Things are going to look a bit different than they did at the time of Saints’ last outing, a 28-14 loss to Castleford Tigers at The Mend-A-Hose Jungle on March 15. Toronto Wolfpack won’t be around having controversially chosen to withdraw from the 2020 competition due to financial and visa issues. The 11 teams that remain in Super League this year will also find that the game itself has gone through a few changes during lockdown. Scrums have been sacrificed in a bid to further reduce the possibility of transmission of Covid-19, while Super League has also used the enforced break to introduce the ‘6 again’ set restart rule currently employed in the NRL. In many ways it is the teams who adapt to these changes most effectively that are likely to be the most successful.
Change might not be a bad thing for Saints. They did not have the most sparkling of starts to 2020. It was taking new head coach Kristian Woolf a little bit of time to get his ideas across to a team used to achieving success the Justin Holbrook way over the last two years. Wins against Salford, Hull FC and Toronto provided hope but defeats at Warrington and Castleford as well as at home to Huddersfield were all disappointing in their own ways. With the Toronto result now expunged from the record following the Wolfpack’s withdrawal Saints sit a lowly eighth in the table. They need to make a fast restart if they want to push on towards the top four and a playoff berth at the end of the year.
As is the convention in 2020 Woolf has named a 21-man squad ahead of the meeting with the French side. The headline is perhaps the inclusion of James Graham, back for a second stint at Saints after spending the last eight and a half seasons in the NRL with Canterbury Bulldogs and St George-Illawarra Dragons. It is 17 years since Graham’s first debut for Saints, a 26-10 victory over Castleford Tigers at Knowsley Road in August 2003. He is almost certain to make a second debut here, slotting into the front row to replace Luke Thompson after Saints accepted a fee to allow him to start his own NRL odyssey a little earlier than planned.
Joseph Paulo is out with a minor muscular problem but otherwise Woolf has all of his pack options available. Alex Walmsley and James Roby are likely to join Graham in the front row with Dominique Peyroux and Zeb Taia behind them in the second row and Morgan Knowles at loose forward. Taia is in his final season with Saints before returning home to Australia but remains one of the side’s most creative forces. He arrived in 2017 amid a fair degree of scepticism from those who felt he was an inadequate replacement for Joe Greenwood. Yet Taia has been outstanding for Saints during 95 appearances in which he has helped Saints to two League Leaders Shields, a first Challenge Cup final appearance in 11 years and of course the Super League Grand Final win over Salford last October.
James Batchelor and James Bentley may be hoping for more opportunities once Taia moves on and both are included in this initial selection. Aaron Smith is the alternative to Roby at hooker while Matty Lees, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Kyle Amor are the back-ups to Walmsley and Graham at prop. Lees has reportedly been interesting one or two NRL scouts despite missing the back end of last term with a perforated bowel and despite Saints’ inactivity since March. On the back of Thompson’s exit the loss of Lees is probably not something that Saints fans will want to contemplate at the moment. Jack Ashworth is not included and is another about whom there is persistent speculation. His future may lie somewhere other than St Helens.
The back line will be massively boosted by the return to fitness of Mark Percival. The England centre has had time during lockdown to overcome a shoulder injury suffered in Saints’ embarrassing nilling by Warrington in February. He will provide more strike down Saints’ left edge inside the speedy Regan Grace, with Fiji skipper Kevin Naiqama and the prolific Tommy Makinson on the opposite flank. Lachlan Coote had only just returned from injury for that Tigers game when the season was suspended and so if selected will be making only his third appearance of 2020. Youngster Jack Welsby backs him up and provides cover in a number of other positions also.
Lewis Dodd gains more experience around the first team as he is named in the squad but it would be a major surprise if he is deemed quite ready to break up the established halfback partnership of Jonny Lomax and Theo Fages.
A mixture of some inclement early season weather and the refusal of Leeds Rhinos to travel to France as we approached the game’s inevitable hiatus has seen the Dragons play only four times in Super League in 2020 so far. They have managed wins over Castleford, Salford and Hull FC with the one blemish being a 32-12 home defeat by Huddersfield on February 1. Victory over Saints would lift Steve McNamara’s side level on points with the current top three of Wigan, Castleford and Huddersfield. Defeat could see them overhauled by Saints although they will still have a game in hand over Woolf’s men.
The glaring absence from the Dragons squad is Sam Tomkins. The former Wigan fullback is suspended for a trip during his side’s win over Salford on March 7. Lewis Tierney had been deputising for Tomkins but with the ex-Wigan man also injured alongside David Mead it will be interesting to see who gets the nod from McNamara as the last line of defence. Samisoni Langi has proved versatile since joining from Leigh Centurions in 2018 while McNamara may also consider the controversial ex Australian rugby union international Israel Folau. Tom Davies could return to action for the first time since breaking his leg while playing for Wigan against Saints in last year’s Good Friday derby, while Fouad Yaha is a powerful if unpredictable presence on the wing also.
James Maloney’s arrival from Penrith Panthers was a source of great excitement across the whole league ahead of the 2020 season. The Australian international who has 14 State Of Origin appearances to his name will be the key creative influence for Catalans alongside the wily former Hull KR man Josh Drinkwater.
In the pack the veteran Remi Casty continues to lead while the explosive if a little indisciplined Sam Moa could give Saints’ front row a difficult time. Hooker Micky McIlorum is another ex-Wigan man who will relish the battle against his old rivals, in particular his personal duel with Roby. Matt Whitley is a talented back rower and along with Benjamin Garcia can provide a spark. Julian Bousquet, Jason Baitieri and Sam Kasiano offer further problems for the Saints side to solve if they are to win the struggle up front.
It was already incredibly hard to predict Saints’ results early in 2020. Four months of inactivity hasn’t done anything to make that task any easier. The need of Woolf’s men is perhaps greater due to those three early losses and the neutral territory of Leeds - while not ideal for what would be a Saints home game in a world without Covid - may not suit a Dragons side that has traditionally toiled on the road. Those factors, and the optimism that comes with any fresh start, are enough to persuade me that Saints will take this one by 16.
Squads;
St Helens;
Lachlan Coote 2. Tommy Makinson 3. Kevin Naiqama 4. Mark Percival 5. Regan Grace 6. Jonny Lomax 7. Theo Fages 8. Alex Walmsley 9. James Roby 11. Zeb Taia 12. Dominique Peyroux 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook 14. Morgan Knowles 15. Matty Lees 16. Kyle Amor 19. Aaron Smith 20. James Bentley 22. Jack Welsby 23. Joe Batchelor 27. Lewis Dodd 32. James Graham
Catalans Dragons
3. Samisoni Langi 4. Israel Folau 5. Fouad Yaha 6. James Maloney 7. Josh Drinkwater 8. Remi Casty 9. Micky McIlorum 10. Sam Moa 11. Matt Whitley 12. Joel Tomkins 13. Benjamin Garcia 14. Julian Bousquet 16. Tom Davies 17. Benjamin Julien 18. Alrix Da Costa 20. Lucas Albert 22. Arthur Romano 23. Antoni Maria 24. Jason Baitieri 25. Arthur Mourgue 26. Sam Kasiano
Referee: Ben Thaler
So good to read this again. Keep up the great work
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. I’m glad to be writing about games happening in 2020 again!
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