Enough of the piffling friendlies, and on to more serious matters as Saints welcome Leeds Rhinos to their World Cup-hosting home this Friday night (February 22, kick-off 7.45pm). It’s a BetFred Super League Round 3 clash, so it is best not to think about the fact that Leeds went to Salford in Round 10 last week. That Saints Blog You Quite Like is no mathematician in any case.
What it can tell you is that Leeds, having started their 2019 campaign with defeats at both Warrington and Wigan, finally got a win on the board against Ian Watson’s Red Devils side last time out. And a convincing one at that. The Rhinos ran out 46-14 winners over the Salford side which had conned many pundits including this one into thinking they had a chance against David Furner’s men after early season wins over both Huddersfield Giants and London Broncos. The win will be a huge confidence boost to the Rhinos who had been palpably failing to gel in those visits to Warrington and Wigan. Not helping them is the fact that due to ongoing work at Headingley they have been forced to play their first four league games away from home, and it doesn’t get any easier for them with a trip to last season’s League Leaders Shield winners this week.
Justin Holbrook indicated early in the week that he would probably select the same squad that was on duty for the visit to Wakefield way back on February 10 when Saints last took the field. And the Australian coach is true to his word. Danny Richardson may have joined Matty Costello, Jack Ashworth and Aaron Smith on dual registration at Leigh last week along with the on-loan Luke Douglas but the young half is still in contention for a first appearance of 2019 for now. More likely though is that Theo Fages will continue in the role that he has made more than a decent fist of in Saints first two outings which could leave Richardson heading towards Leigh Sports Village once more. He won’t even get to play against former Saints skipper Jon Wilkin who is suspended for Toronto Wolfpack’s visit. Still with his fellow dual registration recruits as well as Douglas around there will be plenty of familiar faces around Richardson should he get the call from coach John Duffy. Or is it Holbrook who picks Leigh’s team? Oh I don’t know. It is confusing.
So if not Richardson then who apart from Fages will be in Saints colours this weekend? Lachlan Coote has received a lot of criticism from the knee-jerkers for failing to be Ben Barba, but his early showings in the red vee have been mostly assured with no little amount of creativity. With Barba gone and Jonny Lomax settled into the stand-off role Coote doesn’t have a realistic challenger for the fullback jersey. He’ll start behind a three-quarter line of Tommy Makinson, Kevin Naiqama, Mark Percival and Regan Grace. Adam Swift has not yet been sent to Leigh which is odd given that the dual registration agreement is there to try to get game time for players on the fringe who might be needed at a moment’s notice. Maybe it’s Swift’s turn this week.
Ahead of Lomax and Fages the front row will be led by the most terrifying prop duo in Super League in Luke Thompson and Alex Walmsley, with the incomparable James Roby unchallenged and in all probability therefore unrested at hooker. Zeb Taia and Dominique Peyroux are a solid enough second row partnership to see new signing Joe Batchelor sent back to York City Knights from whence he came only a few months ago and also to keep as good a talent as James Bentley out of the picture for now although the former Bradford Bulls man remains in the 19. Morgan Knowles has got the nod in the opening two games at loose forward and should do so again ahead of Joseph Paulo. On the bench look for Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, fresh from his game-winning four-pointer at Wakefield, Kyle Amor and Matty Lees to add impact along with Paulo.
Leeds have now settled their fullback argument, if they ever had one, with much fancied prospect Jack Walker in the role ahead of a soon to be on-loan or sold Ash Golding. Walker was slightly shaky at Warrington and Wigan but produced a dominant display to grab a hat-trick at Salford. His time is coming. The Rhinos three-quarter line no longer has Ryan Hall or Joel Moon as it did in its 2015 pomp but it still poses a real threat with the likes of Tom Briscoe and Ash Handley who has scored two hat-tricks against Saints in recent meetings, as well as interestingly-barneted battering ram Konrad Hurrell after his arrival from Gold Coast Titans. If Furner can find a way to use Hurrell in wider areas rather than as an auxiliary second rower the Rhinos could cause Saints edge defence some problems. Yet the real diamond in that group is Kallum Watkins, back from a lengthy injury lay-off and just starting to show signs of the form which made him the best centre in Super League and a certain starter for England.
Directing operations in midfield will be Marmite’s Richard Myler and another new signing in the shape of stand-off Tui Lolohea. The latter has not convinced yet since coming in from Wests Tigers. He's looked more like a front rower than a six or even a 13 at times, but if he can form a coherent link with Myler then good things may lie ahead for the 2017 champions. Their pack is full of experience and talent, with 2015 Man Of Steel nominee and serial off-loader Adam Cuthbertson joined by the likes of Matt Parcell, Brad Singleton, Stevie Ward and Brett Ferres. Trent Merrin has been brought in from Penrith Panthers to add further depth and quality. Brad Dwyer has been good enough to start ahead of Parcell in recent weeks while Nathaniel Peteru, Mikolaj Oledzki, Liam Sutcliffe, Harry Newman and the ominously named Cameron Smith will also hope to see action. Perhaps Ward is the key in that department for Leeds. He's a fantastic talent who has been injury prone but could be one of the best 13s in the game in years to come.
There have been some classic encounters between Saints and Leeds, not least of which is this gem which I just happened to write about from 2016. The last time Leeds visited Saints they left with the two competition points as an underwhelming home outfit went down to a 28-20 defeat in mid-March of 2018. Your writer spent that night in hospital with a leg infection and so was not in attendance so perhaps you have your scapegoat right there. Every effort will be made to attend this week. Three months later Saints avenged that loss at Headingley, squeaking home by the odd point in 45 thanks to a Richardson drop-goal. They may have to find another hero if the game is that close again this time around. That was the last meeting between the two sides as Leeds’ 2018 campaign nosedived and they found themselves in what turned out to be the last incarnation of the Middle 8 Qualifiers.
We can expect better from Leeds this season but a solitary victory over a schizophrenic Salford outfit is not enough to convince me that they can go to a solid-looking St.Helens side and emerge with a win. Saints by 12.
Squads;
St Helens;
1. Jonny Lomax, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Kevin Naiqama, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Regan Grace, 6. Theo Fages, 7. Danny Richardson, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Luke Thompson, 11. Zeb Taia, 12. Joseph Paulo, 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 15. Morgan Knowles, 16. Kyle Amor, 17. Dom Peyroux, 19. Matty Lees, 22. James Bentley, 23. Lachlan Coote.
Leeds Rhinos;
1. Jack Walker, 2. Tom Briscoe, 3. Kallum Watkins (c), 4. Konrad Hurrell, 5. Ash Handley, 6. Tui Lolohea, 7. Richie Myler, 8. Adam Cuthbertson, 9. Matt Parcell, 10. Brad Singleton, 11. Trent Merrin, 13. Stevie Ward, 14. Brad Dwyer, 15. Liam Sutcliffe, 16. Brett Ferres, 18. Nathaniel Peteru, 19. Mikolaj Oledzki, 22. Cameron Smith, 29. Harry Newman
Referee: Robert Hicks
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