5 Talking Points From Saints 62 Hull FC 16

Is The Easter Schedule Too Much?

For as long as anyone can remember rugby league has required all its professional sides to turn out twice in four days during the Easter period. The festival itself might be movable but the tradition of this punishing schedule has not budged. Nor does it look likely to despite the debate raging every single year. It's like poppies in November.

This year is no different. For the clubs the fact that there are two games means that they are guaranteed one home game over the long weekend. This is a major reason why the majority of them support the status quo. They view that one home game as an opportunity to welcome what old fashioned people call a ‘bumper’ crowd to their home venue, thus boosting the club’s finances. Switching to one game and spreading the fixtures over the holiday as they do in the NRL would mean clubs having to adapt to the fact that they would only get a home fixture every other year at Easter. Driven by self interest and steeped in all the old truisms about poverty in the game which have led us down the path towards loop fixtures, the clubs have continued to resist change.

But are there compelling reasons to look again at the situation. Hull FC turned up for this one without Danny Houghton, Gareth Ellis, Josh Griffin and Mickey Paea from the squad that had hit 56 points of their own in the Good Friday derby win over Hull KR. Saints were without the injured Mark Percival and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook while coach Justin Holbrook also chose not to risk Alex Walmsley or Zeb Taia. Saints then went on to lose Luke Thompson and Tommy Makinson during the course of the game. With Theo Fages having been out since the win over Rovers at the end of March the squad was stretched. But this is not a whine about the effect on the team, the kind of drivel you might get from some other Saints-related snallygasters online. It’s a genuine concern that paying fans of all clubs are being denied the right to see the best players in action, especially in the Easter Monday games after the Good Friday fixtures have taken their toll.

What does the scheduling do for the sport anyway? Ok, so over 22,000 fans turned up to watch Wigan v Saints on Good Friday. Indeed it was a record aggregate crowd for Super League fixtures over the Easter weekend. But how many TV viewers were lost for Wigan v Saints as the target television audience flocked to Headingley and the Halliwell Jones Stadium for the other 3.00 kick-offs? Which other sport schedules its biggest TV games to clash with other matches in the same division in the way that rugby league does? How many times have you been at the stadium that dare not speak its name watching Saints trounce London Broncos on a Friday night and allowed just the flicker of the notion to pass through your mind that you’d rather be at home watching Warrington play Leeds, Wigan or Castleford. We need to wise up.

Thompson Loss A Huge Blow For Saints

Of all the bumps and bruises picked up over the two games the most telling might be the injury sustained by Thompson. Barely 10 minutes had gone by when the England forward picked up what has been described by Holbrook as a sprained ankle. He added, chillingly, that he hoped it wouldn’t need surgery and that instead it would just need to be put in a boot for a while.

All ends up that means at least a few weeks out for Thompson. He’s been Saints best prop again this season, arguably the best in the league and all on the back of sweeping the board at Saints’ individual awards presentations in 2018. He’s broken into Wayne Bennett’s England team among some ridiculous competition. He’s got everything you’d need from a front rower, including 1356 metres at nearly eight metres a clip and 284 tackles so far this season. That translates to more ground made than any Saints forward. Only Makinson is ahead of Thompson in that category for the Red Vee.

On the plus side his absence is likely to offer an opportunity for more minutes for Matty Lees and Jack Ashworth, while Kyle Amor should also expect to see more action over the coming weeks with McCarthy-Scarsbrook also laid low. Lees and Ashworth performed admirably against Lee Radford’s side but it was Amor’s 104-metre effort that may raise the most eyebrows. The former Wakefield man is probably fifth or sixth choice in Saints’ prop rotation when everybody is fit but if he can produce numbers like that when called upon it bodes well.

The return of Walmsley is a must, however, especially against a physical Catalans Dragons pack this Sunday. Steve McNamara’s side have got the better of Saints on a couple of occasions in the last eight months and would fancy doing so again if Saints have to go in without either of their front-line props. For all their industry and enthusiasm, the others in the group lack that almost unquantifiable certain something that can be the difference between dominating and being dominated as a pack. Some call it a bit of dog but it is more than that. Aggression is key, but it's the speed at which Walmsley and Thompson do things and their indefatigable engines which are perhaps more important.

Morgan Misses Out

Call it all off. It's all over. We might aswell not turn up this weekend. Just give Catalans the game. Or at least send for the emergency services to cope with the mass collapses among the Saints fans that are sure to ensue with the news that Morgan Knowles will miss this weekend's visit from the French outfit. The Welsh international has been handed a one-match suspension for a challenge on Albert Kelly. I couldn't see the exact nature of it from my position in the North Stand but the disciplinary report talks of forcefully twisting, bending or otherwise applying pressure to the limbs of an opponent in a manner which provides an unacceptable risk to player safety. Kelly was down for a while following the tackle but that is no real barometer of innocence or guilt. There appear to be two camps among the Saints fans on this one. Those who haven't seen it and those who don't believe Knowles was guilty. Mind, many of those are so under Knowles' spell that if they came home to find him in bed with their wives they would just tuck him in and go back out for another pint.

Knowles is a fine player and vital to what Saints are trying to achieve this year. Yet to listen to some of the hyperbole coming out of the mouths of fans and certain ex-players about him you would think he was a rugby league God already. He regularly tops Saints' tackle count, although this one was a rare exception after he was shunted out into the second row in Holbrook's reshuffle. It is going the other way that he leaves me a little underwhelmed. His attacking stats as this column might have mentioned once or twice before are about as frightening to opposition defences as those of the much more maligned Joseph Paulo. Knowles managed 26 tackles against the black and whites, behind only James Roby's 35, and carried the ball for 78 metres on 10 carries. This compares very favourably to Paulo's 38 metres on just seven carries but that is before you consider the fact that Paulo had two try assists and the fact that Knowles' move to the second row should result in more space to run into. In 11 previous starts at loose forward Knowles has managed just one assist. And precisely no clean breaks. In those 11 starts at 13 he has averaged only 47.36 metres per game which isn't all that different from Paulo's effort in this one. So he is quite similar then, but without the assists. Prior to that the former USA international was averaging 57.36 metres per game off the bench. You do the maths, folks. Knowles starts off a lot of Saints attacks by going to the line and drawing defenders but he never beats any himself, and never misses a man out with a pass. He keeps it simple, giving the ball to someone more creative at the first opportunity. There's a lot to be said for that. It's quite the virtue. But does it deserve the level of awe in which Knowles is currently held?

For example, can someone explain to me why Garry Schofield compared Knowles with Paul Sculthorpe this week? And yet there are still people who think Knowles is UNDER-rated! Knowles may well go on to captain Saints and maybe even Great Britain if he develops into the leader that no less a judge than Holbrook believes he can be. But the level of praise he gets right now is the very definition of premature. I only hope that the lad himself knows this and doesn't go around thinking that he is currently comparable to Sculthorpe, one of the greatest players to ever pull on a rugby league shirt for any club let alone just Saints. Sculthorpe never used to give the ball to a more creative player because quite often he couldn't find one. There weren't any. Danny Richardson is an absolute case study in what happens to talented players when they are compared with club legends way before they have achieved anything like as much in the game. Please, I implore you Saints fans, stop ruining Morgan Knowles.

For the weekend the Cumbrian-born player is a big miss. Let's not forget that, and let's not forget that Catalans are still the only side to beat Saints in Super League this season. We could have done with someone with his voracious appetite for a tackle shoring up the middle of that defence. But you know what? We're still capable of winning. I won't be setting up an emergency helpline for bereft fans just yet.

Swift Does All He Can While Lomax Shows His Class

We might not see too much of Adam Swift this season. Or indeed for the remainder of his Saints career. He has to be weighing up his options having seen Regan Grace cement a spot on that left wing, and with Tommy Makinson already an immovable object on the opposite side. Only injuries and suspensions among the backs will allow Swift a look-in. This was one such occasion, with Percival having been ruled out with that hamstring injury picked up at Wigan.

Swift cannot do any more than he did, really. This was his first Super League appearance of the season and he has only played a couple of games on dual registration at Leigh Centurions after starting the season injured. To step in and help himself to a hat-trick of tries shows the character and the quality of Swift. Most clubs would start with Swift right now, maybe even Wigan whose array of talented wingers are going down like the proverbial pins. Two of his three finishes were Makinson-esque dives for the corner and though a lot of credit needs to be given to Kevin Naiqama for an excellent performance at right centre Swift should also receive his share of the plaudits.

Overall Swift ran for 167 metres on 20 carries, more than any Saint including Naiqama who racked up 149. Swift made no errors, which farts in the face of some of the criticism he has received in the past, although he was questionable defensively as he managed to miss two of his meagre five tackle attempts. Yet in many ways it doesn't matter what Swift did or did not do. When Percival returns to fitness he will no doubt be restored to the line-up and there is, despite his heroics here, no reason to believe that Swift has lifted himself ahead of either Makinson or Grace in the pecking order. Those two have enough credit in the bank of their own to be able to absorb being outshone on a Bank Holiday Monday at home to Hull FC without having anyone question their place in the side. All of which is unfortunate for Swift who has managed 82 tries in 123 appearances for his home town club. He should get a chance to add a few more to his tally as Percival looks set to miss around six weeks of action, but it would surprise nobody if we saw Swift lining up regularly for a different Super League club in 2020.

That Swift did not get Man Of The Match honours on his return to the side is down in part to the display of Jonny Lomax. The fullback turned stand-off was peerless in the middle of the field, amassing an eye-popping, defence-shredding SIXTEEN tackle busts as well as crossing for two tries of his own and adding a further three assists. He was at the centre of everything that Saints did as they tore apart the FC defence time and time again. Don't forget that Hull actually took an early 10-0 lead in this one as tries from Joe Westerman and Carlos Tuimavave rattled Saints cage. But Lomax didn't panic, leading his side around the park supremely, putting in Saints in front in quick time with his first half try-double. I am not sure it is a coincidence that the one game Saints have lost in 2019 is the one game that Lomax has missed, when illness forced him out of the trip to Perpignan. He is going to be crucial to Saints' chances of avenging that loss this weekend.

Batchelor Debut Is Promising

This column was hauled over the proverbial coals last week for the heinous crime of suggesting that Joe Batchelor had not yet established himself in Saints first team. His first team appearance total of zero would seem to suggest that there was some basis in fact in what was written. It may not be his fault, he may have done well to work his way up to the fringes of Super League so soon after playing in League One with York, especially at a club like Saints who are currently dominating the standings. But the fact remains he was not in the side. The post did not speculate as to the reasons why nor did it attach any blame to the kid for not being better than Taia or Dominique Peyroux.

However, with Taia rested and Peyroux only named on the bench Holbrook did offer Batchelor an opportunity in this one. Hate to say I told you so but that was actually the wider point I was making when I mentioned Batchelor's lack of first team activity in a previous post. That he would probably play in this one, and he did. But yeah, it was lazy.

Anyway, Batchelor will have impressed many with his first foray into Super League action. He operated on the left of the second row which was a difficult place to fit in with Percival missing and his initial replacement Makinson clearly half-fit. It would have been easier for him to have slotted into a more settled left edge but he showed that no matter who you put alongside him he is prepared to do whatever it takes to establish himself at this level. Can I say that? Can we get a sub in here to make sure that passes the rose-tinted, happy-clapper test? Statistically Batchelor is surely one of few Super League debutants to go over the 100-metre mark, his 107 coming off 13 carries at 8.23 metres per carry. He put in a respectable 19 tackles, missing just the one while he had two tackle busts. The only negatives were one error and the concession of two penalties. All in all a pretty promising debut but like Swift, you get the feeling that Batchelor is a player who will need to make the most of his opportunities when they arrive. Taia and Peyroux have formed one of the best second row partnerships in the competition in 2019 and it would be a major surprise if both were not restored to the starting line-up for the visit of McNamara's men. The difference from Swift's situation is that the men in front of Batchelor do not have time on their side. At only 24 he has that time to wait for more chances.

With talk of whether or not we would re-sign an apparently unhappy Joe Greenwood from Wigan doing the rounds this week it is heartening to know that there is enough talent coming through in that position to suggest that we do not necessarily need to go back to players who have already left the club for a reason. James Bentley turned out for Leigh at the same time as Batchelor was making his Saints debut and the former Bradford man helped himself to a hat-trick of tries in the process. He has been unlucky not to have been given more opportunities since making his Super League debut but if both he and Batchelor stick around they could be part of something new and exciting at Saints in the future. And yes, that will probably involve a pretty pivotal role for one M.Knowles.....