If you could stand to listen to more than a minute of the commentary on Saints’ 30-12 win over Warrington on Thursday night you would have got the impression that the result was merely a question of available personnel. The narrative was very much one of plucky, injury-ravaged Warrington having to duke it out against the league-leading, all-conquering Saints. Won’t somebody think of the Wolves? Those poor, poor Wolves....
The reality of course is that both sides were depleted. While Daryl Clark, Mike Cooper, Blake Austin, Tom Lineham, Josh Charnley and Declan Patton were among those not featuring for Steve Price’s side it should be remembered that Justin Holbrook was without several of his stars too. Would plucky, injury-ravaged Warrington have rather faced a Saints side featuring Lachlan Coote, Mark Percival, Theo Fages, Alex Walmsley, James Roby and Morgan Knowles? No doubt both Price and Holbrook rested players who could have played had there been more riding on the result. Warrington’s loss in Perpignan last week wrapped the League Leaders Shield up in a large, colourful bow for Saints. For Wire, a top three finish will bring with it the prized second opportunity in the play-offs but even in defeat here that is still in their own hands. Maybe, just maybe, the focus of both sides is on a certain meeting in the capital.
There was nothing wrong with the commitment of either side on the night. Those who were selected for duty turned up and gave everything for their side. But in reality this was a phoney war, a walk-through ahead of the big one under the arch on August 24. The idea that Price’s side have scored some sort of psychological blow by managing to stay reasonably competitive with Saints over the 80 minutes is plainly absurd.
Welsby Would Not Let Us Down At Wembley
In his post-match interview Holbrook seemed fairly confident that Coote will be available for the Challenge Cup Final. The Scotland international has missed the last four since playing in the win over Wigan on July 12, but will slot right back into his familiar fullback role if and when he is fit. Coote has been magnificent this season. He could be leading the way in the Steve Prescott Man Of Steel race if the new voting system did not punish players from teams with an array of top performers by spreading the points out thinly among them. Coote has single-handedly banished the painful memories of the denouement of the Ben Barba Experience as Saints have arguably become even stronger in 2019 than they were a year ago.
Yet if for some reason Coote were to miss out at Wembley we need not fret about how to fill the void. Jack Welsby has only played eight times for Saints but is looking more and more assured every time he pulls on the red vee. He is just 18 years old, but he fulfils his duties as the last line of defence in a manner which belies that lack of experience and maturity. Crucially, he has been able to execute the devastating set-plays which often go through Coote near to the opponents’ line. Welsby produced two sublime assists in last week’s win over Wakefield and was at it again here in what for me was a man of the match display. He had the last pass to create tries for Kevin Naiqama, Matty Costello and Tommy Makinson. Defensively he wasn’t overworked in terms of tackles - not surprising playing behind this Saints defensive line – but when the line was broken he stood firm at vital times. Ben Murdoch-Masila had one rampaging burst down the right hand channel during the second half and as one or two other Saints flapped and grabbed desperately at the former Salford man it was Welsby who stopped him in his tracks and held him up until the help arrived. The score-line might suggest that it was not a match-winning incident but had Warrington scored at that point they may have had some belief that they could fight their way back into the game. As it was they were snuffed out by Saints brilliant young star.
In all probability Welsby will miss out at Wembley but he has shown already in his brief Saints career that his time looks set to arrive sooner rather than later.
Smith And Bentley Fill The Void
One of those thought not worthy of risk in this one was Roby. Any time the Saints skipper has had anything resembling a knock he has been rested by Holbrook this year. This seems like prudent management of a player entering his 34th year, 15 or so of which have been spent terrorising Super League defences. Holbrook recognises that we need Roby for the very biggest games. It hasn’t quite reached Sean O’Loughlin proportions just yet but there is no doubt we are starting to see a lot less of the great man than was once the case.
Which you would think would be a problem. Following on from Roby and before him Keiron Cunningham it is the stuff of pure fantasy to believe that we could be blessed with yet another number nine of that quality. They don’t grow on a tree in Sherdley Park. Yet just as we look in safe hands whenever Coote is unavailable so we are finding ways to fill the void left by Roby’s increasing absences. Aaron Smith and James Bentley appear to be doing the hooking role by committee, and both were outstanding in this win. True, they did not have to contend with Warrington’s own world class hooker in Clark, but their work rate, endeavour, confidence and no lack of skill shone through brightly.
Bentley was monstrous in defence, coming up with 38 tackles while Smith wasn’t far behind him with 32 of his own. Both are quick distributors from dummy half while Smith also managed to scoot out from that position on three occasions, keeping the defence honest while averaging just under 9 metres per carry. Neither made a handling error all night, and it is this reliability that could be huge for Saints in the final throes of this campaign. Like Welsby, one or both of these two are in danger of missing out at Wembley. Saints have a squad that is so strong that if everyone is fit there would be no stamping of feet, whaling or gnashing of teeth from most fans if the names of Smith and Bentley were not in the 17 on cup final day. It would be taken for what it is, a demonstration of the depth at Holbrook's disposal. But they too have time on their side and on this evidence can look forward to long and successful careers in the red vee.
Amor’s Party Piece
As the competition for places in that Wembley 17 gets ever hotter, Kyle Amor was another one not so much stating his case but standing up and shouting it very loudly in the manner of a preacher on a Las Vegas street corner. The former Wakefield man has been in and out of the side under Holbrook’s stewardship. That's largely because Luke Thompson has emerged as one of the world’s premier front rowers alongside the already formidable Alex Walmsley. With the latter absent here it offered Amor another chance to show what he can do and although much maligned by many it seems that the interestingly barneted Cumbrian still has something to offer.
Amor ran for 125 metres on 13 carries in this one, an average of almost 10 metres per carry. Yet it was his searing break and assist for Joseph Paulo’s try which was the crowning glory of his performance. Picking the ball up around half-way Amor crashed through the hapless effort of a bewildered Luis Johnson before surging into the Wire backfield like a recently escaped Rhino at Whipsnade. He then had the presence of mind to find the supporting Paulo on his inside who went over untouched to help put Saints firmly in command of the match. The pair celebrated wildly, and amid the commotion Paulo managed to damage a hamstring and played no further part in the game. Yet it was a glimpse of what both can do and along with another trademark Tommy Makinson flying finish it was without doubt the most spectacular, Saintsy moment of what was on the whole a professional performance not exactly littered with standout moments.
Amor also came up with a creditable 18 tackles on defence but the one black mark against him was his ball control. He managed three handling errors including one absolute pearler for the ages when he suddenly mistook himself for a halfback and dropped the ball cold while preparing to spin a long ball out wide to one of the side’s many speed merchants. More conservatism will be the philosophy when the games get bigger but at a time when Amor has been written off as a little powder-puff and ineffectual by many it was heartening to see him turn on the style.
Second Is The New Mid Table
Warrington’s loss puts them a whopping 14 points behind Saints now with just four games to play until the end of the regular season. As an advocate of first-past-the-post I nevertheless find myself seeing the positives for the competition in having a playoff system and Grand Final to determine the champions. Without them all interest in the top end of the league would be done and dusted. Saints and many others before them have shown over the weekly rounds that they are far and away the best side in the league, but at least this system keeps the interest alive for a sport that unfortunately needs all the attention it can get.
The question is has the mediocrity gone too far with this structure? That 14-point gap between Saints and Warrington is exactly the same gap as that between the second-placed Wolves and the bottom club London Broncos. So Saints are as far ahead of Warrington as Warrington are ahead of London Broncos. Or if you want to put a positive spin on it, the league is so tight that bottom-placed London are as close to the runners-up spot as the runners-up are to the leaders. It strikes me as a sad indictment of the strength of the league but it depends very much on your perspective. What is not in dispute is that the main reason for it is consistency, or lack thereof. While the playoffs and Grand Final create excitement and opportunity they have also created an environment in which most clubs gave up on chasing down Saints months ago. A top three place, and with it a second chance in the playoffs, is the only priority left for the likes of Warrington, Hull FC, Wigan, Catalans Dragons and Castleford Tigers. For one or two of those clubs just scraping into the top five would be considered both a relief and a success.
All of which drives down standards and leaves us in a bit of limbo until the end of September. Apart from the Wembley date the games don’t matter too much for Saints, hence the willingness of Holbrook to rest many of his stars who might otherwise have played had the stakes been higher. Of course the flip side of that argument is that without the playoffs we would not even have that to look forward to. The season would be as good as over apart from the cup final. Like the equally manufactured top four scramble in Premier League football, the games involving the playoff-chasing clubs will be of interest between now and the end of the season. It is just that they are interesting for all the wrong reasons. Perhaps the teams currently jockeying for a position in behind Saints would have been motivated to find more consistency had the playoff safety net not been an option. We might even have had that rarest of beasts - a genuine title race run-in - to feast our eyes upon in late summer.
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