Saints v Warrington Wolves - Preview

It has felt like a long time coming, but Saints finally see some serious, cut-throat action when they host Warrington in the Super League semi-final playoff on Thursday night (October 4, kick-off 7.45pm).

Saints have seemed certain to host a semi-final for a couple of months now. Their Super 8s campaign has been a snoozy affair riddled with impatience as players, coaches, fans and everyone connected with the club looked ahead to the knockout games. Even when the League Leaders Shield was secured with a 38-12 win over Hull FC three weeks ago it was met with the kind of enthusiasm I muster when a new superhero film is released at the cinema. While the rest of us groaned, the younger fans chortled at the very idea that people once thought it was appropriate to decide the championship based on consistency over a league season.

Saints only stepped out of this catatonic limbo briefly during September when they visited semi-final opponents Warrington. What was supposed to be a dead rubber with neither side willing to show the other anything ahead of the real business was instead filled with large helpings of blood and more than a dash of thunder. Three men were sin-binned while Mike Cooper escaped censure for the kind of challenge on James Bentley that Mick Cassidy would have drawn the line at.

Now it’s for real as the Wolves stand between Saints and a first Grand Final appearance since gloriously ousting a purple-clad Wigan in 2014. A Wigan who had clearly had their win-at-all-costs-ometer cranked up to ‘are you nuts?’ level by Saints-hating chief pie-muncher Shaun Wane. He may await in the Grand Final this year in what will be his final chance to send some more Saints stars into premature retirement, but first Justin Holbrook’s class of 2018 have to get past Steve Price’s much improved Warrington side.

Holbrook has been calling on youth in the latter stages of the Super 8s. That might largely have been an attempt to wake everyone up, but it also served the possibly key purpose of allowing key men a rest at the end of what has been a long season. Young talent like Aaron Smith, Matty Costello, James Bentley, Jack Welsby and Jake Spedding have all been called upon during the run-up to the semi-finals but it is telling that none of them have made the 19-man squad for this one. Holbrook is bringing out the big guns, although both Matty Lees and Jack Ashworth are included. Lees has just been given a call-up to the England Knights squad to go to Papaua New Guinea in the autumn while Ashworth has been impressing everyone with his strong running and ability to offload as a career that took its time to get going has finally stepped up several levels. With Luke Thompson back to lead the prop group it should not be beyond the realms that one of Lees or Ashworth will keep Kyle Amor out of the final 17 on match day, with Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Luke Douglas also likely to turn up in the trenches at some point.

Bentley is particularly unlucky to miss out after impressing in the second row in recent weeks but it was always going to be difficult to oust either Zeb Taia or Dominique Peyroux, the latter having recovered from a broken arm to feature in the last two Super 8s games. Behind them Jon Wilkin is playing his last game for Saints on home soil while Morgan Knowles has provided excellent support for the former skipper all season. James Roby returned to action in last week’s win over Castleford and could be backed up by either Knowles or the excellent nuisance Theo Fages.

The backline more or less picks itself. Ben Barba is suddenly brilliant again after wrapping up his move to North Queensland for 2019 and he will start at fullback behind the three-quarter line of Tommy Makinson, Ryan Morgan, Mark Percival and Regan Grace. Jonny Lomax was rested for last week’s visit of the Tigers but should be restored at stand-off alongside another England Knight Danny Richardson at halfback. Makinson, Percival and Lomax have all been handed places in Wayne Bennett’s 24-man England squad for the autumn series against New Zealand along with Thompson, while Roby misses out to have surgery in the off-season.

Warrington are also at something close to full strength. Only long term absentee Ben Currie misses out along with Sitaleki Akauola while Dom Crosby is on loan at Leeds Rhinos. Wire’s England contingent of Stefan Ratchford, Daryl Clark and Chris Hill are all included along with the aforementioned pantomime villain Cooper. Ben Murdoch-Masila gets another chance to renew hostilities with Lomax who miraculously put a stop to one of the former Salford man’s bullocking runs to the line when the teams met a fortnight ago. Jack Hughes is a steadier presence in the second row and he should start with perhaps the more maverick talents of Harvey Livett coming in off the bench to offer a different problem to the Saints defence.

Ben Westwood will no doubt go halfback hunting once more in his umpteenth playoff game but when the Wolves get the opportunity to get the ball out wide and attack they have plenty of flair. They boast the returning Tom Lineham as well as the in-form and free-scoring Bryson Goodwin. Toby King and/or Ryan Atkins could pop up in the centres while Josh Charnley has been one of the best wingers in the competition since his switch back from rugby union. Kevin Brown and Tyrone Roberts both left that last meeting between these two early through injury and both will need to play a much bigger part this time if Warrington are to cause what would be classed as an upset and reach Old Trafford. Declan Patton backs those two up and can also fill in at hooker for Clark at certain times.

All being well you would expect a Saints side really hitting its autumnal straps to edge past a Warrington side which has been good in spells this year but never really convinced you that they can match it with the top sides when it really matters. Yet this is a semi-final, and a highly unfancied Saints side were edged out of a Grand Final place last year by nothing but a Luke Gale drop-goal. Nothing is certain and the early stages should be fairly terrifying if the first half of the meeting at the Haliwell Jones Stadium is anything to go by. Both sides know that they have to switch quickly from a meandering mode to one of do or die. In truth it could be the side that makes that transition more effectively that will be striding out in Manchester on October 13.

Squads;

St Helens;

1. Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Ryan Morgan, 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, 17. Dom Peyroux, 18. Danny Richardson, 19. Regan Grace, 20. Matty Lees, 21. Jack Ashworth, 23. Ben Barba.

Warrington Wolves;

1. Stefan Ratchford, 2. Tom Lineham, 3. Bryson Goodwin, 4. Ryan Atkins, 6. Kevin Brown, 7. Tyrone Roberts, 8. Chris Hill, 9. Daryl Clark, 10. Mike Cooper, 12. Jack Hughes, 13. Ben Murdoch-Masaila, 15. Declan Patton, 17. Joe Philbin, 18. Toby King, 19. George King, 20. Harvey Livett, 27. Josh Charnley, 30. Bodene Thompson, 34. Ben Westwood.

Referee: Robert Hicks