and seemingly will not be risked here. That could mean a start for French skipper Theo Fages. He missed out last week through illness but Holbrook suggested that he would return in his early press briefings this week. Whether he will actually start or not is another matter given the form of Morgan Knowles in recent weeks. Fages seems a better fit for the nine role but it would be no surprise to see them share duties. Aaron Smith remains out with an injury sustained on his promising debut in Perpignan. Jon Wilkin is included while front row options extend to McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Luke Thompson, Luke Thompson, Luke Douglas, Matty Lees and Jack Ashworth.
Things seem more settled in the backs where the only major absentee is Adam Swift. Ben Barba is hopefully just sleepwalking into a couple of heroic, match-winning efforts in October while Morgan should slot in alongside Mark Percival at centre with Regan Grace and Tommy Makinson out wide. Percival spoke movingly about the death of his brother this week. Saturday marked eight years since the passing of former Widnes and Leigh player Chris Percival, in particular his promise to make his brother proud by becoming a success in rugby league. Mark's current form is spellbinding but whatever happens in the remainder of his career he can be sure that he has fulfilled the promise he made already.
Jonny Lomax and Danny Richardson should continue in the halves although Fages is also an option there for Holbrook. Matty Smith is not after being left out again and has likely played his last game of a third spell at Saints after the club confirmed that he will leave the club at the end of the season. Catalans Dragons seem the likeliest destination for Smith, reuniting him with his old Wigan partner in badge-snogging Sam Tomkins.
Turning to Warrington they announced the departures of seven players today, some of whom you might even have heard of. We knew that Tyrone Roberts' stay in Warrington would be a short one but all of George King, Dom Crosby, Ben Pomeroy, Bodene Thompson and Mitch Brown will also leave along with prospect Taylor Prell. Only Roberts, Pomeroy and Thompson from that list are in the 19 this week while Kevin Brown returns. Harvey Livett may revert to the pack this week after operating in the halves alongside Declan Patton in last week's defeat to Wigan.
If Price is so inclined he could field a stronger pack than the one that faced the Warriors with Mike Cooper back from suspension and Chris Hill and Ben Murdoch-Masila in the frame after missing out last week. Ex-Wigan man Jack Hughes is out bringing to an end a run of 83 consecutive starts for the Wolves but there could be another opportunity for Luis Johnson who caught the eye at the Pie Dome. In the threequarters Tom Lineham is suspended but there are still plenty of strike options in Stefan Ratchford, Bryson Goodwin, Ryan Atkins and Josh Charnley.
A result is as difficult to predict as the line-ups for the same reasons. If Warrington are still in the hunt they may be slight favourites, though how much more appetite they will have for a semi-final trip to Wigan than a date in St Helens is questionable. Saints have a good recorc at the Haliwell Jones including a 30-16 win there earlier this year in which Richardson shone. They are undeniably weaker without Roby but arguably stronger than the last week if Peyroux, Morgan, Taia and Fages all feature. In that scenario they'll go close but may still come up just short.
Squads;
Warrington Wolves;
1. Stefan Ratchford 3. Bryson Goodwin 4. Ryan Atkins 6. Kevin Brown 7. Tyrone Roberts 8. Chris Hill. 9. Daryl Clark 10. Mike Cooper 13. Ben Murdoch-Masila 15. Declan Patton 17. Joe Philbin 18. Toby King 19. George King 20. Harvey Livett 22. Morgan Smith 24. Luis Johnson 27. Josh Charnley. 29. Ben Pomeroy 30. Bodene Thompson. 34. Ben Westwood
St Helens;
1. Jonny Lomax 2. Tommy Makinson. 3. Ryan Morgan. 4. Mark Percival. 6. Theo Fages. 10. Kyle Amor. 11. Zeb Taia. 12. Jon Wilkin. 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook. 14. Luke Douglas. 15. Morgan Knowles. 16. Luke Thompson. 17. Dominique Peyroux 18. Danny Richardson. 19. Regan Grace. 20. Matty Lees. 21. Jack Ashworth 23. Ben Barba. 24. James Bentley.
Referee: Chris Kendall.
The most undervalued title in sports since the Intertoto Cup was secured with a 38-12 win over NCL Hull FC last time out leaving Saints to use this trip and next week's visit of Castleford as preparation for the semi-final on October 4. Put that in your diary. Yes it's on Sky, no you can't use your season ticket and yes the likelihood is you'll get away with parking at Tesco. Either Warrington or Castleford will be Saints last four opponents. If the Tigers beat Wakefield tonight (Friday) it will be the Wolves honour to make the journey to St Helens.
That eventuality may leave Justin Holbrook and Wire coach Steve Price reluctant to show too much of their hand. And after several players were drafted in from outside of the named 19 by both Saints and Hull FC last week predicting how these two will line up in a dead rubber is probably the act of desperate fool. Fitting the bill and game as ever I will nonetheless have a stab.
Saints may not field quite so many of their locally produced players as featured against FC and in the win over Catalans Dragons the week previously. Ryan Morgan is back after his latest bump on the head at the expense of Matty Costello, while Louie McCarthy Scarsbrook is back under consideration following an ankle injury. Yet perhaps the most important returnee is Dom Peyroux who makes the squad for the first time since playing on against Warrington in a 14-12 win in July. The once mocked Peyroux has become a key player for Saints under the guidance of Holbrook and his return would be a very welcome one. His regular second row partner Zeb Taia missed the Hull game but is also included while James Bentley keeps his place in the squad after an outstanding Super League debut against the black and whites.
Plenty back on deck then but there is not such good news on James Roby. The England hooker has not played since the defeat to Wigan three weeks ago and seemingly will not be risked here. That could mean a start for French skipper Theo Fages. He missed out last week through illness but Holbrook suggested that he would return in his early press briefings this week. Whether he will actually start or not is another matter given the form of Morgan Knowles in recent weeks. Fages seems a better fit for the nine role but it would be no surprise to see them share duties. Aaron Smith remains out with an injury sustained on his promising debut in Perpignan. Jon Wilkin is included while front row options extend to McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Luke Thompson, Luke Thompson, Luke Douglas, Matty Lees and Jack Ashworth.
Things seem more settled in the backs where the only major absentee is Adam Swift. Ben Barba is hopefully just sleepwalking into a couple of heroic, match-winning efforts in October while Morgan should slot in alongside Mark Percival at centre with Regan Grace and Tommy Makinson out wide. Percival spoke movingly about the death of his brother this week. Saturday marked eight years since the passing of former Widnes and Leigh player Chris Percival, in particular his promise to make his brother proud by becoming a success in rugby league. Mark's current form is spellbinding but whatever happens in the remainder of his career he can be sure that he has fulfilled the promise he made already.
Jonny Lomax and Danny Richardson should continue in the halves although Fages is also an option there for Holbrook. Matty Smith is not after being left out again and has likely played his last game of a third spell at Saints after the club confirmed that he will leave the club at the end of the season. Catalans Dragons seem the likeliest destination for Smith, reuniting him with his old Wigan partner in badge-snogging Sam Tomkins.
Turning to Warrington they announced the departures of seven players today, some of whom you might even have heard of. We knew that Tyrone Roberts' stay in Warrington would be a short one but all of George King, Dom Crosby, Ben Pomeroy, Bodene Thompson and Mitch Brown will also leave along with prospect Taylor Prell. Only Roberts, Pomeroy and Thompson from that list are in the 19 this week while Kevin Brown returns. Harvey Livett may revert to the pack this week after operating in the halves alongside Declan Patton in last week's defeat to Wigan.
If Price is so inclined he could field a stronger pack than the one that faced the Warriors with Mike Cooper back from suspension and Chris Hill and Ben Murdoch-Masila in the frame after missing out last week. Ex-Wigan man Jack Hughes is out bringing to an end a run of 83 consecutive starts for the Wolves but there could be another opportunity for Luis Johnson who caught the eye at the Pie Dome. In the threequarters Tom Lineham is suspended but there are still plenty of strike options in Stefan Ratchford, Bryson Goodwin, Ryan Atkins and Josh Charnley.
A result is as difficult to predict as the line-ups for the same reasons. If Warrington are still in the hunt they may be slight favourites, though how much more appetite they will have for a semi-final trip to Wigan than a date in St Helens is questionable. Saints have a good recorc at the Haliwell Jones including a 30-16 win there earlier this year in which Richardson shone. They are undeniably weaker without Roby but arguably stronger than the last week if Peyroux, Morgan, Taia and Fages all feature. In that scenario they'll go close but may still come up just short.
Squads;
Warrington Wolves;
1. Stefan Ratchford 3. Bryson Goodwin 4. Ryan Atkins 6. Kevin Brown 7. Tyrone Roberts 8. Chris Hill. 9. Daryl Clark 10. Mike Cooper 13. Ben Murdoch-Masila 15. Declan Patton 17. Joe Philbin 18. Toby King 19. George King 20. Harvey Livett 22. Morgan Smith 24. Luis Johnson 27. Josh Charnley. 29. Ben Pomeroy 30. Bodene Thompson. 34. Ben Westwood
St Helens;
1. Jonny Lomax 2. Tommy Makinson. 3. Ryan Morgan. 4. Mark Percival. 6. Theo Fages. 10. Kyle Amor. 11. Zeb Taia. 12. Jon Wilkin. 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook. 14. Luke Douglas. 15. Morgan Knowles. 16. Luke Thompson. 17. Dominique Peyroux 18. Danny Richardson. 19. Regan Grace. 20. Matty Lees. 21. Jack Ashworth 23. Ben Barba. 24. James Bentley.
Referee: Chris Kendall.
5 Talking Points From Saints 38 Hull FC 12
Does The League Leaders Shield Matter?
Someone tweeted me last night to ask why I thought the presentation of the League Leaders Shield following this 38-12 win over Hull FC was such a muted affair. He commented that the players looked more like they were at a funeral than at their home stadium picking up a reward for being the most consistent side in 2018. It is hard to argue with that assessment and since Twitter leaves you a bit Steve Coogan (short of characters) I thought I'd try to address the question of why that might be here.
The low crowd didn't help in terms of creating a joyous atmosphere of celebration. Just 9,348 fans managed to attend with the FC contingent in particular well below its usual numbers. Given the way their second half of the season has gone that's understandable. Lee Radford's side have not won since the end of June, a run of nine straight losses which has seen them fall out of the race for the top four really before the Super 8s even began. It has also included embarrassments in defeats to Wakefield and Warrington when the black and whites conceded 72 and a blood curdling 80 points respectively. Injuries persist, and with stars like Carlos Tuimavave, Danny Houghton and Jamie Shaul named in the squad but left out of the 17 by matchday it is hard to find an incentive for FC fans to travel west following a full day's work.
Not that the low turnout was all of the visitors doing. The prospect of sealing the deal on the League Leaders Shield didn't entice Saints fans to come out in any great numbers. Since the inception of the Grand Final in 1998 it has become accepted wisdom that winning the league is very much secondary to winning at Old Trafford in October. This is an idea pushed first by the broadcasters but then taken on by the fans and the players. It's reached something of a nadir now. Saints players looked visibly reluctant to make a song and dance about their achievement following the scorn poured on Castleford's fans and players for their reaction to winning it last year. Champagne corks were popped and Queen songs played at the Mend-A-Hose a year ago to the bitter amusement of fans of clubs more used to winning silverware. It looked very much like the Saints players including captain James Roby were unwilling to milk it too much knowing that should they fail to win or even reach the Grand Final they will not be regarded as a champion side.
But is that right? Unfortunately it is the world we live in. If you want a playoff system and a Grand Final it's almost impossible to expect equal gravitas for winning the league. Conversely if you award the title to the side that tops the table your playoffs and Grand Final become far less celebrated. Notable but not historic, much like the old top 8 Premiersip Trophy played for after the league finished in years gone by. Since Sky call the tune they are always going to prefer the one-off game at a massive stadium to decide the champions because its a ratings winner. It also attracts media attention generally which is much needed, so its a simple decision for the RFL even if they were not swayed by TV demands. The truth is they are swayed by little else as the decision to rearrange fixtures at Warrington and Huddersfield next week shows.
The Grand Final isn't going anywhere, which you may lament or you may celebrate. But since it is here to stay the League Leaders Shield is always going to be nothing more than a token reward for consistency in a race nobody feels they have to win. Most fans have accepted this to a nauseating level. The same fans wandering around today talking about why this achievement is so undervalued are the ones who disparagingly but routinely refer to the League Leaders Shield as the 'hub cap'. If fans mock it, broadcasters gloss over it and players try to play it down then it will never get the juices flowing.
Is There An Injury Crisis?
We'll go on to the impact that Saints young stars made once again later. This being September there has to be a slight concern about how many players are currently out injured and allowing the younger guys to stake their claim. I think it was an FC fan who claimed on Twitter earlier this year that Saints, who at the time were about 10 points clear at the top of the table and flying, were not the best team in Super League but simply the least injured. Yet here Saints were facing Hull without at least eight regular first team players.
Though Ben Barba returned after missing the win in Perpignan against Catalans Dragons last week all of Adam Swift, Ryan Morgan, Theo Fages, Alex Walmsley, Roby, Dominique Peyroux, Zeb Taia and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook were sidelined. The cynic in me can't shake the feeling that had this been the Grand Final five of those eight would have played. Not to say that they do not have injuries but I'd like to think that they are injuries that are not serious and that the opportunity to rest them afforded by the format and the situation of the team within that format was just too good for Justin Holbrook to resist. Why wouldn't he take the chance to rest them up to make sure they are fit and firing for the knockout games to come?
Holbrook has said consistently this year that he will not rest players for no reason. If they're fully fit they play. In Barba's case he has led us to believe that if they can still walk they play. If we take him at his word for that then these are worrying times. The injuries are genuine and sufficient to keep hard men off the field. We're not talking about Jordan Henderson here. That suggests a race against time to get them fit for when the whips really start cracking in the first week of October. Holbrook's selection for the visit to Warrington on Saturday could be instructive, but is further clouded by the rising likelihood of the two teams meeting in a semi-final.
Are The Kids Ready?
Whether there are worries about the side during the 2018 run-in or not the long term future looks good for Saints. Despite the loss of last week's debutant Aaron Smith to injury there were still 11 players in the Saints 17 that have come through the club's academy. There were debuts for back rower James Bentley, brought in from Bradford Bulls at the end of last season, and 17-year-old Jack Welsby. Matty Lees and Jack Ashworth continued their development alongside more established home produced talent. Six of Saints seven starting backs were club products, the only exception being Barba while up front Luke Thompson, Morgan Knowles and Jake Spedding all featured alongside Lees and Ashworth. Spedding's inclusion was a particular surprise given that it was announced on Monday that he would be joining Barrow Raiders on a two-year deal from 2019.
All of Saints 38 points came from that group of home grown players. I haven't even mentioned Danny Richardson who landed a perfect seven goals out of seven while continuing to develop his halfback partnership with Jonny Lomax. Regan Grace and Mark Percival grabbed two scores apiece and there were first half meat pies for Thompson and Knowles. Meanwhile Bentley went the full 80 picking up 84 metres on 11 carries and making an impressive 46 tackles. The only disappointment was that we only saw Welsby for the last 10 minutes but, like the rest of this group of local products, his time will no doubt come.
Show Me The Money
It would almost be unsettling by now if a week went by without a controversy involving Barba. This week's offering is footage of the Australian fullback 'bantering' with the Hull fans as he waits behind his own sticks for the conversion of a try to be taken. As they serenade him with the desperately original 'Barba's Going Home' (to the tune of a similarly titled big hit for the Lightning Seeds with David Baddiel and Frank Skinner that you might remember) Barba turns to them, flashes them a big smile and begins miming the counting of his money. Ah...Ben.
And so the debate starts. Is this reasonable use of humour to deflect the abuse from fans? After all he is going home (probably) where he can make three times as much money. And who wouldn't, right? Or, is it disrespectful to Saints and the fans? There is an argument that Barba's recent form doesn't really entitle him to be playing to the crowd, gloating about how much money he can make by leaving. At the most it looks like he has four games left in the red vee before returning to the NRL. The same NRL that weren't that interested in his freakish abilities when he had a 12-game ban hanging over him. Is it too much to ask that Barba give his full effort and respect to what remains of our cause this year? I'll settle for two good games as long as they are the semi-final and the Grand Final. Maybe he's revving himself up for those playoff matches and is merely amusing himself until then. If so barely anyone will remember his barren spell and his legacy will be assured. Yet that legacy has to be considered well and truly on the line for now.
Loop-y Fixtures
This was the last ever Super 8s fixture between these two sides and given the weakened sides fielded by both and the general apathy around the place few will be sorry to see the format go. The EGM has been covered in more detail elsewhere on these pages but one particular consequence of the decision to go to a more conventional one-up, one-down system merits further explanation. Loop fixtures.
The abolition of the 8s will not rid us of dead rubbers or even of the yawnsome need to play against the same opposition more than twice before the playoffs. The chairmen and owners of the Super League clubs are adamant that they need more than the 23 games currently generated by 12 teams before the Super 8s for financial reasons. And so we get loop fixtures. Six extra games, three at home and three away, added on to the schedule so that some clubs will meet for a third time to make up 29 games including Magic. We will be having the same discussions next year about why crowds are low late in the season as we head towards the playoffs. Fans have already expressed their lack of appetite for a third or fourth game against the same opposition. Too much of a good thing and all that.
If the repetition argument doesn't sway you think of the integrity of the competition. Already distorted by Magic we will be skewing it further. How are we going to decide who plays who in the loop fixtures? How can this be reasonable and fair in a league that now intends to relegate one club for certain instead of the current set up which allows everyone involved a chance to save their own skin in the Qualifiers? All they have to do is beat the teams from the league below and they're safe. Doable for everyone except Widnes. The current system is far from perfect but it does offer the carrot of promotion without guaranteeing a relegation. It forces Championship sides to prove themselves at Super League level in a way that the new proposal will not. If one club is sure to go down it will be highly controversial if they do so thanks to results in unfavourable loop fixtures while others survive thanks to a kinder schedule.
Don't forget if you have enjoyed these ramblings you can hear me verbally jousting every Monday on the WA12 Rugby League Show from 6-8pm at www.wa12radio.net
Someone tweeted me last night to ask why I thought the presentation of the League Leaders Shield following this 38-12 win over Hull FC was such a muted affair. He commented that the players looked more like they were at a funeral than at their home stadium picking up a reward for being the most consistent side in 2018. It is hard to argue with that assessment and since Twitter leaves you a bit Steve Coogan (short of characters) I thought I'd try to address the question of why that might be here.
The low crowd didn't help in terms of creating a joyous atmosphere of celebration. Just 9,348 fans managed to attend with the FC contingent in particular well below its usual numbers. Given the way their second half of the season has gone that's understandable. Lee Radford's side have not won since the end of June, a run of nine straight losses which has seen them fall out of the race for the top four really before the Super 8s even began. It has also included embarrassments in defeats to Wakefield and Warrington when the black and whites conceded 72 and a blood curdling 80 points respectively. Injuries persist, and with stars like Carlos Tuimavave, Danny Houghton and Jamie Shaul named in the squad but left out of the 17 by matchday it is hard to find an incentive for FC fans to travel west following a full day's work.
Not that the low turnout was all of the visitors doing. The prospect of sealing the deal on the League Leaders Shield didn't entice Saints fans to come out in any great numbers. Since the inception of the Grand Final in 1998 it has become accepted wisdom that winning the league is very much secondary to winning at Old Trafford in October. This is an idea pushed first by the broadcasters but then taken on by the fans and the players. It's reached something of a nadir now. Saints players looked visibly reluctant to make a song and dance about their achievement following the scorn poured on Castleford's fans and players for their reaction to winning it last year. Champagne corks were popped and Queen songs played at the Mend-A-Hose a year ago to the bitter amusement of fans of clubs more used to winning silverware. It looked very much like the Saints players including captain James Roby were unwilling to milk it too much knowing that should they fail to win or even reach the Grand Final they will not be regarded as a champion side.
But is that right? Unfortunately it is the world we live in. If you want a playoff system and a Grand Final it's almost impossible to expect equal gravitas for winning the league. Conversely if you award the title to the side that tops the table your playoffs and Grand Final become far less celebrated. Notable but not historic, much like the old top 8 Premiersip Trophy played for after the league finished in years gone by. Since Sky call the tune they are always going to prefer the one-off game at a massive stadium to decide the champions because its a ratings winner. It also attracts media attention generally which is much needed, so its a simple decision for the RFL even if they were not swayed by TV demands. The truth is they are swayed by little else as the decision to rearrange fixtures at Warrington and Huddersfield next week shows.
The Grand Final isn't going anywhere, which you may lament or you may celebrate. But since it is here to stay the League Leaders Shield is always going to be nothing more than a token reward for consistency in a race nobody feels they have to win. Most fans have accepted this to a nauseating level. The same fans wandering around today talking about why this achievement is so undervalued are the ones who disparagingly but routinely refer to the League Leaders Shield as the 'hub cap'. If fans mock it, broadcasters gloss over it and players try to play it down then it will never get the juices flowing.
Is There An Injury Crisis?
We'll go on to the impact that Saints young stars made once again later. This being September there has to be a slight concern about how many players are currently out injured and allowing the younger guys to stake their claim. I think it was an FC fan who claimed on Twitter earlier this year that Saints, who at the time were about 10 points clear at the top of the table and flying, were not the best team in Super League but simply the least injured. Yet here Saints were facing Hull without at least eight regular first team players.
Though Ben Barba returned after missing the win in Perpignan against Catalans Dragons last week all of Adam Swift, Ryan Morgan, Theo Fages, Alex Walmsley, Roby, Dominique Peyroux, Zeb Taia and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook were sidelined. The cynic in me can't shake the feeling that had this been the Grand Final five of those eight would have played. Not to say that they do not have injuries but I'd like to think that they are injuries that are not serious and that the opportunity to rest them afforded by the format and the situation of the team within that format was just too good for Justin Holbrook to resist. Why wouldn't he take the chance to rest them up to make sure they are fit and firing for the knockout games to come?
Holbrook has said consistently this year that he will not rest players for no reason. If they're fully fit they play. In Barba's case he has led us to believe that if they can still walk they play. If we take him at his word for that then these are worrying times. The injuries are genuine and sufficient to keep hard men off the field. We're not talking about Jordan Henderson here. That suggests a race against time to get them fit for when the whips really start cracking in the first week of October. Holbrook's selection for the visit to Warrington on Saturday could be instructive, but is further clouded by the rising likelihood of the two teams meeting in a semi-final.
Are The Kids Ready?
Whether there are worries about the side during the 2018 run-in or not the long term future looks good for Saints. Despite the loss of last week's debutant Aaron Smith to injury there were still 11 players in the Saints 17 that have come through the club's academy. There were debuts for back rower James Bentley, brought in from Bradford Bulls at the end of last season, and 17-year-old Jack Welsby. Matty Lees and Jack Ashworth continued their development alongside more established home produced talent. Six of Saints seven starting backs were club products, the only exception being Barba while up front Luke Thompson, Morgan Knowles and Jake Spedding all featured alongside Lees and Ashworth. Spedding's inclusion was a particular surprise given that it was announced on Monday that he would be joining Barrow Raiders on a two-year deal from 2019.
All of Saints 38 points came from that group of home grown players. I haven't even mentioned Danny Richardson who landed a perfect seven goals out of seven while continuing to develop his halfback partnership with Jonny Lomax. Regan Grace and Mark Percival grabbed two scores apiece and there were first half meat pies for Thompson and Knowles. Meanwhile Bentley went the full 80 picking up 84 metres on 11 carries and making an impressive 46 tackles. The only disappointment was that we only saw Welsby for the last 10 minutes but, like the rest of this group of local products, his time will no doubt come.
Show Me The Money
It would almost be unsettling by now if a week went by without a controversy involving Barba. This week's offering is footage of the Australian fullback 'bantering' with the Hull fans as he waits behind his own sticks for the conversion of a try to be taken. As they serenade him with the desperately original 'Barba's Going Home' (to the tune of a similarly titled big hit for the Lightning Seeds with David Baddiel and Frank Skinner that you might remember) Barba turns to them, flashes them a big smile and begins miming the counting of his money. Ah...Ben.
And so the debate starts. Is this reasonable use of humour to deflect the abuse from fans? After all he is going home (probably) where he can make three times as much money. And who wouldn't, right? Or, is it disrespectful to Saints and the fans? There is an argument that Barba's recent form doesn't really entitle him to be playing to the crowd, gloating about how much money he can make by leaving. At the most it looks like he has four games left in the red vee before returning to the NRL. The same NRL that weren't that interested in his freakish abilities when he had a 12-game ban hanging over him. Is it too much to ask that Barba give his full effort and respect to what remains of our cause this year? I'll settle for two good games as long as they are the semi-final and the Grand Final. Maybe he's revving himself up for those playoff matches and is merely amusing himself until then. If so barely anyone will remember his barren spell and his legacy will be assured. Yet that legacy has to be considered well and truly on the line for now.
Loop-y Fixtures
This was the last ever Super 8s fixture between these two sides and given the weakened sides fielded by both and the general apathy around the place few will be sorry to see the format go. The EGM has been covered in more detail elsewhere on these pages but one particular consequence of the decision to go to a more conventional one-up, one-down system merits further explanation. Loop fixtures.
The abolition of the 8s will not rid us of dead rubbers or even of the yawnsome need to play against the same opposition more than twice before the playoffs. The chairmen and owners of the Super League clubs are adamant that they need more than the 23 games currently generated by 12 teams before the Super 8s for financial reasons. And so we get loop fixtures. Six extra games, three at home and three away, added on to the schedule so that some clubs will meet for a third time to make up 29 games including Magic. We will be having the same discussions next year about why crowds are low late in the season as we head towards the playoffs. Fans have already expressed their lack of appetite for a third or fourth game against the same opposition. Too much of a good thing and all that.
If the repetition argument doesn't sway you think of the integrity of the competition. Already distorted by Magic we will be skewing it further. How are we going to decide who plays who in the loop fixtures? How can this be reasonable and fair in a league that now intends to relegate one club for certain instead of the current set up which allows everyone involved a chance to save their own skin in the Qualifiers? All they have to do is beat the teams from the league below and they're safe. Doable for everyone except Widnes. The current system is far from perfect but it does offer the carrot of promotion without guaranteeing a relegation. It forces Championship sides to prove themselves at Super League level in a way that the new proposal will not. If one club is sure to go down it will be highly controversial if they do so thanks to results in unfavourable loop fixtures while others survive thanks to a kinder schedule.
Don't forget if you have enjoyed these ramblings you can hear me verbally jousting every Monday on the WA12 Rugby League Show from 6-8pm at www.wa12radio.net
Back To The Future
Back To The Future
Fire up the DeLorean, get out the sports almanac and pretend your name is Biff. Rugby League is going Back To The Future after the Super League clubs secured the votes they needed at today’s EGM to push through their proposals for a new 12-team Super League structure.
If that sounds familiar it’s because well…it is. There are currently 12 teams in Super League and there will be 12 next year as there have been on many occasions throughout the competition’s 22-year history. Sky Sports showed a much talked about graphic on their Golden Point show last night which demonstrated that the exact same structure had been kept for more than one season on only four occasions throughout those 22 years. Yet a lot of those structures and formats contained 12 teams. The difference was usually in the number of teams in the playoffs or the number of teams promoted into or relegated out of Super League in those seasons. Needless tinkering, deckchair moving aboard the Titanic, if you like.
The key difference between the new arrangements and what we have currently is that the much maligned Super 8s phase of the competition is about to disappear, replaced by loop fixtures. Put simply, loop fixtures are extra games against opponents that a team has already played at home and away during the season. Super League club owners have been queuing up to tell us that a straightforward home and away programme against 11 other sides, which would produce 23 fixtures if we include Magic, is not enough for them to be financially viable. Far be it from anyone to respond by inviting them to market their games better to increase their average attendances. In any case a schedule featuring as little as 23 games would be unlikely to result in a reduction in your season ticket price, making the loyal fan the loser in the end. So if it is not to be the Super 8s format then it is pay more for less games or else endure loop fixtures it seems. Rocks, hard places, all that.
None of which makes much sense. The main criticism of the Super 8s was that it produced games against opposition already seen too often earlier in the season, especially with a possible Magic meeting thrown in and the possibility of a Challenge Cup pairing also. Then there is the playoffs. If Saints meet Castleford in the playoffs they will have played the Tigers a preposterous five times in 35 games in all competitions. A seventh of all Saints fixtures in 2018 will have been against Castleford including what could be two of the final three. Loop fixtures offers more of the same but they do at least prepare you for it a bit more thoroughly. Another minus for the Super 8s was that you would not find out the exact dates and opponents for the fixtures until the end of the regular season when all the league placings were finalised. With the weekend in between the end of the regular season and the start of the Super 8s given over to the Challenge Cup semi-finals that gives fans a fortnight to digest their Super 8s schedule and make arrangements to attend matches. Even then match-goers do so at the mercy of the broadcaster who only this week rearranged several of its planned televised fixtures including Saints visit to Warrington and Wigan’s trip to Huddersfield. Loop fixtures won’t stop Sky tinkering to suit themselves but it will at least mean that a full season’s fixtures will be published before the start of 2019 rather than in the two blocks required by the Super 8s system.
Which brings me on to another key issue around today’s decision. How in Satan’s sausage can you change a structure and a competition format six weeks before the end of the previous season? All of this should have been done and dusted before a ball was kicked in 2018 back in early February. Instead we now have the undignified sight of the bested Championship and League One clubs hastily meeting (another bloody meeting!) to decide how to respond in terms of their own structure. Super League’s proposal was, in a fashion that is so classically Super League as to almost be a parody of itself, only for Super League. Twelve teams with one up and one down and after that they did not got give a proverbial flying one about how the Championship and lower leagues set about organising themselves. So there is now a debate going on as I write about whether to expand the Championship from 12 teams to 14, a scenario which would be laughable if it were not deadly serious. They would effectively have to alter the rules around promotion and relegation to make that change happen, and to do so at this stage of the season is something from the realm of the truly berserk. They would reject it as a plotline on the next ill-advised instalment of the Goal movie franchise. But this is rugby league so it could happen.
All of which sounds very moany but there are things to like about the new structure for Super League. Firstly staying at 12 teams does avoid the kind of tortuous fudging and rule-changing that may have to go on at Championship and League One level now. It would have been white coat time for the league if it decided to expand to 14 teams at this stage, or even 16. Whither the Qualifiers in that scenario? One thing the Super 8s format does have going for it is that it is producing a thrilling race for places in the top three and the Million Pound Game to secure Super League status for next year, with all of Toronto, Toulouse and London still seemingly in the mix to make the step up to replace hapless Widnes. A move to 14 would have obliterated all of that, with most likely the two darlings of the expansionists in Toronto and Toulouse hand-picked and fast-tracked to join the existing 12. We have dodged that particular bullet for now, but do continue to watch this space, won’t you? Super League and rugby league in general have not been all that good at sticking to their structures, formats and plans as we have seen so expect another change in a few years time if the clubs which offer the game to new markets aren’t in Super League of their own volition by say…2021 when the new TV deal is negotiated. Fourteen teams for 2022 anyone? Save us. If there is one thing we must do now following this vote it is to stick with the agreed structure. Every time we make a change it hammers another little nail into the reputation of the sport and offers a glaring opportunity for its detractors to gleefully swing that hammer. It’s death by a thousand cuts and it must stop.
More positively the other plus point for the new format is the return of the top five playoff system. This might be a personal view only but there was something special and intrinsically fairer about that system as opposed to the straightforward top four semi-final structure we currently employ. It offers a second chance to the winners of the league which is only right and proper. Currently, as well as being laughed at for raising a hub cap above your heads the winning team has to settle for only the same advantage in the playoffs as the team finishing second. There is very little difference between a home semi-final against the team finishing third and one against the team finishing fourth. This way the league winners will have a week off and be only one game away from the Grand Final while the runners up will have to go through a qualifier to get their shot at the leaders for a place in the big one. Lose that and they will get a second chance also but then they may have to play away from home again in week 3 of the playoffs to get to Old Trafford. It’s slightly more complex but does at least offer greater reward to those who have deserved it over the season. A hugely more sensible idea than that old favourite of wiping the points at the start of the Super 8s to give everyone a chance. Scrapping the Super 8s has helped us dodge another bullet right there.
So if we are reasonably happy with the outcome of today’s meeting and vote what about how we got to this situation? The EGM was called after incoming Super League CEO Robert Elstone announced that the Super 8s would be scrapped a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, the new man on his first day had forgotten to check whether he had the authority to do that and it turned out that he had to consult the RFL and its member clubs first. He got his way in the end but at least we can say that the process was at least partly democratic now.
There have been some stories floating around about Super League clubs putting pressure on their dual registration partners in the Championship to vote with them. One might even use the word blackmail but one club chairman preferred the word bullying. Whether this went on or not it is not down to Elstone but to the Super League club chairmen who, like almost every other chairman at all levels of the professional game, acted in the best interests of their own clubs while disingenuously claiming to be working for the greater good of the game. There has been pettiness and childish squabbling on all sides which all made the game look very small time, something it is more than capable of doing all by itself even on slow news days.
The build-up to the meeting was saturated with statement after needless statement from clubs whose chairmen really should know better than to announce which way they were going to vote in what was supposed to be a secret ballot. Call it campaigning if you like, but most of these unnecessary pieces of media spin read like an attempt to influence the thinking of others. And yes, our very own Mr McManus was up to his neck in this sort of shenanigans. In fact he was one of the ringleaders along with World League fancyingEric Pollard Ian Lenagan from the other lot. Super League needed a majority of 28 votes to carry the motion and though they had two each in the process that only made 22 because Leeds and the Dark Lord Hetherington were very publicly against the new ideas. They have always argued for a greater emphasis on dual registration and helping Championship clubs out that way rather than a move towards reserve teams for all Super League clubs and a shift towards forcing the lower league sides to market themselves better and produce their own players on a more prolific basis. The twist was that a minimum of four Championship clubs also had to support the proposals for them to be carried, so it is highly likely that these puerile statements were born out of a feeling from the Super League clubs that they needed to give others a gentle push.
There is some talk also that the new agreement has solidified how the broadcasting funding will be distributed after 2021 when the current deal expires. This can only be in percentage terms. Surely the clubs do not know how much they will be receiving at this stage and they would be wise to look beyond Sky for a partnership. The RFL and the clubs entered into the last deal too willingly, afraid that no other broadcaster would match the offer financially or be able to offer the kind of exposure the game enjoys on Sky. Yet it if it is exposure you want why not offer at least a highlights package to a free to air broadcaster next time around? It won’t make as much money up front but it might do something to promote the game which in turn might just boost attendances which if we are honest are flagging in many places and not just outside Super League. Salford Red Devils and Huddersfield Giants are so fortunate that they are currently members of Super League at this pivotal moment, otherwise they would be being lumped in with the Batleys and the Oldhams of this world, accused of having no inclination to raise attendances or build either themselves or the game in general.
And so the squabble is finally settled, for now at least. It will be fascinating to find out how the non-Super League sides respond to the situation. Will they grasp the nettle and work harder to improve their attendances, facilities and playing standards ready to make the jump into Super League? Or will they feel victimised and fall further and further into the abyss to the point where they become indistinguishable from the community clubs in the NCL and beyond? You’ll have to get back in the DeLorean and get out that almanac to find out.
Fire up the DeLorean, get out the sports almanac and pretend your name is Biff. Rugby League is going Back To The Future after the Super League clubs secured the votes they needed at today’s EGM to push through their proposals for a new 12-team Super League structure.
If that sounds familiar it’s because well…it is. There are currently 12 teams in Super League and there will be 12 next year as there have been on many occasions throughout the competition’s 22-year history. Sky Sports showed a much talked about graphic on their Golden Point show last night which demonstrated that the exact same structure had been kept for more than one season on only four occasions throughout those 22 years. Yet a lot of those structures and formats contained 12 teams. The difference was usually in the number of teams in the playoffs or the number of teams promoted into or relegated out of Super League in those seasons. Needless tinkering, deckchair moving aboard the Titanic, if you like.
The key difference between the new arrangements and what we have currently is that the much maligned Super 8s phase of the competition is about to disappear, replaced by loop fixtures. Put simply, loop fixtures are extra games against opponents that a team has already played at home and away during the season. Super League club owners have been queuing up to tell us that a straightforward home and away programme against 11 other sides, which would produce 23 fixtures if we include Magic, is not enough for them to be financially viable. Far be it from anyone to respond by inviting them to market their games better to increase their average attendances. In any case a schedule featuring as little as 23 games would be unlikely to result in a reduction in your season ticket price, making the loyal fan the loser in the end. So if it is not to be the Super 8s format then it is pay more for less games or else endure loop fixtures it seems. Rocks, hard places, all that.
None of which makes much sense. The main criticism of the Super 8s was that it produced games against opposition already seen too often earlier in the season, especially with a possible Magic meeting thrown in and the possibility of a Challenge Cup pairing also. Then there is the playoffs. If Saints meet Castleford in the playoffs they will have played the Tigers a preposterous five times in 35 games in all competitions. A seventh of all Saints fixtures in 2018 will have been against Castleford including what could be two of the final three. Loop fixtures offers more of the same but they do at least prepare you for it a bit more thoroughly. Another minus for the Super 8s was that you would not find out the exact dates and opponents for the fixtures until the end of the regular season when all the league placings were finalised. With the weekend in between the end of the regular season and the start of the Super 8s given over to the Challenge Cup semi-finals that gives fans a fortnight to digest their Super 8s schedule and make arrangements to attend matches. Even then match-goers do so at the mercy of the broadcaster who only this week rearranged several of its planned televised fixtures including Saints visit to Warrington and Wigan’s trip to Huddersfield. Loop fixtures won’t stop Sky tinkering to suit themselves but it will at least mean that a full season’s fixtures will be published before the start of 2019 rather than in the two blocks required by the Super 8s system.
Which brings me on to another key issue around today’s decision. How in Satan’s sausage can you change a structure and a competition format six weeks before the end of the previous season? All of this should have been done and dusted before a ball was kicked in 2018 back in early February. Instead we now have the undignified sight of the bested Championship and League One clubs hastily meeting (another bloody meeting!) to decide how to respond in terms of their own structure. Super League’s proposal was, in a fashion that is so classically Super League as to almost be a parody of itself, only for Super League. Twelve teams with one up and one down and after that they did not got give a proverbial flying one about how the Championship and lower leagues set about organising themselves. So there is now a debate going on as I write about whether to expand the Championship from 12 teams to 14, a scenario which would be laughable if it were not deadly serious. They would effectively have to alter the rules around promotion and relegation to make that change happen, and to do so at this stage of the season is something from the realm of the truly berserk. They would reject it as a plotline on the next ill-advised instalment of the Goal movie franchise. But this is rugby league so it could happen.
All of which sounds very moany but there are things to like about the new structure for Super League. Firstly staying at 12 teams does avoid the kind of tortuous fudging and rule-changing that may have to go on at Championship and League One level now. It would have been white coat time for the league if it decided to expand to 14 teams at this stage, or even 16. Whither the Qualifiers in that scenario? One thing the Super 8s format does have going for it is that it is producing a thrilling race for places in the top three and the Million Pound Game to secure Super League status for next year, with all of Toronto, Toulouse and London still seemingly in the mix to make the step up to replace hapless Widnes. A move to 14 would have obliterated all of that, with most likely the two darlings of the expansionists in Toronto and Toulouse hand-picked and fast-tracked to join the existing 12. We have dodged that particular bullet for now, but do continue to watch this space, won’t you? Super League and rugby league in general have not been all that good at sticking to their structures, formats and plans as we have seen so expect another change in a few years time if the clubs which offer the game to new markets aren’t in Super League of their own volition by say…2021 when the new TV deal is negotiated. Fourteen teams for 2022 anyone? Save us. If there is one thing we must do now following this vote it is to stick with the agreed structure. Every time we make a change it hammers another little nail into the reputation of the sport and offers a glaring opportunity for its detractors to gleefully swing that hammer. It’s death by a thousand cuts and it must stop.
More positively the other plus point for the new format is the return of the top five playoff system. This might be a personal view only but there was something special and intrinsically fairer about that system as opposed to the straightforward top four semi-final structure we currently employ. It offers a second chance to the winners of the league which is only right and proper. Currently, as well as being laughed at for raising a hub cap above your heads the winning team has to settle for only the same advantage in the playoffs as the team finishing second. There is very little difference between a home semi-final against the team finishing third and one against the team finishing fourth. This way the league winners will have a week off and be only one game away from the Grand Final while the runners up will have to go through a qualifier to get their shot at the leaders for a place in the big one. Lose that and they will get a second chance also but then they may have to play away from home again in week 3 of the playoffs to get to Old Trafford. It’s slightly more complex but does at least offer greater reward to those who have deserved it over the season. A hugely more sensible idea than that old favourite of wiping the points at the start of the Super 8s to give everyone a chance. Scrapping the Super 8s has helped us dodge another bullet right there.
So if we are reasonably happy with the outcome of today’s meeting and vote what about how we got to this situation? The EGM was called after incoming Super League CEO Robert Elstone announced that the Super 8s would be scrapped a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, the new man on his first day had forgotten to check whether he had the authority to do that and it turned out that he had to consult the RFL and its member clubs first. He got his way in the end but at least we can say that the process was at least partly democratic now.
There have been some stories floating around about Super League clubs putting pressure on their dual registration partners in the Championship to vote with them. One might even use the word blackmail but one club chairman preferred the word bullying. Whether this went on or not it is not down to Elstone but to the Super League club chairmen who, like almost every other chairman at all levels of the professional game, acted in the best interests of their own clubs while disingenuously claiming to be working for the greater good of the game. There has been pettiness and childish squabbling on all sides which all made the game look very small time, something it is more than capable of doing all by itself even on slow news days.
The build-up to the meeting was saturated with statement after needless statement from clubs whose chairmen really should know better than to announce which way they were going to vote in what was supposed to be a secret ballot. Call it campaigning if you like, but most of these unnecessary pieces of media spin read like an attempt to influence the thinking of others. And yes, our very own Mr McManus was up to his neck in this sort of shenanigans. In fact he was one of the ringleaders along with World League fancying
There is some talk also that the new agreement has solidified how the broadcasting funding will be distributed after 2021 when the current deal expires. This can only be in percentage terms. Surely the clubs do not know how much they will be receiving at this stage and they would be wise to look beyond Sky for a partnership. The RFL and the clubs entered into the last deal too willingly, afraid that no other broadcaster would match the offer financially or be able to offer the kind of exposure the game enjoys on Sky. Yet it if it is exposure you want why not offer at least a highlights package to a free to air broadcaster next time around? It won’t make as much money up front but it might do something to promote the game which in turn might just boost attendances which if we are honest are flagging in many places and not just outside Super League. Salford Red Devils and Huddersfield Giants are so fortunate that they are currently members of Super League at this pivotal moment, otherwise they would be being lumped in with the Batleys and the Oldhams of this world, accused of having no inclination to raise attendances or build either themselves or the game in general.
And so the squabble is finally settled, for now at least. It will be fascinating to find out how the non-Super League sides respond to the situation. Will they grasp the nettle and work harder to improve their attendances, facilities and playing standards ready to make the jump into Super League? Or will they feel victimised and fall further and further into the abyss to the point where they become indistinguishable from the community clubs in the NCL and beyond? You’ll have to get back in the DeLorean and get out that almanac to find out.
Saints v Hull FC - Preview
Fresh from their thrilling last-gasp win over Catalans Dragons in Perpignan Saints attempt to finally, mathematically, wrap up the League Leaders Shield when they host Hull FC on Friday night (September 14, kick-off 7.45pm).
What looked like a formality a month ago has been a long time coming with defeats at home to Huddersfield and Wigan in the Super 8s delaying the party. It’s still a tiny possibility comparable say to the reversal of Brexit or the emergence of a decent English opening batsman, but losses in their final three Super 8s games coupled with three Wigan wins could see Saints overhauled by the Warriors in a scenario barely worth thinking about. Yet a Hull FC side which has conceded over 100 points over its last two games and have twice been on the end of 70+ point thrashings in recent weeks will surely not be good enough to halt Saints any further. Will they?
Well, maybe it isn't that straightforward. Saints are still without several of their first team stars. All of Ben Barba, James Roby, Dominique Peyroux, Alex Walmsley, Ryan Morgan and Adam Swift missed the trip across the channel and of those only Barba is named in the 19-man squad for this week. The rest are ruled out, and while the question of whether Barba will step on to the field remains anybody’s guess there is possibly a doubt over Zeb Taia who picked up an injury in France also. Presumably that happened at some point other than that not so fierce clash with Greg Bird which sent the Dragons man flailing to the turf in the manner of a child in the sweets aisle at Tesco. If Barba does play the hope must be that he does so in a fashion closer to his early season form than his recent displays. Those appearances have drawn accusations of apathy and lack of effort from some quarters despite Holbrook’s insistence that the Australian star is carrying an injury.
Perhaps the doubt over Taia is the main reason that James Bentley has been brought into the 19. The former Bradford Bulls man has yet to make a competitive debut for Saints but could slot right in to the second row should Taia not make it. In addition Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook is out injured which will likely mean that Jon Wilkin or Morgan Knowles will be required in the loose forward position. It’s a strange world when you feel like the former London Bronco man will be missed but he has been one of Saints more consistent performers in 2018 and certainly has been a rare shining light during the recent slump even in his hair-raising cameo at centre against Wigan. Knowles started at hooker in France and did a fine job there before his late heroics but is not a natural ball-playing nine. Theo Fages could be the man for the job should Barba play and allow Jonny Lomax to move back into the halves from fullback. Or will it be Aaron Smith who enjoyed a quality debut in Perpignan even after being clubbed around the head by Sam Moa early on? There’s no doubt that Roby leaves a big hole in the Saints team but it is not as if coach Justin Holbrook lacks options. One of Fages or Lomax will partner Danny Richardson in the halves although another young halfback in Jack Welsby has earned his first call-up to the first team squad.
With Swift and Morgan out the three-quarter-line should consist of Tommy Makinson and Regan Grace on the wings outside of centres Mark Percival and Matty Costello. Up front Luke Thompson and Luke Douglas are the tried and tested alongside Kyle Amor, while youthful enthusiasm and no little dynamism comes from Jack Ashworth and Matty Lees. The latter was extremely unlucky to have a try ruled out for a double movement last week and has not looked out of place among Saints prop forward corps even if as a group they have taken some punishment of late.
Hull’s recent dismal form has been attributed by many to their lengthy injury list. That’s only partly true though, a theory backed up by the stern words of owner Adam Pearson who last week threatened most of his first team with the terrifying prospect of a trip to Doncaster should they not improve their effort levels. Lee Radford’s side are boosted this week by the return of England star and professional wind-up merchant Jake Connor. He may be handed a halfback spot alongside under-fire Jordan Abdul in the continued absence of Marc Sneyd and Albert Kelly. Connor may also be used in the backs but a three-quarter line of Bureta Faraimo, Carlos Tuimavave, Dean Hadley and Fetuli Talanoa looks good enough to produce a marked improvement in the black and whites performances even if Josh Griffin is absent. It really is all about their attitude. On the subject of absent Joshes they are still without Josh Bowden in the pack but in Scott Taylor, Danny Houghton and Sika Manu they have plenty of quality to trouble what might be a more youthful looking Saints group. Mark Minichiello, Mickey Paea and Joe Westerman are all side-lined however so there may be opportunities for Jordan Lane, Cameron Scott, Masi Matongo and Lewis Bienek.
Omissions on either side make this a more interesting clash than it otherwise might have been. Yet it is difficult to see Hull rising from their current slumber enough to challenge a Saints team that has not quite got its mojo back but is certainly showing signs that they can revert to being the dominant force they were before their Challenge Cup semi-final loss to Catalans in early August. The win at Catalans with so many regular stars missing is not an achievement that should be understated. In addition Hull’s chances of making the top four are long gone given that they have not won a Super League match since the end of June. It is questionable how much desire they will have should the going get tough early on. They are playing for pride only and don’t seem to have had too much of that in recent weeks. On that basis I’m going for a fairly comfortable Saints win, the margin of which might very well be dictated by whether or not Barba makes an appearance and if he does, which Ben Barba we see perform.
Squads;
St Helens;
1. Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 4. Mark Percival, 6. Theo Fages, 10. Kyle Amor, 11. Zeb Taia, 12. Jon Wilkin, 14. Luke Douglas, 15. Morgan Knowles, 16. Luke Thompson, 18. Danny Richardson, 19. Regan Grace, 20. Matty Lees, 21. Jack Ashworth, 23. Ben Barba, 24. James Bentley, 25. Aaron Smith, 30. Matty Costello, 31. Jack Welsby.
Hull FC;
1. Jamie Shaul, 2. Bureta Faraimo, 3. Carlos Tuimavave, 5. Fetuli Talanoa, 8. Scott Taylor, 9. Danny Houghton, 11. Dean Hadley, 14. Jake Connor, 16. Jordan Abdul, 17. Danny Washbrook, 20. Brad Fash, 21. Sika Manu, 22. Jez Litten, 26. Jordan Lane, 28. Hakim Miloudi, 29. Masimbaashe Matongo, 30. Cameron Scott, 35. Liam Harris, 36. Lewis Bienek.
Referee: Chris Kendall
What looked like a formality a month ago has been a long time coming with defeats at home to Huddersfield and Wigan in the Super 8s delaying the party. It’s still a tiny possibility comparable say to the reversal of Brexit or the emergence of a decent English opening batsman, but losses in their final three Super 8s games coupled with three Wigan wins could see Saints overhauled by the Warriors in a scenario barely worth thinking about. Yet a Hull FC side which has conceded over 100 points over its last two games and have twice been on the end of 70+ point thrashings in recent weeks will surely not be good enough to halt Saints any further. Will they?
Well, maybe it isn't that straightforward. Saints are still without several of their first team stars. All of Ben Barba, James Roby, Dominique Peyroux, Alex Walmsley, Ryan Morgan and Adam Swift missed the trip across the channel and of those only Barba is named in the 19-man squad for this week. The rest are ruled out, and while the question of whether Barba will step on to the field remains anybody’s guess there is possibly a doubt over Zeb Taia who picked up an injury in France also. Presumably that happened at some point other than that not so fierce clash with Greg Bird which sent the Dragons man flailing to the turf in the manner of a child in the sweets aisle at Tesco. If Barba does play the hope must be that he does so in a fashion closer to his early season form than his recent displays. Those appearances have drawn accusations of apathy and lack of effort from some quarters despite Holbrook’s insistence that the Australian star is carrying an injury.
Perhaps the doubt over Taia is the main reason that James Bentley has been brought into the 19. The former Bradford Bulls man has yet to make a competitive debut for Saints but could slot right in to the second row should Taia not make it. In addition Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook is out injured which will likely mean that Jon Wilkin or Morgan Knowles will be required in the loose forward position. It’s a strange world when you feel like the former London Bronco man will be missed but he has been one of Saints more consistent performers in 2018 and certainly has been a rare shining light during the recent slump even in his hair-raising cameo at centre against Wigan. Knowles started at hooker in France and did a fine job there before his late heroics but is not a natural ball-playing nine. Theo Fages could be the man for the job should Barba play and allow Jonny Lomax to move back into the halves from fullback. Or will it be Aaron Smith who enjoyed a quality debut in Perpignan even after being clubbed around the head by Sam Moa early on? There’s no doubt that Roby leaves a big hole in the Saints team but it is not as if coach Justin Holbrook lacks options. One of Fages or Lomax will partner Danny Richardson in the halves although another young halfback in Jack Welsby has earned his first call-up to the first team squad.
With Swift and Morgan out the three-quarter-line should consist of Tommy Makinson and Regan Grace on the wings outside of centres Mark Percival and Matty Costello. Up front Luke Thompson and Luke Douglas are the tried and tested alongside Kyle Amor, while youthful enthusiasm and no little dynamism comes from Jack Ashworth and Matty Lees. The latter was extremely unlucky to have a try ruled out for a double movement last week and has not looked out of place among Saints prop forward corps even if as a group they have taken some punishment of late.
Hull’s recent dismal form has been attributed by many to their lengthy injury list. That’s only partly true though, a theory backed up by the stern words of owner Adam Pearson who last week threatened most of his first team with the terrifying prospect of a trip to Doncaster should they not improve their effort levels. Lee Radford’s side are boosted this week by the return of England star and professional wind-up merchant Jake Connor. He may be handed a halfback spot alongside under-fire Jordan Abdul in the continued absence of Marc Sneyd and Albert Kelly. Connor may also be used in the backs but a three-quarter line of Bureta Faraimo, Carlos Tuimavave, Dean Hadley and Fetuli Talanoa looks good enough to produce a marked improvement in the black and whites performances even if Josh Griffin is absent. It really is all about their attitude. On the subject of absent Joshes they are still without Josh Bowden in the pack but in Scott Taylor, Danny Houghton and Sika Manu they have plenty of quality to trouble what might be a more youthful looking Saints group. Mark Minichiello, Mickey Paea and Joe Westerman are all side-lined however so there may be opportunities for Jordan Lane, Cameron Scott, Masi Matongo and Lewis Bienek.
Omissions on either side make this a more interesting clash than it otherwise might have been. Yet it is difficult to see Hull rising from their current slumber enough to challenge a Saints team that has not quite got its mojo back but is certainly showing signs that they can revert to being the dominant force they were before their Challenge Cup semi-final loss to Catalans in early August. The win at Catalans with so many regular stars missing is not an achievement that should be understated. In addition Hull’s chances of making the top four are long gone given that they have not won a Super League match since the end of June. It is questionable how much desire they will have should the going get tough early on. They are playing for pride only and don’t seem to have had too much of that in recent weeks. On that basis I’m going for a fairly comfortable Saints win, the margin of which might very well be dictated by whether or not Barba makes an appearance and if he does, which Ben Barba we see perform.
Squads;
St Helens;
1. Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 4. Mark Percival, 6. Theo Fages, 10. Kyle Amor, 11. Zeb Taia, 12. Jon Wilkin, 14. Luke Douglas, 15. Morgan Knowles, 16. Luke Thompson, 18. Danny Richardson, 19. Regan Grace, 20. Matty Lees, 21. Jack Ashworth, 23. Ben Barba, 24. James Bentley, 25. Aaron Smith, 30. Matty Costello, 31. Jack Welsby.
Hull FC;
1. Jamie Shaul, 2. Bureta Faraimo, 3. Carlos Tuimavave, 5. Fetuli Talanoa, 8. Scott Taylor, 9. Danny Houghton, 11. Dean Hadley, 14. Jake Connor, 16. Jordan Abdul, 17. Danny Washbrook, 20. Brad Fash, 21. Sika Manu, 22. Jez Litten, 26. Jordan Lane, 28. Hakim Miloudi, 29. Masimbaashe Matongo, 30. Cameron Scott, 35. Liam Harris, 36. Lewis Bienek.
Referee: Chris Kendall
5 Talking Points From Catalans Dragons 22 Saints 26
Depleted Saints Tough It Out
This 26-22 success wasn’t pretty but the result was everything. Having lost three of their last four in all competitions Saints just had to get back on track. Critics of the Super 8s system will noisily point out that a home semi-final is secure but entering knockout football on the back of a run of poor form not only threatens a side’s confidence but also instils belief in future opponents. Saints had an aura about them up until the Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to these Dragons but others were beginning to take heart from their exploits at Bolton. Saints are suddenly beatable, arguably no better than any of the other sides likely to be competing for Grand Final places. Besides, Steve McNamara’s side needed putting in their place.
The job was made more difficult by the absence of James Roby with a shoulder injury and the late withdrawal of Ben Barba. Saints were already due to be without Dominique Peyroux, Alex Walmsley, Adam Swift and Ryan Morgan meaning they travelled to Perpignan with no fewer than six regular first team players out of action. Misfortune for one represents opportunity for another as players previously on the fringes of the first team stepped up to help Saints squeak home. Justin Holbrook’s 17-man selection featured no fewer than 11 players who had come through the club’s own academy system. And that was without the star pupil and the forgotten man of the youth set-up in Roby and Matty Smith respectively. The likes of Jack Ashworth, Matty Lees, Morgan Knowles and debutant Aaron Smith filled the void left by more experienced stars. At a time when all the recent chin-wagging has been about whether the world will cease to rotate should Barba head back to the NRL it was heartening to see local talent pulling off a deserved win.
Just as importantly it stopped the rot setting in. With the currently hapless Hull FC due to visit Saints next Holbrook’s side have an opportunity to go into the rescheduled clash at Warrington with a totally different mindset to that which has taken hold in recent weeks. It is also another opportunity to finally wrap up the League Leaders Shield which is still not mathematically certain following Wigan’s win over Wakefield Trinity. When the final point needed to secure the prize arrives the local youngsters deserve to play their part in the celebrations.
Do Saints Need A New Fullback?
The vast majority of Saints fans now believe that it is a matter of if and not when Barba agrees a deal with an NRL club for 2019. There are a few still clinging on to the hope that he will stay another season but they are probably the kind of people who are also hoping that Jennifer Lawrence will reply to those letters they have been sending. North Queensland Cowboys seem the likeliest candidate to sign Barba at the moment, but if not them then probably another will come along and snap up the fullback. A replacement is required, with Saints already linked heavily with the Cowboys Scottish international Lachlan Coote. But is there another way?
Jonny Lomax was superb in Perpignan in relief of Barba, scoring a try and miraculously preventing one just on half-time which eventually proved crucial. For all his brilliance in attack, it is highly likely that Barba would not have been able to stop a score that would have meant the Dragons taking a slender lead into the break. Instead it was Saints who led at the interval and although McNamara’s side came again to open up a 22-14 lead two more late Saints scores (one from Lomax) were enough to sneak home.
This performance is by no means Lomax’s first rodeo at fullback. He has played there for four full seasons before Barba’s arrival and had no trouble slotting back into the role having played most of the 2018 season at stand-off. He’s even played at fullback for England and may be required to do so again at the end of this season if Gareth Widdop’s shoulder problems continue. Despite attempts by the Wigan medical staff to reduce his ban to 45 minutes on a Tuesday Zak Hardaker’s return to action will come too late for him to be considered.
So if Lomax is the man for England why not the man for Saints? New Zealand aren’t quite what they used to be but they present infinitely tougher challenges than most Super League opposition that the 28-year-old will stumble across next season and beyond. The move would also allow Saints to spend Barba’s not insignificant salary on a stand-off. Not that Lomax hasn’t been doing a great job alongside Danny Richardson in the halves but there is a good argument that the two don’t quite complement each other and that Richardson would benefit from the presence of an organiser with a genuine all around kicking game. Identifying that player is quite another matter which I realise makes me sound a little like Oliver Letwin when he famously proposed that UK criminals be sent to an unidentified island to lessen the burden on resources. Yet with the kind of connections in Australia that were good enough to bring a star like Barba to the club there is a fair chance that Holbrook could come up with the answer after a little flicking through the contact book.
Do Saints Need A New Hooker?
This was a taste of what life might be like when Roby finally ends his illustrious career. Many, including this writer, felt that Holbrook would hand the hooking duties to one or more of Theo Fages, Knowles or Matty Smith. But with Fages required at stand-off and Smith seemingly as likely to be selected as Ian Bell is for England’s cricket team it was Knowles to start and Aaron Smith making his debut off the bench. The younger Smith has been in 19-man squads on several occasions this season without making the final 17 but took his chance to shine superbly.
It was a debut which looked like ending quickly and painfully when Smith was hit late by Dragons playground bully Sam Moa. The former Hull FC man was promptly yellow carded by bewildered referee Liam Moore whose continued inability to determine the direction of a pass was a particular lowlight of his performance. But he probably got this call spot on. The contact wasn’t high enough to warrant a red but Smith had long since passed the ball when Moa paid his own tribute to NFL linebackers who returned to action this weekend. As Smith lay prone on the ground it seemed unlikely that his debut would continue any further, yet he recovered to make a telling contribution. He only carried the ball five times but did so at a ridiculous 17.40 metres a clip, chipping in with 15 tackles and the decisive break which set up the position from which Knowles performed his own Roby tribute. The Welshman knocked off defenders like Donald Trump swats off complaints about his distinctly un-presidential behaviour on his way to the winning try. Cue generous amounts of delirium among the Saints contingent at the Stade Gibert Brutus and in the Orford household. Saints are far from the same side without Roby but if Smith can continue to make this kind of contribution when needed there might not be such a chasm to fill when the great man calls it quits in what will hopefully be a few years time and no sooner.. Perhaps this is one position for which Holbrook might not need the contacts book.
Self-Inflicted Wounds Could Have Been Fatal
Saints were heroic for the most part but there were areas of concern which will need to be addressed and tuned up for the cut-throat battles ahead. Catalans were already ahead when Richardson was caught in possession on the last tackle deep in his own territory. It set up the position from which Remi Casty went over to stretch the French side’s lead to 10-0 and put Saints under significant pressure early on. Richardson’s problems have not been all of his own making in recent weeks playing behind a pack of forwards that has been playing tick rugby at times, but his indecision can prove costly.
At times his kicks and his changes of direction are those of a young half learning the game but still without a total grasp on what he is actually going to do. Some say that can be an advantage. If he doesn’t know what he is going to do then how can the opposition? That’s fine until what you are going to do is get tackled on the last in your own quarter or kick the ball straight down the throat of the fullback. Richardson seems very definitely to be Holbrook’s man. The coach has shown no inclination to rest him and use either Fages or Matty Smith in the halfback role so the youngster, who turned 22 last Sunday, needs to learn quickly if he is to lead the side to a title in his first full season in the starting line-up.
He wasn’t the only one bearing gifts. Jack Ashworth’s ill-advised offload led deep in his own territory led to Iain Thornley’s well taken try which put the Dragons back in front in the second half. It is difficult to criticise a young player too much especially at a club at which the need to play open, attractive rugby league is entrenched. If such an offload leads to an 80-metre break and a scintillating try we’re all lauding Ashworth for his creative spark. There’s a time and a place and one of the keys to becoming a quality Super League forward is being able to tell the difference a high percentage of the time. That will no doubt come for Ashworth but in the short term Saints must cut out the mistakes that could prove devastating in October.
Dives And Dismal Decisions
There’s a classic bloopers clip of double Olympic Diving champion Greg Louganis smashing his head on the diving board at the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea. Louganis recovered to win gold and is widely considered to be the greatest diver of all time. However, another Greg attempted to give him a run for his money here as Catalans Greg Bird hit the deck like an extra in Dog Day Afternoon following minimal contact by Zeb Taia in the build-up to Regan Grace’s disallowed try. It was one of a long list of bemusing decisions made by referee Moore and video referee Ben Thaler, and highlighted probably the most sinister sign yet that the amateur dramatics which infest the football world are currently spreading throughout rugby league. Bird’s dive would have made Neymar blush but unlike some of the histrionics of the Brazilian striker, it worked a treat.
Moore was a walking advert for two referees all night long, failing to spot a forward pass in the build-up to Mark Percival’s try and then absurdly compensating for that by ruling a perfectly legal pass forward to chalk off another for the visitors. We touched upon the cancer within the game that is the TV obstruction rule in last week’s 5TP but it would be remiss not to comment on it again given that both sides had scores ruled out that would have stood without the presence of Eddie and the boys. Especially bloody Terry O’Connor. Bird’s dive put paid to Grace’s hopes of a 13th try of the season while Saints fan favourite Kenny Edwards had a try ruled out when Jon Wilkin was apparently obstructed in the act of decapitating Casty. The pass to Edwards was probably, you guessed it, forward anyway.
Credit should go to Moore for making the right call on Moa’s hit on Aaron Smith despite the criticism he has received. Yet overall the referee had what is known as a Joe Cocker. Not that this is an excuse for fans to blame referees whenever their team underperforms. Moore was poor for both sides and it detracted from the spectacle of watching two sides who, while not really at their best, were giving everything in a game many view as a meaningless dead rubber.
This 26-22 success wasn’t pretty but the result was everything. Having lost three of their last four in all competitions Saints just had to get back on track. Critics of the Super 8s system will noisily point out that a home semi-final is secure but entering knockout football on the back of a run of poor form not only threatens a side’s confidence but also instils belief in future opponents. Saints had an aura about them up until the Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to these Dragons but others were beginning to take heart from their exploits at Bolton. Saints are suddenly beatable, arguably no better than any of the other sides likely to be competing for Grand Final places. Besides, Steve McNamara’s side needed putting in their place.
The job was made more difficult by the absence of James Roby with a shoulder injury and the late withdrawal of Ben Barba. Saints were already due to be without Dominique Peyroux, Alex Walmsley, Adam Swift and Ryan Morgan meaning they travelled to Perpignan with no fewer than six regular first team players out of action. Misfortune for one represents opportunity for another as players previously on the fringes of the first team stepped up to help Saints squeak home. Justin Holbrook’s 17-man selection featured no fewer than 11 players who had come through the club’s own academy system. And that was without the star pupil and the forgotten man of the youth set-up in Roby and Matty Smith respectively. The likes of Jack Ashworth, Matty Lees, Morgan Knowles and debutant Aaron Smith filled the void left by more experienced stars. At a time when all the recent chin-wagging has been about whether the world will cease to rotate should Barba head back to the NRL it was heartening to see local talent pulling off a deserved win.
Just as importantly it stopped the rot setting in. With the currently hapless Hull FC due to visit Saints next Holbrook’s side have an opportunity to go into the rescheduled clash at Warrington with a totally different mindset to that which has taken hold in recent weeks. It is also another opportunity to finally wrap up the League Leaders Shield which is still not mathematically certain following Wigan’s win over Wakefield Trinity. When the final point needed to secure the prize arrives the local youngsters deserve to play their part in the celebrations.
Do Saints Need A New Fullback?
The vast majority of Saints fans now believe that it is a matter of if and not when Barba agrees a deal with an NRL club for 2019. There are a few still clinging on to the hope that he will stay another season but they are probably the kind of people who are also hoping that Jennifer Lawrence will reply to those letters they have been sending. North Queensland Cowboys seem the likeliest candidate to sign Barba at the moment, but if not them then probably another will come along and snap up the fullback. A replacement is required, with Saints already linked heavily with the Cowboys Scottish international Lachlan Coote. But is there another way?
Jonny Lomax was superb in Perpignan in relief of Barba, scoring a try and miraculously preventing one just on half-time which eventually proved crucial. For all his brilliance in attack, it is highly likely that Barba would not have been able to stop a score that would have meant the Dragons taking a slender lead into the break. Instead it was Saints who led at the interval and although McNamara’s side came again to open up a 22-14 lead two more late Saints scores (one from Lomax) were enough to sneak home.
This performance is by no means Lomax’s first rodeo at fullback. He has played there for four full seasons before Barba’s arrival and had no trouble slotting back into the role having played most of the 2018 season at stand-off. He’s even played at fullback for England and may be required to do so again at the end of this season if Gareth Widdop’s shoulder problems continue. Despite attempts by the Wigan medical staff to reduce his ban to 45 minutes on a Tuesday Zak Hardaker’s return to action will come too late for him to be considered.
So if Lomax is the man for England why not the man for Saints? New Zealand aren’t quite what they used to be but they present infinitely tougher challenges than most Super League opposition that the 28-year-old will stumble across next season and beyond. The move would also allow Saints to spend Barba’s not insignificant salary on a stand-off. Not that Lomax hasn’t been doing a great job alongside Danny Richardson in the halves but there is a good argument that the two don’t quite complement each other and that Richardson would benefit from the presence of an organiser with a genuine all around kicking game. Identifying that player is quite another matter which I realise makes me sound a little like Oliver Letwin when he famously proposed that UK criminals be sent to an unidentified island to lessen the burden on resources. Yet with the kind of connections in Australia that were good enough to bring a star like Barba to the club there is a fair chance that Holbrook could come up with the answer after a little flicking through the contact book.
Do Saints Need A New Hooker?
This was a taste of what life might be like when Roby finally ends his illustrious career. Many, including this writer, felt that Holbrook would hand the hooking duties to one or more of Theo Fages, Knowles or Matty Smith. But with Fages required at stand-off and Smith seemingly as likely to be selected as Ian Bell is for England’s cricket team it was Knowles to start and Aaron Smith making his debut off the bench. The younger Smith has been in 19-man squads on several occasions this season without making the final 17 but took his chance to shine superbly.
It was a debut which looked like ending quickly and painfully when Smith was hit late by Dragons playground bully Sam Moa. The former Hull FC man was promptly yellow carded by bewildered referee Liam Moore whose continued inability to determine the direction of a pass was a particular lowlight of his performance. But he probably got this call spot on. The contact wasn’t high enough to warrant a red but Smith had long since passed the ball when Moa paid his own tribute to NFL linebackers who returned to action this weekend. As Smith lay prone on the ground it seemed unlikely that his debut would continue any further, yet he recovered to make a telling contribution. He only carried the ball five times but did so at a ridiculous 17.40 metres a clip, chipping in with 15 tackles and the decisive break which set up the position from which Knowles performed his own Roby tribute. The Welshman knocked off defenders like Donald Trump swats off complaints about his distinctly un-presidential behaviour on his way to the winning try. Cue generous amounts of delirium among the Saints contingent at the Stade Gibert Brutus and in the Orford household. Saints are far from the same side without Roby but if Smith can continue to make this kind of contribution when needed there might not be such a chasm to fill when the great man calls it quits in what will hopefully be a few years time and no sooner.. Perhaps this is one position for which Holbrook might not need the contacts book.
Self-Inflicted Wounds Could Have Been Fatal
Saints were heroic for the most part but there were areas of concern which will need to be addressed and tuned up for the cut-throat battles ahead. Catalans were already ahead when Richardson was caught in possession on the last tackle deep in his own territory. It set up the position from which Remi Casty went over to stretch the French side’s lead to 10-0 and put Saints under significant pressure early on. Richardson’s problems have not been all of his own making in recent weeks playing behind a pack of forwards that has been playing tick rugby at times, but his indecision can prove costly.
At times his kicks and his changes of direction are those of a young half learning the game but still without a total grasp on what he is actually going to do. Some say that can be an advantage. If he doesn’t know what he is going to do then how can the opposition? That’s fine until what you are going to do is get tackled on the last in your own quarter or kick the ball straight down the throat of the fullback. Richardson seems very definitely to be Holbrook’s man. The coach has shown no inclination to rest him and use either Fages or Matty Smith in the halfback role so the youngster, who turned 22 last Sunday, needs to learn quickly if he is to lead the side to a title in his first full season in the starting line-up.
He wasn’t the only one bearing gifts. Jack Ashworth’s ill-advised offload led deep in his own territory led to Iain Thornley’s well taken try which put the Dragons back in front in the second half. It is difficult to criticise a young player too much especially at a club at which the need to play open, attractive rugby league is entrenched. If such an offload leads to an 80-metre break and a scintillating try we’re all lauding Ashworth for his creative spark. There’s a time and a place and one of the keys to becoming a quality Super League forward is being able to tell the difference a high percentage of the time. That will no doubt come for Ashworth but in the short term Saints must cut out the mistakes that could prove devastating in October.
Dives And Dismal Decisions
There’s a classic bloopers clip of double Olympic Diving champion Greg Louganis smashing his head on the diving board at the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea. Louganis recovered to win gold and is widely considered to be the greatest diver of all time. However, another Greg attempted to give him a run for his money here as Catalans Greg Bird hit the deck like an extra in Dog Day Afternoon following minimal contact by Zeb Taia in the build-up to Regan Grace’s disallowed try. It was one of a long list of bemusing decisions made by referee Moore and video referee Ben Thaler, and highlighted probably the most sinister sign yet that the amateur dramatics which infest the football world are currently spreading throughout rugby league. Bird’s dive would have made Neymar blush but unlike some of the histrionics of the Brazilian striker, it worked a treat.
Moore was a walking advert for two referees all night long, failing to spot a forward pass in the build-up to Mark Percival’s try and then absurdly compensating for that by ruling a perfectly legal pass forward to chalk off another for the visitors. We touched upon the cancer within the game that is the TV obstruction rule in last week’s 5TP but it would be remiss not to comment on it again given that both sides had scores ruled out that would have stood without the presence of Eddie and the boys. Especially bloody Terry O’Connor. Bird’s dive put paid to Grace’s hopes of a 13th try of the season while Saints fan favourite Kenny Edwards had a try ruled out when Jon Wilkin was apparently obstructed in the act of decapitating Casty. The pass to Edwards was probably, you guessed it, forward anyway.
Credit should go to Moore for making the right call on Moa’s hit on Aaron Smith despite the criticism he has received. Yet overall the referee had what is known as a Joe Cocker. Not that this is an excuse for fans to blame referees whenever their team underperforms. Moore was poor for both sides and it detracted from the spectacle of watching two sides who, while not really at their best, were giving everything in a game many view as a meaningless dead rubber.
Catalans Dragons v Saints - Preview
The chance to secure the League Leaders Shield came and went last week, but Saints can make it all but a mathematical certainty with victory over Catalans Dragons in Perpignan on Saturday (September 8, kick-off 5.30pm UK Time).
It’s five weeks since the Dragons wrecked Saints Challenge Cup dreams in that semi-final drubbing at Bolton. Since then Saints have one only once as their lead at the top of the Super League table has been cut to just four points following Wigan’s win over Wakefield Trinity on Thursday (September 6). Another slip here would give Wigan more encouragement than they need to make the battle for top spot a genuine contest.
Saints coach Justin Holbrook is already without Alex Walmsley and Dominique Peyroux and must now also do without Ryan Morgan. The Australian centre picked up yet another head knock early in last week’s 30-10 defeat at home by Wigan, though fortunately it is thought not to be related to the previous problems he had been having with concussion which kept him out for three weeks prior to the derby. With Adam Swift also out and facing shoulder surgery the option of moving Tommy Makinson inside from the wing into Morgan’s centre position seems off the table so Matty Costello is likely to deputise. It’s a big test for Costello but seems a more logical fix than the make-do-and-mend that was shoving Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook into the centres last time out. The decision not to have a back on the bench against Wigan bit Saints hard so expect Theo Fages to make the 17 this time just to give Saints that bit more flexibility should they need a reshuffle. Besides, there is just the merest whisper that James Roby may miss out with a shoulder problem in which case Fages may even find himself starting in the hooking role. Aaron Smith has been added to the 19-man squad in place of Morgan and may spell Fages off the bench, while Morgan Knowles may also come into Holbrook's thinking if he is looking to fill the number nine role by committee.
The rest of the Saints side picks itself, even the much maligned Ben Barba at fullback. I guarantee you that at some point between now and Old Trafford Barba will fire back into life and everyone who has been telling him to go home will want to find ways in which they can be impregnated by him. His defensive effort left much to be desired last week but there was plenty in attack to suggest that the miracles will return soon. Makinson was brilliant on the wing last week and he should help Costello defensively, while Mark Percival and Regan Grace will continue their bid to have the same thought at the same time during a rugby league game on the other side of the attack.
The halfback combination should remain unbroken although Danny Richardson has been having plenty of struggles as the Saints pack has been outplayed in recent weeks. The young half needs to make better decisions in what is a testing time for him following a first half of the season in which he and his forward pack were dominant. Beside him Jonny Lomax has been brilliant for the most part in 2018 but was elusive without really going anywhere against Wigan. There is still much to work on for the pair going into this one and the sharp end of the season where pots are won and lost.
With Walmsley out it is comforting to have Luke Thompson back in situ and if Costello comes in that should give McCarthy-Scarsbrook the opportunity to move back towards the middle where he is far more effective. If Roby does miss out that will be an incalculable loss to Saints in the pack, so the wearying Zeb Taia and the retiring Jon Wilkin will have to step it up along with Knowles. Kyle Amor, Matty Lees, Jack Ashworth and Luke Douglas will all also look for game time in the trenches.
Which is exactly where Catalans won the battle last time these teams met at the University Of Bolton Stadium. Dragons coach Steve McNamara implemented a safety-first game plan allied to some thundering physicality and there is no reason to believe he will do anything else this time around. The Dragons celebrated their cup win hard enough to lose 36-4 to Castleford Tigers last time out but should be rather more focused in the build-up this week. Their chances of making the top four never really existed but they will want to keep on impressing following their Wembley heroics.
Greg Bird’s presence will boost them while in David Mead, Tony Gigot and Josh Drinkwater they have match winners despite the absences of Jodie Broughton and Fouad Yaha. Up front Remi Casty, Mickey McIlorum, Jason Baitieri and Julian Bousquet will all give Saints plenty to think about along with the controversial Kenny Edwards who failed to ingratiate himself with the Saints fans in the cup meeting.
The possibility of Roby missing this one is fairly haunting. With the best will in the world I just can’t see how a misfiring Saints team can go to the south of France against a still buoyant Dragons outfit and win without their talisman. For all of Barba’s spectacular brilliance it is the nuts and bolts of what Roby does which gets Saints on top most weeks. If I am wrong and Barba’s form does not return the absence of Roby for any length of time could kill Saints season stone dead like a stint on Celebrity Big Brother can kill a career.
But let’s stay optimistic and suppose Roby does play, and that Barba finds that extra half yard of pace that has been missing from his game recently. In that scenario Saints could be too much for a Dragons side which could, if it finds itself up against it in the early going, have its collective consciousness turn to the beach. Roby and Barba are not the only players who matter for Saints but they do tend to make everyone else better. If they fire then Saints should get home by around eight points. If not, well….you know…?
Squads;
Catalans Dragons;
1. David Mead, 4. Brayden Wiliame, 6. Samisoni Langi, 8. Rémi Casty, 10. Sam Moa, 13. Greg Bird, 14. Julian Bousquet, 15. Mikael Simon, 16. Vincent Duport, 17. Jason Baitieri, 19. Michael McIlorum, 20. Lewis Tierney, 21. Benjamin Jullien, 22. Lucas Albert, 24. Alrix Da Costa, 31. Tony Gigot, 32. Mickael Goudemand, 33. Josh Drinkwater, 34. Kenny Edwards.
St Helens;
1. Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 4. Mark Percival, 6. Theo Fages, 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, 18. Danny Richardson, 19. Regan Grace, 20. Matty Lees, 21. Jack Ashworth, 23. Ben Barba, 25. Aaron Smith, 30. Matty Costello.
Referee: Liam Moore
It’s five weeks since the Dragons wrecked Saints Challenge Cup dreams in that semi-final drubbing at Bolton. Since then Saints have one only once as their lead at the top of the Super League table has been cut to just four points following Wigan’s win over Wakefield Trinity on Thursday (September 6). Another slip here would give Wigan more encouragement than they need to make the battle for top spot a genuine contest.
Saints coach Justin Holbrook is already without Alex Walmsley and Dominique Peyroux and must now also do without Ryan Morgan. The Australian centre picked up yet another head knock early in last week’s 30-10 defeat at home by Wigan, though fortunately it is thought not to be related to the previous problems he had been having with concussion which kept him out for three weeks prior to the derby. With Adam Swift also out and facing shoulder surgery the option of moving Tommy Makinson inside from the wing into Morgan’s centre position seems off the table so Matty Costello is likely to deputise. It’s a big test for Costello but seems a more logical fix than the make-do-and-mend that was shoving Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook into the centres last time out. The decision not to have a back on the bench against Wigan bit Saints hard so expect Theo Fages to make the 17 this time just to give Saints that bit more flexibility should they need a reshuffle. Besides, there is just the merest whisper that James Roby may miss out with a shoulder problem in which case Fages may even find himself starting in the hooking role. Aaron Smith has been added to the 19-man squad in place of Morgan and may spell Fages off the bench, while Morgan Knowles may also come into Holbrook's thinking if he is looking to fill the number nine role by committee.
The rest of the Saints side picks itself, even the much maligned Ben Barba at fullback. I guarantee you that at some point between now and Old Trafford Barba will fire back into life and everyone who has been telling him to go home will want to find ways in which they can be impregnated by him. His defensive effort left much to be desired last week but there was plenty in attack to suggest that the miracles will return soon. Makinson was brilliant on the wing last week and he should help Costello defensively, while Mark Percival and Regan Grace will continue their bid to have the same thought at the same time during a rugby league game on the other side of the attack.
The halfback combination should remain unbroken although Danny Richardson has been having plenty of struggles as the Saints pack has been outplayed in recent weeks. The young half needs to make better decisions in what is a testing time for him following a first half of the season in which he and his forward pack were dominant. Beside him Jonny Lomax has been brilliant for the most part in 2018 but was elusive without really going anywhere against Wigan. There is still much to work on for the pair going into this one and the sharp end of the season where pots are won and lost.
With Walmsley out it is comforting to have Luke Thompson back in situ and if Costello comes in that should give McCarthy-Scarsbrook the opportunity to move back towards the middle where he is far more effective. If Roby does miss out that will be an incalculable loss to Saints in the pack, so the wearying Zeb Taia and the retiring Jon Wilkin will have to step it up along with Knowles. Kyle Amor, Matty Lees, Jack Ashworth and Luke Douglas will all also look for game time in the trenches.
Which is exactly where Catalans won the battle last time these teams met at the University Of Bolton Stadium. Dragons coach Steve McNamara implemented a safety-first game plan allied to some thundering physicality and there is no reason to believe he will do anything else this time around. The Dragons celebrated their cup win hard enough to lose 36-4 to Castleford Tigers last time out but should be rather more focused in the build-up this week. Their chances of making the top four never really existed but they will want to keep on impressing following their Wembley heroics.
Greg Bird’s presence will boost them while in David Mead, Tony Gigot and Josh Drinkwater they have match winners despite the absences of Jodie Broughton and Fouad Yaha. Up front Remi Casty, Mickey McIlorum, Jason Baitieri and Julian Bousquet will all give Saints plenty to think about along with the controversial Kenny Edwards who failed to ingratiate himself with the Saints fans in the cup meeting.
The possibility of Roby missing this one is fairly haunting. With the best will in the world I just can’t see how a misfiring Saints team can go to the south of France against a still buoyant Dragons outfit and win without their talisman. For all of Barba’s spectacular brilliance it is the nuts and bolts of what Roby does which gets Saints on top most weeks. If I am wrong and Barba’s form does not return the absence of Roby for any length of time could kill Saints season stone dead like a stint on Celebrity Big Brother can kill a career.
But let’s stay optimistic and suppose Roby does play, and that Barba finds that extra half yard of pace that has been missing from his game recently. In that scenario Saints could be too much for a Dragons side which could, if it finds itself up against it in the early going, have its collective consciousness turn to the beach. Roby and Barba are not the only players who matter for Saints but they do tend to make everyone else better. If they fire then Saints should get home by around eight points. If not, well….you know…?
Squads;
Catalans Dragons;
1. David Mead, 4. Brayden Wiliame, 6. Samisoni Langi, 8. Rémi Casty, 10. Sam Moa, 13. Greg Bird, 14. Julian Bousquet, 15. Mikael Simon, 16. Vincent Duport, 17. Jason Baitieri, 19. Michael McIlorum, 20. Lewis Tierney, 21. Benjamin Jullien, 22. Lucas Albert, 24. Alrix Da Costa, 31. Tony Gigot, 32. Mickael Goudemand, 33. Josh Drinkwater, 34. Kenny Edwards.
St Helens;
1. Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 4. Mark Percival, 6. Theo Fages, 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, 18. Danny Richardson, 19. Regan Grace, 20. Matty Lees, 21. Jack Ashworth, 23. Ben Barba, 25. Aaron Smith, 30. Matty Costello.
Referee: Liam Moore
5 Talking Points From Saints 10 Wigan Warriors 30
Ben.....Again....
On Thursday, one day before Saints 30-10 derby defeat by Wigan, the Australian media saw fit to run a story declaring that Ben Barba has agreed a one-year deal with North Queensland Cowboys from 2019. The timing of this was probably not an accident. The Australian press want Box Office Barba back in the NRL as much as his potential suitors do. They can be relied upon to ramp up their efforts to unsettle him accordingly.
They are ably assisted by the British rugby league press who, while stopping short of running a story with anything resembling quotes in it, tweeted the 'news' as if it was fact and began using their social media platforms to speculate on Lachlan Coote arriving in St Helens as a replacement. The noise grew so loud throughout Thursday that even I was moved to call on the club to make a statement regarding Barba's future. Fearing a fan backlash I thought it best to get it all out in the open. Even if all they could confirm is that Barba is considering one or more offers to go home.
The Saints fan base is not naive enough to believe that Barba is planning on being around next year. Where some have been naive is in not realising that it was always going to be short and sweet with Barba if he proved to be a success. The only way he was ever seeing out two and a half years in Super League is if he'd played poorly and so failed to attract attention from the NRL. In those circumstances the club would be wanting him off the wage bill and he'd be digging his heels in telling everyone he has a contract. But that was never likely given his quality which brings me to my final point on Barba.
The man is outrageously good. He's been ordinary in recent weeks and this was another example. Ordinary but no worse than that. If we're not a one-man team in May and June when we're sweeping all before us then it's not all down to him when we lose as we have in three of the last four in all competitions. I'm in the camp that believes Barba is carrying a knock. That's what Justin Holbrook has told us more than once and would explain why that game-changing turn of pace has been absent for a while. We saw a glimpse of it in the first half here but with no support Barba couldn't keep the foot down enough to get home by himself. Perhaps he would have in May or June but we should treat those feats as the miracles they were and not puff out our cheeks and accuse him of not trying. Criticism of his defence is accurate but also rather like berating your window cleaner for not fixing your leaking sink. It's not a revelation to observe that Barba is not the defensive fullback that Paul Wellens was. That's no reason to yearn for Adam Quinlan.
Everything about Barba on and off the field suggests he's embraced the club and the community. Hearing him speak at a club forum in May convinced me that he's not the type of man to give anything less than his best. Is he really going to down tools a month from the end of the season when his chance to pick up silverware and leave a lasting legacy is just around the corner?
The TV Rule Must Go
Saints were well beaten on the night. No amount of what-ifery is going to change the fact that Wigan were by far the better team on the night. The effort was there from Saints but the execution was not, while Wigan were clinical, defensively ferocious and street smart. Yet this was not a totally one-sided affair. There were eight points between the teams until 17 minutes from time when Oliver Gildart streaked down the north stand touchline and rounded Barba as if he were....well.....Adam Quinlan. There were big moments in this one which could, if you believe in momentum in sport, have changed the complexion of the game.
One such moment came early in the game with Saints trailing to Dan Sarginson's early score. Louie-McCarthy Scarsbrook got outside his man and stepped past the cover to touch down by the posts. Ever the showman he leapt in the air and treated us to a dab, which came as a surprise to me as I had thought Cam Newton's well-worn celebration had passed over into parody following excessive use by primary school children mascotting in the Premier League. As it transpired any choice of celebration would have been ill conceived as referee Chris Kendall sent the try up for review with a soft signal of no-try.
Replays showed contact between dummy runner Luke Douglas and Wigan defender and former Saint Joe Greenwood. It's highly questionable whether Greenwood would have got across to make the tackle but video ref Ben Thaler felt he might have and upheld Kendall's no-try decision. The problem is not so much Thaler's belief that Greenwood had the opportunity to make the tackle but rather that he felt that Douglas could have taken any other course of action than he did. According to Sky Sports background noise Stuart Cummins dummy runners must either run through the line or stop short of it. Douglas looked to have stopped just in time to avoid impeding Greenwood. He certainly couldn't run through the line. Greenwood has a significant frame which gives Douglas nowhere to go.
Yet whatever you think of the nature of the contact there can be little argument that the obstruction rule is only applied in TV games. Had this been a non-TV game it's doubtful whether anyone would have questioned it. Greenwood didn't even appear to appeal. The video replay system is now giving officials the option of not bothering to referee TV games which cannot be raising their standards. We saw another example when Kendall failed to rule out a Sam Powell try which was later chalked off by Thaler for a knock-on by John Bateman. There's an argument that he was attempting a pass in any case, which as we know the video referee is unable to rule on. It all adds up to a whiffy old mess in which top professionals are expected to play two versions of the same game depending on the presence or otherwise of broadcasters. Make it stop.
Hey Joe
Greenwood was a big, lanky pain in Saints arse all night. The man they let go to Gold Coast Titans early in 2017 was one of Wigan's top performers, ripping up 137 metres on 14 carries. No Wigan forward made more ground while the only players in cherry and white to better Greenwood's total were wingers Tom Davies and Gildart who combined for a ridiculous 360 metres between them.
Greenwood had one assist, sending Gildart on that epic run which sealed the win but before that he'd had a hand in the first two, both finished by Sarginson. First Greenwood put Morgan Escare through a gap to allow the Frenchman to put Sarginson in. Escare had only been called up as a late replacement for Sam Tomkins who was injured in the warm-up but the former Catalans Dragon caused large helpings of havoc all night. Following that Greenwood broke down the left before handing on to Gildart who held off Barba to put Sarginson in for his second.
All of which is a painful bite on the butt for Saints. There will be inevitable suggestions that Saints should never have let Greenwood leave, especially in the context of the relatively meagre 74 metres on 13 carries mustered by his direct replacement Zeb Taia, who also missed three tackles. Yet that's an overly simplistic view. Greenwood was not fitting in for whatever reason under Keiron Cunningham and wanted to leave. The opportunity at Gold Coast was too good to turn down and by the time he decided to return home Saints salary cap situation was vastly different. None of which eases the pain of watching a very talented old boy put us to the sword.
By Way Of Mitigation.....
I've already intimated that I didn't feel Saints were that bad on the night. Wigan were just very, very good. Apart from Greenwood, Escare and Gildart I haven't even mentioned Sean O'Loughlin who peerlessly ran the game without ever seeming to get his shirt dirty. His ability to have time on the ball amid a frenetic derby is other-worldly. Bateman and Powell were excellent too as the Wigan pack found their Saints counterparts as susceptible to bullying as Catalans and Huddersfield have in recent weeks. But there were certain things that went against Saints that made life more difficult.
Ryan Morgan has been out for three weeks with recurring concussion problems. He lasted just 18 minutes of his return before another blow to the head forced him out again. There has to be a concern now about his long term ability to play rugby league. A similar problem brought an end to Lance Hohaia's playing days. A player's health must come first and serious assessment will no doubt be required before we see Morgan again.
Having declined to select a back on the bench the exit of Morgan left Holbrook with no choice but to move McCarthy-Scarsbrook to the centres. When Cunningham did that he was viewed as the mad king. McCarthy-Scarsbrook was game and his offload for Tommy Makinson's second try was no less magical for the fact that it may have been a touch forward. Cheating Wigan is a joy, after all. Yet there is no getting away from the fact that the switch left Saints exposed defensively, a weakness ruthlessly exposed by Greenwood and others all night. Danny Richardson was targeted and although Morgan Knowles was shunted out there to try to shore things up later on it continued to be a problem.
It's not clear whether Theo Fages was injured or left out but his absence and that of Matty Smith meant there was no opportunity to rest James Roby. That told on Saints who relied too much on their skipper and Luke Thompson to take on Wigan's big men. Dominique Peyroux, a man once held up as a symbol of the mad king's loosening grip on sanity, is now being sorely missed. To borrow Cunningham's phrase the likes of Jack Ashworth, Matty Lees and even Kyle Amor seemed overawed.
Fages would have offered an option at 9 and maybe even at 7 where Richardson is currently floundering thanks to his beaten pack and his own questionable choices with ball in hand. The question is whether you call on Fages or even the experienced Matty Smith for a last hurrah down the stretch before what looks like a move to France or else stick with the youngster on the basis that he will learn and grow through the difficulties he is currently experiencing.
Is The Season Unravelling?
Before the cup loss to Catalans there wasn't much doubt in Saints minds that we would reach and win both the Challenge Cup final and the Super League Grand Final. There were those who nodded sagely at 27-0 down at Bolton and announced that such a fearful pounding to such an average team had been coming, but even those people were strangely quiet about that until midway through that bewildering first half. Nobody had anything bad to say about this Saints side until that very public exposure of their frailties.
Most saw even that as a blip and weren't even overly concerned when we managed to lose at home to Huddersfield the following week. It has taken a comfortable derby loss to strike real fear into hearts that this season may be one in which we end up with nothing. The continuing circus around Barba only supports the notion that we've run out of steam. We're already guaranteed a home semi-final but beyond that would it be a major surprise if we were beaten at home by any of Castleford, Warrington or even Huddersfield? And where would your money be if the Grand Final were next week and we had to face up to Greenwood, Bateman, O'Loughlin, Gildart, Davies and company in? Though it would help if they replaced Escare with a suddenly fit-again Tomkins, wouldn't it?
We're in a spot at the moment precisely because we are capable of being comprehensively outplayed despite no lack of effort. If we hadn't tried I'd be disgusted but somehow heartened that with a bit more commitment and endeavour we could turn it around. We're being outmatched in the forwards and not just by a quality Wigan side but by less celebrated mobs like the Dragons and Giants. Thompson is feeling the strain of having to fill the void left by Alex Walmsley's season-ending neck injury. If you can't win the battle up front then only the miraculous return to form of a world class attacking threat in the backs will give you even a sniff of glory.
If only we had such a player........
On Thursday, one day before Saints 30-10 derby defeat by Wigan, the Australian media saw fit to run a story declaring that Ben Barba has agreed a one-year deal with North Queensland Cowboys from 2019. The timing of this was probably not an accident. The Australian press want Box Office Barba back in the NRL as much as his potential suitors do. They can be relied upon to ramp up their efforts to unsettle him accordingly.
They are ably assisted by the British rugby league press who, while stopping short of running a story with anything resembling quotes in it, tweeted the 'news' as if it was fact and began using their social media platforms to speculate on Lachlan Coote arriving in St Helens as a replacement. The noise grew so loud throughout Thursday that even I was moved to call on the club to make a statement regarding Barba's future. Fearing a fan backlash I thought it best to get it all out in the open. Even if all they could confirm is that Barba is considering one or more offers to go home.
The Saints fan base is not naive enough to believe that Barba is planning on being around next year. Where some have been naive is in not realising that it was always going to be short and sweet with Barba if he proved to be a success. The only way he was ever seeing out two and a half years in Super League is if he'd played poorly and so failed to attract attention from the NRL. In those circumstances the club would be wanting him off the wage bill and he'd be digging his heels in telling everyone he has a contract. But that was never likely given his quality which brings me to my final point on Barba.
The man is outrageously good. He's been ordinary in recent weeks and this was another example. Ordinary but no worse than that. If we're not a one-man team in May and June when we're sweeping all before us then it's not all down to him when we lose as we have in three of the last four in all competitions. I'm in the camp that believes Barba is carrying a knock. That's what Justin Holbrook has told us more than once and would explain why that game-changing turn of pace has been absent for a while. We saw a glimpse of it in the first half here but with no support Barba couldn't keep the foot down enough to get home by himself. Perhaps he would have in May or June but we should treat those feats as the miracles they were and not puff out our cheeks and accuse him of not trying. Criticism of his defence is accurate but also rather like berating your window cleaner for not fixing your leaking sink. It's not a revelation to observe that Barba is not the defensive fullback that Paul Wellens was. That's no reason to yearn for Adam Quinlan.
Everything about Barba on and off the field suggests he's embraced the club and the community. Hearing him speak at a club forum in May convinced me that he's not the type of man to give anything less than his best. Is he really going to down tools a month from the end of the season when his chance to pick up silverware and leave a lasting legacy is just around the corner?
The TV Rule Must Go
Saints were well beaten on the night. No amount of what-ifery is going to change the fact that Wigan were by far the better team on the night. The effort was there from Saints but the execution was not, while Wigan were clinical, defensively ferocious and street smart. Yet this was not a totally one-sided affair. There were eight points between the teams until 17 minutes from time when Oliver Gildart streaked down the north stand touchline and rounded Barba as if he were....well.....Adam Quinlan. There were big moments in this one which could, if you believe in momentum in sport, have changed the complexion of the game.
One such moment came early in the game with Saints trailing to Dan Sarginson's early score. Louie-McCarthy Scarsbrook got outside his man and stepped past the cover to touch down by the posts. Ever the showman he leapt in the air and treated us to a dab, which came as a surprise to me as I had thought Cam Newton's well-worn celebration had passed over into parody following excessive use by primary school children mascotting in the Premier League. As it transpired any choice of celebration would have been ill conceived as referee Chris Kendall sent the try up for review with a soft signal of no-try.
Replays showed contact between dummy runner Luke Douglas and Wigan defender and former Saint Joe Greenwood. It's highly questionable whether Greenwood would have got across to make the tackle but video ref Ben Thaler felt he might have and upheld Kendall's no-try decision. The problem is not so much Thaler's belief that Greenwood had the opportunity to make the tackle but rather that he felt that Douglas could have taken any other course of action than he did. According to Sky Sports background noise Stuart Cummins dummy runners must either run through the line or stop short of it. Douglas looked to have stopped just in time to avoid impeding Greenwood. He certainly couldn't run through the line. Greenwood has a significant frame which gives Douglas nowhere to go.
Yet whatever you think of the nature of the contact there can be little argument that the obstruction rule is only applied in TV games. Had this been a non-TV game it's doubtful whether anyone would have questioned it. Greenwood didn't even appear to appeal. The video replay system is now giving officials the option of not bothering to referee TV games which cannot be raising their standards. We saw another example when Kendall failed to rule out a Sam Powell try which was later chalked off by Thaler for a knock-on by John Bateman. There's an argument that he was attempting a pass in any case, which as we know the video referee is unable to rule on. It all adds up to a whiffy old mess in which top professionals are expected to play two versions of the same game depending on the presence or otherwise of broadcasters. Make it stop.
Hey Joe
Greenwood was a big, lanky pain in Saints arse all night. The man they let go to Gold Coast Titans early in 2017 was one of Wigan's top performers, ripping up 137 metres on 14 carries. No Wigan forward made more ground while the only players in cherry and white to better Greenwood's total were wingers Tom Davies and Gildart who combined for a ridiculous 360 metres between them.
Greenwood had one assist, sending Gildart on that epic run which sealed the win but before that he'd had a hand in the first two, both finished by Sarginson. First Greenwood put Morgan Escare through a gap to allow the Frenchman to put Sarginson in. Escare had only been called up as a late replacement for Sam Tomkins who was injured in the warm-up but the former Catalans Dragon caused large helpings of havoc all night. Following that Greenwood broke down the left before handing on to Gildart who held off Barba to put Sarginson in for his second.
All of which is a painful bite on the butt for Saints. There will be inevitable suggestions that Saints should never have let Greenwood leave, especially in the context of the relatively meagre 74 metres on 13 carries mustered by his direct replacement Zeb Taia, who also missed three tackles. Yet that's an overly simplistic view. Greenwood was not fitting in for whatever reason under Keiron Cunningham and wanted to leave. The opportunity at Gold Coast was too good to turn down and by the time he decided to return home Saints salary cap situation was vastly different. None of which eases the pain of watching a very talented old boy put us to the sword.
By Way Of Mitigation.....
I've already intimated that I didn't feel Saints were that bad on the night. Wigan were just very, very good. Apart from Greenwood, Escare and Gildart I haven't even mentioned Sean O'Loughlin who peerlessly ran the game without ever seeming to get his shirt dirty. His ability to have time on the ball amid a frenetic derby is other-worldly. Bateman and Powell were excellent too as the Wigan pack found their Saints counterparts as susceptible to bullying as Catalans and Huddersfield have in recent weeks. But there were certain things that went against Saints that made life more difficult.
Ryan Morgan has been out for three weeks with recurring concussion problems. He lasted just 18 minutes of his return before another blow to the head forced him out again. There has to be a concern now about his long term ability to play rugby league. A similar problem brought an end to Lance Hohaia's playing days. A player's health must come first and serious assessment will no doubt be required before we see Morgan again.
Having declined to select a back on the bench the exit of Morgan left Holbrook with no choice but to move McCarthy-Scarsbrook to the centres. When Cunningham did that he was viewed as the mad king. McCarthy-Scarsbrook was game and his offload for Tommy Makinson's second try was no less magical for the fact that it may have been a touch forward. Cheating Wigan is a joy, after all. Yet there is no getting away from the fact that the switch left Saints exposed defensively, a weakness ruthlessly exposed by Greenwood and others all night. Danny Richardson was targeted and although Morgan Knowles was shunted out there to try to shore things up later on it continued to be a problem.
It's not clear whether Theo Fages was injured or left out but his absence and that of Matty Smith meant there was no opportunity to rest James Roby. That told on Saints who relied too much on their skipper and Luke Thompson to take on Wigan's big men. Dominique Peyroux, a man once held up as a symbol of the mad king's loosening grip on sanity, is now being sorely missed. To borrow Cunningham's phrase the likes of Jack Ashworth, Matty Lees and even Kyle Amor seemed overawed.
Fages would have offered an option at 9 and maybe even at 7 where Richardson is currently floundering thanks to his beaten pack and his own questionable choices with ball in hand. The question is whether you call on Fages or even the experienced Matty Smith for a last hurrah down the stretch before what looks like a move to France or else stick with the youngster on the basis that he will learn and grow through the difficulties he is currently experiencing.
Is The Season Unravelling?
Before the cup loss to Catalans there wasn't much doubt in Saints minds that we would reach and win both the Challenge Cup final and the Super League Grand Final. There were those who nodded sagely at 27-0 down at Bolton and announced that such a fearful pounding to such an average team had been coming, but even those people were strangely quiet about that until midway through that bewildering first half. Nobody had anything bad to say about this Saints side until that very public exposure of their frailties.
Most saw even that as a blip and weren't even overly concerned when we managed to lose at home to Huddersfield the following week. It has taken a comfortable derby loss to strike real fear into hearts that this season may be one in which we end up with nothing. The continuing circus around Barba only supports the notion that we've run out of steam. We're already guaranteed a home semi-final but beyond that would it be a major surprise if we were beaten at home by any of Castleford, Warrington or even Huddersfield? And where would your money be if the Grand Final were next week and we had to face up to Greenwood, Bateman, O'Loughlin, Gildart, Davies and company in? Though it would help if they replaced Escare with a suddenly fit-again Tomkins, wouldn't it?
We're in a spot at the moment precisely because we are capable of being comprehensively outplayed despite no lack of effort. If we hadn't tried I'd be disgusted but somehow heartened that with a bit more commitment and endeavour we could turn it around. We're being outmatched in the forwards and not just by a quality Wigan side but by less celebrated mobs like the Dragons and Giants. Thompson is feeling the strain of having to fill the void left by Alex Walmsley's season-ending neck injury. If you can't win the battle up front then only the miraculous return to form of a world class attacking threat in the backs will give you even a sniff of glory.
If only we had such a player........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)