5 Talking Points From Saints 32 Wigan Warriors 10

Back In Your Box

Leading into this one Wigan had been undergoing something of a revival. A five-game winning streak had rocketed them back into the top four. A Super League title defence that had been nothing short of embarrassing was gaining a fair amount of respectability. The thing about this league is that you only have to finish in the top five to have a crack at making Old Trafford via the playoff series. Leeds have twice won the Grand Final from fifth and it was victory over the Rhinos that sparked Wigan’s winning run as Hull KR (twice), Huddersfield and Salford were all vanquished. The Wigan fans were excited by their prospects, noting that their trip to Saints would be a good test of their credentials.

Some social media voices were particularly loud, promising Grand Final success and another appearance in a World Club Challenge. All that may still happen, but on the evidence of this second gear stroll over the old enemy it is a lot further away from reality than many cherry and whites had hoped and believed. Unwilling to give any ground despite the ease with which they were tossed aside like Boris Johnson tossing aside a policy that has become inconvenient to his bumble towards Downing Street, some Wigan fans insisted that the lack of senior forwards was the sole reason for their downfall. But men like Tony Clubb, Ben Flower, Joe Greenwood and Sean O’Loughlin have been key players in the shit show that has been Wigan’s 2019 campaign to this point. What makes anyone think that when this group of under-achieving chancers return they will set the world on fire? The old ‘we had injuries’ argument is the last refuge of the desperate and one that completely ignores the fact that Saints were without an all-time great in James Roby and one of the best back rowers in the competition over the last two years in Zeb Taia.

It’s important to win with a bit of humility and class, something which Wigan fans have been infamously and palpably incapable of since their domination of the sport in my 80s childhood. The fact that they still can’t accept their failings in the aftermath of this half-arsed, routine spanking is one of the reasons their club is so unpopular not just with Saints fans but with most fans around the country. They need to get back in their box until they have proved that they have a team that is anywhere near Saints’ level.

Saints Attack Off Key

The terrifying thing if you’re a Wigan fan is that despite winning by 22 points Saints didn’t play anywhere near their best. Had the attack had it’s usual fluency and poise Justin Holbrook’s side could easily have bettered the 40 points they rattled past Hull FC last week. In part because they had the bulk of possession Saints actually came up with just as many errors as Wigan, both sides coughing it up 16 times. Had it not been a full house with all the intensity and passion that brings, and had it been any other opposition than the noisy neighbours the game could quite fairly have been described as scrappy. Balls flew over sidelines with alarming regularity as the offensive timing of both teams consistently went awry.

Defence and the ability to take the chances that came their way proved the difference for Saints. On the face of it 36 missed tackles is an unimpressive statistic. Indeed it is worse than Wigan’s tally of 35. Holbrook may want to get the tackle bags out for an extended period in training this week especially for Kevin Naiqama and Dominique Peyroux who managed to butcher six each, with the usually reliable Morgan Knowles not far behind with four.

But despite these lapses it was Saints’ ability to stop Wigan making significant ground when they had the ball and the home side’s ability to defend their line which set them apart. James Bentley again deputised for Roby and turned in a very solid performance making 39 tackles while missing only two. That level of work rate meant that only Liam Farrell managed to break through the 100-metre barrier for Wigan. The next best efforts were from Zak Hardaker with 98 and George Williams with 88. Wigan’s pack, under-strength though it was, was monstered by Saints for whom Luke Thompson, Matty Lees and the impressive Kyle Amor all clocked up a century of metres made. Alex Walmsley almost joined them on 98. Collectively they laid a platform for Tommy Makinson to make 185, Mark Percival 116 and Jonny Lomax 102.

Was The TV Decision Vindicated?

The lack of television coverage of this one was a source of much chagrin among both the Saints and Wigan following in the days leading up to game. Sky chose instead to broadcast Hull FC’s game of two halves against London Broncos on Thursday and the relegation dogfight between Leeds Rhinos and Hull KR on Friday. It represented the first time in the summer era that a Saints-Wigan derby had not been televised. The outrage was loud and boring with scores of people lining up on social media with sorry tales about why they could not be there in person, as if fans of other clubs aren’t afflicted with the same work commitments, financial constraints and mobility issues as Saints and Wigan fans.

Doesn’t the bloke who works till 7.00pm on a Friday have the same right to be able to see his side play as his Saints or Wigan equivalents? Sky are not here to make sure Saints and Wigan fans who can’t attend can still see every game. For that to be the case the club would need to have broadcasting rights to its own games and show them on their own dedicated channel. Finances dictate that that won’t happen any time soon. The awful truth is that the game needs the cash injection that it receives from Sky if it wants to continue to operate at a fully professional level.

Their remit is to broadcast games which are in the best interests of the league and of fans of all clubs, not just an elite pair of bullies stamping their feet about the way things have always been. Leeds v Hull KR was an infinitely better, closer contest with far more riding on it and was a sound choice. The same cannot be said for the Hull-London game in all honesty but Thursday games are chosen far further in advance and so become more difficult to move. Had it been moved to make way for the derby the complaints would still have raged about having to play in the least popular time slot since the broadcaster experimented with Monday night games. We’re a spoiled generation of fans.

The absence of the Sky cameras offered a first opportunity to see a derby without the irritant of the video referee. It was all the better for it. How refreshing was it to be able to celebrate Saints’ five tries without immediately turning to look at a giant screen in the north east corner to make sure their isn’t some tiny discrepancy about to crush your joy? Video reviews have sucked the spontaneity out of the match-going experience, a fate that it will soon afflict on football. And it wasn’t as if Ben Thaler needed the help. Only Hardaker’s try would possibly have been subject to any scrutiny from the video referee. The Wigan fullback seemed to use his hands in charging down Lomax’s kick before dribbling his way to the line for the Warriors’ only try. Personally I’m prepared to give him and Thaler the benefit of the doubt on those calls if it means we have a faster flowing game and I can be back across Precky Bridge and in my car before 10.00pm.

Is Holbrook Going?

When weren’t debating the merits or otherwise of the Sky Sports schedules this week we were fretting about the future of Holbrook. A story broke early in the week linking the Saints coach to the Canterbury Bulldogs in the NRL. Ordinarily this might be dismissed as the column-filling ravings of the Australian press but some of the quotes attributed to Holbrook on the matter are cause for concern. Where initially it seemed just a matter of time before Holbrook penned a new deal at Saints he has since admitted that the matter is in the hands of his management and that it will be resolved ‘in the next few weeks’.

This is quite a shift from Holbrook’s initial position which was that he was happy and didn’t want to go anywhere else. Flipping responsibility on to his management team might suggest that he has something to tell us that we won’t like. It looks like an attempt to distance himself from the decision about his own future, as if it’s somehow not his call to make. Sure I’d love to stay but you know....my management team....

Causing further unease are comments made immediately after this one by Holbrook. He spoke of how emotional it was for him to hear the Saints fans sing ‘we want you to stay’ as he and the players went to thank the fans at the end of the game. If he was intending to stay I venture to suggest that he would not be feeling that way. Even if he was feeling overwhelmed by the support he might at least have something reassuring to say. Losing Holbrook would be a shattering blow to Saints. His excellent work in rebuilding the confidence of this group of players has Saints on the cusp of the glory that should have been their’s a year ago. This should be the start of something, not the end of an era. A replacement would be found. Saints is a club of great reputation and coaching it is one of the top jobs in the sport. Yet whoever Eamonn McManus found to replace Holbrook would need time to bed in his own ideas, shape the squad to his liking and introduce a new philosophy. All of that could slow down the progress that has been made under Holbrook and the club must do everything in its power to avoid that scenario. Just how much power it has is something that is open to question.

Three More Wins.

Warrington’s hilarious feat of losing at home to Salford for the second time this season has all but sealed another League Leaders Shield for Holbrook and his troops. It means that Saints have a 10-point lead over the Wolves with just seven games of the regular season to play. My rudimentary grasp of maths suggests that Warrington can only reach a maximum of 44 points by then, meaning three more wins will be enough for another muted amble around the stadium formerly known as Langtree Park with the trophy disparagingly referred to by many as the hubcap. Usually by those whose teams aren’t about to win it for a second year in succession.

All the hard work is done. Victory over Wigan means that Saints have beaten all of the other top four sides at the start of Round 22 during the last three weeks. Of those only Warrington threatened to derail Saints’ charge to the line. Hull FC and Wigan were despatched with minimum fuss. Next up is a second visit of the season to inaccessible, quite-good-for-an-amateur-set-up Ealing Trailfinders to take on the Broncos. Saints might have revenge on their minds after a golden point loss there in June, one of only two regular season losses in 2019. But they must also balance that with the need to be ready for the Challenge Cup semi-final date with Halifax a week later. As unlikely as it is we do not want a repeat of last year when our hubris was our undoing in a traumatic thrashing by Catalans Dragons at Bolton. Wigan aren’t the only set of fans who are sometimes blind to their own fallibility.

Holbrook would be wise not to rush Roby back with Bentley and Aaron Smith doing such a fine job in his stead, while the cotton wool should probably come out for Lachlan Coote too after he was withdrawn 20 minutes from the end of this one as a precaution. Makinson and Lomax are also unlikely to be risked on a pitch that makes the Astro turf at Boundary Road look like the lush grass of Wembley Stadium. Yet even with those absences and with Taia still out with a shoulder injury Saints should have enough to secure the win against a London side that has shown signs of feeling the effects of a long season in recent weeks.