The Dragons are the only side to have beaten Saints so far in 2019, running out 18-10 winners in Perpignan three weeks ago. The fixture computer (or a Sky executive with a piece of paper and a pen and a lot of time to kill) has presented Saints with an early chance to avenge that loss, and the one in the Challenge Cup semi-final last season. On that occsion a previously all-conquering Saints side found themselves 27-0 down at half-time to Steve McNamara’s side. Saints eventually lost 35-16 as the Dragons went on to lift the cup at Wembley.
Saints coach Justin Holbrook would no doubt sniff at talk of revenge, focusing instead on the job in hand which is to win the next game in front of his team regardless of their identity or any history which might exist. To that end he has made four changes to the 19-man squad which rolled Hull FC 62-16 on Easter Monday (April 22). Tommy Makinson and Luke Thompson left that game early with back spasms and an ankle problem respectively and so do not make it, while James Roby is rested. Morgan Knowles is suspended for one match after the disciplinary panel took a dim view of his challenge on Albert Kelly.
All of which means a fair amount of reshuffling is required. Matty Costello comes into the reckoning after he was a try-scorer for Leigh Centurions on Easter Monday. He could claim the left centre spot vacated by Mark Percival who remains out with a hamstring injury, while another part-time Centurion James Bentley comes in and could also stake a claim for that spot. Jack Welsby scored a try as a substitute against Lee Radford’s men and started when Percival missed the win over Hull KR through illness at the end of last month. All have a reasonable claim and it is a tricky decision for Holbrook to make.
As is the question of just how to re-introduce Theo Fages. The Frenchman hasn’t played since injuring his hip in that Hull KR win but returns to the 19 this week. Will he immediately reclaim the scrum-half berth that has been recently and quite capably filled by Danny Richardson? Or will Fages be used from the bench? With Roby out and Aaron Smith likely to start at hooker it may be wise to have both Richardson and Fages in the match day 17. Fages can fit in to the team in a number of positions as can his half back partner Jonny Lomax and fullback Lachlan Coote. If Smith needs a spell or for whatever reason it isn’t working with Richardson in the halves alongside Lomax then Fages is an excellent option to have off the bench.
With Thompson, Roby and Knowles out the pack will also have a somewhat different look. Alex Walmsley returns after missing the Hull FC win as does Zeb Taia, while Dominique Peyroux is likely to be promoted from the bench spot he occupied last time out. Joseph Paulo had two fine assists starting at 13 against the black and whites and should be a certainty to start in that position again. Smith should start at hooker after his absence from the match day 17 against Hull FC baffled most observers. The perceived wisdom was that Monday’s game would be the one in which Roby would rest and Smith would see big minutes, but Holbrook has chosen to do things slightly differently. There may be some merit in it too, as plenty of teams have found out to their cost how difficult it is to get up for the game which follows the bank holiday double header. Two games in the space of 72 hours takes a significant mental and physical toll and it can be quite difficult to perform at a high level again the following week. With bigger battles ahead, keeping Roby wrapped in cotton wool is a fair enough decision especially in the context of the current playoff system. Four points clear at the top, a defeat wouldn’t hurt Saints beyond the fact that it would throw up all sorts of ‘oh not bloody them again’ feelings among a fan base left to deal with another defeat by the Dragons. Of course there will be those for whom a defeat will inspire calls for mass sackings, public shamings and beheadings but those people would lurch straight for their keyboards to demand the same kind of ‘justice’ if the team won by anything less than 30 points. In many ways this one isn’t about the performance.
Saints still have Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook out so one bench slot will be filled by Jack Ashworth, one in all probability by Kyle Amor and a third by either Bentley, Jack Welsby or Joe Batchelor who impressed on his debut on Monday. Two of those three may make the 17 if Holbrook takes the gamble of restoring Fages to the starting line-up and omitting Richardson altogether. That seems unlikely, but it isn’t something we can rule out at this stage.
The Dragons, who have just allowed prop Antoni Maria to go out on a month’s loan to Hull KR, are still without wingers Jodie Broughton and Fouad Yaha as well as utility man Ben Garcia and former Wigan rule-bender Michael McIlorum. His old pie-munching accomplices Sam Tomkins and Matty Smith will no doubt feature heavily while Lewis Tierney is another Wigan old boy who is a regular in the Dragons back-line. David Mead’s recent return adds real quality there and in Brayden Williame they have a slightly erratic performer but one who can cause a variety of damage on his good days. The same can be said for look-out-he’s-behind-yous Tony Gigot, while Kenny Edwards and Sam Moa are on few fans’ lists of opposition players they most admire.
For that you have to look at Remi Casty, a man who has seemed to epitomise the physicality and energy of the Dragons during his two spells with the club. Matt Whitley was rated highly by many when he was with Widnes last year and looks to be kicking on in France, while with Julian Bousquet, Benjamin Julien and Jason Baitieri you know what you are getting. Recent signing Sam Kasiano is in the same mould but perhaps with a little bit more of an excitement factor about him. The key man could be Greg Bird, a veteran of Super League and the NRL who can sometimes make Gigot and company look like choir boys but who can also provide that mixture of steel and inspiration that was once the hallmark of a quality loose forward before they all became tackling machines and battering rams.
We have seen how Saints have struggled in more recent times against the Dragons and their overall record against the French side since they joined the Super League in 2006 is not as good as you might think. The Dragons have won five times on St Helens soil since then, most memorably in 2012 when a late, late Catalans try was converted by Scott Dureau to give the side then coached by Trent Robinson a 34-32 win. It was positively Saintsy. A real taste of the kind of medicine that Saints had been handing out to all and sundry for over a century before. We do not want to see any of that caper this week thanks all the same. And recent history suggests we won't. The Dragons last league win at Saints was in 2016 when they won 30-12 thanks to four tries from Broughton and further efforts from Ritchie Myler and Pat Richards. That’s right, another ex-bloody Wiganer.
It’s a rare opportunity to get out and see Saints play on a Sunday which many fans have been calling for for some time so you would expect a reasonable home crowd to be on deck to see if Saints can consolidate or even improve their position at the top of the table. At the same time as the Saints and Dragons do battle Warrington will attempt to stay in touch with Holbrook’s men when they host the bipolar Huddersfield Giants at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. My feeling is that both will win, with Saints holding off the challenge of McNamara’s men by something like 12 points.
Squads;
St Helens;
1. Jonny Lomax, 3. Kevin Naiqama, 5. Regan Grace, 6. Theo Fages, 7. Danny Richardson, 8. Alex Walmsley, 11. Zeb Taia, 12. Joseph Paulo, 16. Kyle Amor, 17. Dom Peyroux, 18. Adam Swift, 19. Matty Lees, 20. Jack Ashworth, 21. Aaron Smith, 22. James Bentley, 23. Lachlan Coote 24. Matty Costello, 25. Joe Batchelor, 29. Jack Welsby.
Catalans Dragons;
1. Tony Gigot 3. David Mead 4. Brayden Williame 5. Lewis Tierney 6. Samisoni Langi 7. Matty Smith 8. Rémi Casty 10. Sam Moa 11. Kenny Edwards 13. Greg Bird 14. Julian Bousquet 15. Mickael Simon 16. Benjamin Julien 17. Matt Whitley 18. Alrix Da Costa 19. Mickael Goudeman 24. Jason Baitieri 28. Sam Kasiano 29. Sam Tomkins
Referee: Robert Hicks
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