To begin, a revelation. Saints 10-0 win was not a particularly enjoyable experience from where I was sitting.
I have read a lot in the hours since the final hooter about how exciting it was, what a great spectacle we had witnessed. Tough, uncompromising, ‘proper’ rugby league. I’m not buying it. From the point of view of a Saints fan (or a Cas fan) it was certainly tense. There was drama, but it was more Boardwalk Empire than 24. Slow burning, uneventful story-telling in which the characters involved were the story rather than the high octane kind in which something scarcely believable happens every third scene and major characters are routinely killed off. As Saints and Cas hammered away at each other throughout a quite literally pointless first 40 minutes the only people at risk of being killed off were casual, neutral sports viewers who might have tuned in and wondered why we all speak so highly of this game of ours.
Let’s be clear that it is difficult to criticise Castleford for their approach. The fearful pasting they took against Catalans Dragons a week ago coupled with Saints’ imperious dismissal of Leeds Rhinos meant that Daryl Powell’s side came into this one with no expectation on them. Most people had predicted a comfortable Saints victory. Castleford’s only hope of being competitive was to play exactly the kind of game we saw. Tight, risk averse, physical. The onus was on Saints to open the game up and so turn it into the type of match that would have suited their situation. It made no sense for Castleford to try to take Saints on in an expansive, open contest just as it did not make sense for teams at the bottom end of the Premier League to try to open up against Arsenal in the days of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires, as much as Arsene Wenger would try to shame them into doing so. In my view Castleford were canny and succeeded in bringing us down to their level for the most part.
Saints have now played three games since the restart and conceded only one try and just six points. That is quite staggering and something for which they have rightly been praised. Yet taking this game in isolation I didn’t feel that either side threw enough at the other’s defence to justify the glowing tributes. Yes there was commitment, courage and great powers of defensive concentration on show but at the same time it is an awful lot easier to defend for 80 minutes when all that is coming at you is one pass off the ruck. We have touched on the reasons why Castleford might approach their task this way but what’s our excuse?
Disruption is one possible mitigating factor. Mark Percival returned to the starting line-up after missing the Rhinos game with a tight hamstring. If restoring him to the side was any sort of gamble it did not pay off. In making a half break and putting Lachlan Coote through a gap he suffered a recurrence of the problem and eventually left the scene inside the opening 20 minutes. Coote dropped the pass by the way. It was that sort of day. A day on which despite a conservative approach Saints made 20 handling errors, almost double their average per game coming in. It all led to a reshuffle which saw James Bentley move into Percival’s left centre berth and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook enter the fray somewhat earlier than planned to fill the gap left by Bentley.
Incidentally we need to talk about Bentley. When we posted the 13pro-am podcast Man Of The Match poll he was not among our shortlisted four. Inevitably there were calls for him not only to be in the four but to be the winner. This was echoed throughout social media among many fans. It is going to be unpopular so I stress that this is my view and not necessarily that of the others involved with 13pro-am (more than one of the others had him in their four so he was considered) but I really don’t get it.
Bentley’s move to centre was one of the principal reasons why we became so straitjacketed and conservative in attack. He’s a fine player and all of the attributes he is lauded for - toughness, aggression, work-rate - all ring true. But these attributes do not stop people screaming about John Bateman when he is wrongly selected to play centre for England. Instead we line up to point out that Bateman will never be a centre as long as he has a hole in his arse. Similarly, Bentley will have far, far better days when he plays in the second row or as a loose forward.
Like all of his team-mates the former Bradford Bulls man did his job in defence. He made 30 tackles - which was only bettered by five other Saints players - and only missed two. Yet with the ball in hand be did not make a break and never looked likely to with only two tackle busts. We can’t glean much from his error or offload count with just one in each column. He was solid and showed his versatility again but I cannot see how he was Man Of The Match.
Another reason for our lack of creativity may lie in our halfback combination. Jonny Lomax has been peerless for two or three years and is probably allowed a day off. I’m more concerned with Theo Fages. He emerged as a hero in scoring the only try of the game, backing up Alex Walmsley’s break to seal the win three minutes from the end. Support play has never been a problem for the Frenchman and 34 tackles with only three misses show what a fine defender he has always been. But is that what we want from our halfback? For my money - and it was particularly evident here - he does not get his hands on the ball enough and does not dictate play. He’s second in command to Lomax at best and maybe third when you factor in Coote. Yet we do still go to him for last tackle options where it must be said there is room for improvement. If you are going to play conservatively or if the opposition is good enough to stop your main attacking threats you need a half that can make the right choice on the last play. I’m not sure he is that man.
Fages’ predecessor in the halfback role at Saints is of course Danny Richardson, now of Castleford. Richardson was put under great pressure by Saints at all times rendering his kicking game fairly ineffective. The flaws that persuaded Justin Holbrook to make Fages the man at the start of 2019 despite Richardson’s Dream Team year of 2018 remain. The Widnesian does not run at the line enough and his defence is still suspect. He missed four tackles in this one which doesn’t sound like a lot until you consider that he only made 11 and that one of the misses was on Fages on his way to scoring the crucial try. There is plenty to like about Richardson’s game but if you are looking for physical toughness and defensive stability then Fages is your man in a straight choice between those two. Whether either is good enough to play halfback for Saints is another issue entirely.
Incredibly we have reached this point without even the merest hint of Tommy Makinson’s ill-advised grab at the most personal parts of Liam Watts’ anatomy. Watts was returning to the Castleford side after injuring his arm with a saw, and suffered yet more unexpected pain when literally having his chain pulled by the England winger. What was going through Makinson’s mind and how much intent there was only he will truly know. Makinson has a fairly flawless disciplinary record which may help him if he tries to defend the Grade F charge that has been made against him and which carries a possible eight game ban. Makinson would be described by most as not that sort of player. But even if you are ‘not that sort of player’ as soon as you grab an opponent by the balls in anything but a metaphorical sense you immediately become ‘that sort of player’. Makinson can expect a fairly lengthy spell on the sidelines and will have to take his medicine. I cannot understand such an action and it would be recklessly myopic to try to defend it.
So what do we do for a winger for the meeting with Hull KR in a fortnight? Not so long ago the loss of a great player like Makinson could be fairly well covered by Adam Swift. He wasn’t as good in defence, made more errors and was not as reliable returning kicks or starting sets but his try record for Saints compared favourably. But Swift is now in Hull, leaving Kristian Woolf looking for a winger and very possibly a centre should Percival not recover in time. Matty Costello filled in well for Percival against Leeds and could be recalled while we may see Jack Welsby for the first time since before lockdown. He and Costello are arguably interchangeable at centre and wing and Kevin Naiqama has NRL experience in both positions also. At a push maybe Coote or Lomax could switch to centre, with Welsby or Naiqama featuring at fullback against Rovers. There are options. In any case, despite all of my frustrations with Sunday’s performance I’m confident that Saints will beat Tony Smith’s side even if Woolf calls me and asks if I have any centre or wing experience.
If I’d played on the wing in this dreary, pretend classic against the Tigers there’s half a chance you wouldn’t have noticed. How’s that for a revelation...?
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