Saints v Toronto Wolfpack - Preview

Saints return to Super League action with a first ever meeting with Toronto Wolfpack at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday night (February 29, kick-off 6.00pm).

It’s a historical moment of sorts. Placing a Canadian team within the UK structure was a bold and ambitious move but its supporters will certainly argue that it has been a success so far. It has taken the Wolfpack just three seasons to work their way up from League One to the top flight. They have done it while regularly reporting five-figure crowds in their Lamport Stadium home. However things are rather different so far this year.

The inclement weather in Toronto prevents them from hosting any fixtures until April and finding a venue for this one has been something of a charade. It was originally pencilled in for the home of Saracens rugby union club in London but was hastily switched back to the north of England after Saracens ran into some trouble with their payroll sums. The other major difference is the results. After running roughshod over almost everything the lower divisions had to offer Brian McDermott’s side have yet to win a game in Super League, going down to Castleford, Salford, Wigan and Warrington. They are rooted to the bottom of the table and will hardly be relishing the prospect of facing the team who has topped the league by a distance in each of the last two seasons.

They may just be catching Saints at the best possible time. Kristian Woolf’s side gave everything they had and a little bit more in trying to become world champions at the expense of Sydney Roosters last weekend. They came up short despite earning many plaudits for their effort and their quality. The question now is how much that effort has taken out of the side both physically and mentally. Perhaps the move to switch the game to a location that is as near to St Helens without actually being in St Helens will prove crucial for the champions.

Woolf makes two changes to his 21-man squad for this one. Regan Grace missed the Wold Club Challenge due to the concussion protocols. The Welsh winger picked up a head knock in the 32-18 win over Hull FC on February 16 but returns to the fold here. He replaces Mark Percival who was named in last week’s squad despite having previously been ruled out for months with a shoulder problem which requires surgery. Percival did not make the Roosters game as it turned out and will now face a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Matty Costello looks favourite to deputise after being pushed out to the wing last week in Grace’s absence. That will allow James Bentley to be used in a more familiar pack role after standing in at centre against Trent Robinson’s side.

Grace and Costello will likely feature in a backline also containing Jack Welsby at fullback in the continued absence of Lachlan Coote through injury, Tommy Makinson and Kevin Naiqama. In the halves Jonny Lomax is peerless in Super League terms at present while Theo Fages impressed at scrum-half in the defeat to the NRL Premiers.

Jack Ashworth is the other man recalled. He comes in for young fullback Tom Nisbet who has been named in the 21 for the last few weeks without ever making a match day 17. Ashworth will challenge the likes of Bentley, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Joseph Paulo, Aaron Smith, Matty Lees and Kyle Amor for a bench spot with Saints established front three of Alex Walmsley, Luke Thompson and hooker James Roby now back together following the latter’s return from a groin problem.

The nominal ‘hosts’ can call upon new loan recruits Jack Wells and Ben Kilner in their 21-man party as well as Tony Gigot who was recently acquired on a one-month trial basis after leaving Catalans Dragons at the end of the season. Gigot brings some much needed Super League quality and experience to a side that has so far shown itself to be sadly lacking in either, that despite the presence of the likes of former Saints Gareth O’Brien, Jon Wilkin and Andrew Dixon.

Of course the name that jumps off the page from McDermott’s selection is that of Sonny Bill Williams, who recently returned from the birth of his child in New Zealand to feature in the Wolfpack’s 32-22 defeat to Warrington last time out. The Wolfpack went down early in that game but showed great spirit to fight back before the Wolves finally eased away from their lupine brethren at the end of the game. It was a display which will have encouraged McDermott who will also look to the likes of former Grand Finalist Matty Russell, Anthony Mullally, the unpredictable Hakim MIloudi and Ricky Leutele to provide a spark.

Despite this smattering of quality you would have to question whether there is enough depth in the Wolfpack squad to truly threaten Saints. Woolf’s side are still the team to beat despite their loss to the Roosters and their 19-0 humbling against the Wolves on their last visit to Warrington at the beginning of February. The additions of Gigot, Wells and Kilner shone a light on just how threadbare McDermott’s squad was as the Wolfpack continue to struggle with their salary cap management. The recent exit of Director Of Rugby Brian Noble may or may not have had something to do with that struggle. It now falls upon McDermott to try to shape the squad he has into a team capable of competing in Super League. It is highly likely that they will fall to what would be a fifth straight defeat to open the season, a record which if nothing else will test the enthusiasm of a fan base so used to winning at lower levels in the last three seasons.

Though they are still missing one or two star names Saints should have more than enough to earn a third win of the season and stay in touch with the early season pace-setters Castleford Tigers. Saints by 20.

Squads;

Toronto Wolfpack;

Gareth O’Brien, Matty Russell, Ricky Leutele, Liam Kay, Joe Mellor, Josh McCrone, Adam Sidlow, Andy Ackers, Anthony Mullally, Andrew Dixon, Bodensee Thompson, Jon Wilkin, Darcy Lussick, Gadwin Springer, Tom Orbison, Blake Wallace, Sonny Bill Williams, Hakim Miloudi, Tony Gigot, Jack Wells, Ben Kilner

St Helens;

Tommy Makinson, Kevin Naiqama, Regan Grace, Jonny Lomax, Theo Fages, Alex Walmsley, James Roby, Luke Thompson, Zeb Taia, Dominique Peyroux, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees, Kyle Amor, Jack Ashworth, Joseph Paulo, Aaron Smith, James Bentley, Matty Costello, Jack Welsby, Lewis Dodd

Referee: Marcus Griffiths