Fingernails were bitten, nerves shredded and bums squeaked
as Saints edged past Hull KR on Friday night (September 11). It took Theo Fages golden point drop-goal to
finally see off the challenge of Tony Smith’s side as Saints nicked a tight
contest 21-20.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Saints had come in to this one off the back of a 54-6 hammering of Huddersfield Giants while Rovers, for all the improvement they showed in beating Wigan last time out, were not expected to provide this much of a test for the champions. Yet Rovers could so easily have won this one. Golden point sceptics, among whom I count myself, might observe that neither side really deserved to win or lose and that settling for a draw after the 80 minutes would have been a fair outcome. But like two six-year-olds playing in the back garden the modern game demands a winner and a loser. Step forward the otherwise frustrating and howl-inducing Fages.
The Frenchman will be hailed as the hero in some quarters. All of which is a bit like characterising Boris Johnson as a hero for his u-turn on free school dinners. It was the least he could do given the rest of his performance. It is not that Fages is particularly error or gaffe prone like the loutish PM. I’m just struggling to really ‘get’ him at the moment. What is he for? A halfback should be on the ball at least two or three times a set, directing others around him, hitting and creating gaps in the defence. Fages is largely anonymous until the last tackle plays when he invariably sends another bomb skyward in a manner more predictable than series 3-8 of 24. Both Lachlan Coote and James Roby often offer more variety on the last play, though in general the problem here was that Saints were too content to settle for building pressure. Their biggest error was perhaps in believing that eventually the Rovers defence would crack if it had to defend multiple sets in a short space of time. Invariably it did not.
The reasons for Saints stifled display might be tactical, but whoever is to blame Fages has to be involved more and he has to be more creative if he is going to be the long term halfback for Saints. But for Covid the time would already have come for Lewis Dodd to get his opportunity in the first team. He should now be out of his period of isolation in time for this weekend’s Challenge Cup quarter-final with Warrington Wolves at Salford but his inclusion in that one would be a risk. That feels like too big a game for a young halfback to be making his debut. Yet I would not wait a minute longer than Saints next Super League fixture at Wigan on September 30.
Of course that is also a massive game, but it is not a knockout game. It is not a case of win or go home, however much we want to beat our friends from over the lump. There is a recent precedent for throwing youngsters in for the derby fixture. Regan Grace made his debut at Wigan in 2017 although it must be said that expectations at that time were somewhat lower than in the current climate. Keiron Cunningham had just been relieved of his duties and Saints were under an interim coaching team and getting ready for a rethink under Justin Holbrook. To Fages or not to Fages is a tough decision for Kristian Woolf to make but it is becoming increasingly apparent that it is one that may have to be made sooner rather than later.
Fages had missed the thumping win over Huddersfield with the leg injury he picked up last time Saints met Hull KR. That had meant that Jack Welsby was given an opportunity to feature alongside Jonny Lomax in the halves. As Fages was restored Welsby was shunted back on to the wing to deputise for the still suspended Tommy Makinson. Hindsight is 20/20, but given how much more creative Saints were against the Giants than in this one you have to question the wisdom of that decision.
Welsby played well on the wing, scoring a try and having another disallowed for a forward pass by Lomax but Welsby may have been able to affect the game more alongside the England man. It was a frustrating day for Lomax too. He saw a try of his own try disallowed for an obstruction by Zeb Taia. Opportunities were rare but when Saints did open up often it just did not click. It may have been worthwhile giving Lomax and Welsby another opportunity to work on their combinations while allowing Matty Costello more game time out on the wing.
Selection was only part of the problem with this performance. There was a definite shift towards a more conservative approach. Gone was the risk and reward offloading game in evidence against Simon Woolford’s side and in its place was a bulldozing forward orientated strategy that might have been more at home in Bradford in 2001. All that was missing was a teenager dressed as a bull driving around the ground on a go-kart. Saints managed just six offloads in this one, less than half the amount registered in the win over the Giants. If Saints are not going to go wide through a backline that is admittedly missing a couple of key players at present in Makinson and Mark Percival, they need that offloading game to open teams up at times. They can’t expect to just barge through the middle of teams all of the time. Sometimes that will work, but Rovers showed here as Castleford had a few weeks ago that if you can make your one on one tackles against a Saints side resolutely refusing to give the ball any air you can keep their scoring to a minimum.
We must not put all of the responsibility for this brush with ignominious defeat on Saints. Two teams take part in any rugby league match and Rovers should be given credit for the way they applied themselves. Jordan Abdull was again terrific at scrum half as he had been against Wigan a week previously. The highlight of his performance was undoubtedly the double pump that attracted Fages to him so that he could slip Dean Hadley through a gap to score. Fages might not be my idea of a playmaking wizard but he is a solid defender. Maybe that is what he is for. Finding a way around him is no mean feat. Abdull’s kicking game was also a big factor while in defence Hadley, Matty Storton, Elliot Minchella, Matt Parcell, George Lawler and Jez Litten all had 30+ tackles and only 13 misses between them. Tellingly, Saints managed just five clean breaks all day. Rovers managed twice as many.
Another big talking point to come out of this one was the two-game ban handed down to Kevin Naiqama. The Fijian skipper was set to miss the cup tie with Warrington and the derby clash with Wigan after he was sin-binned just two minutes from the end of normal time. Naiqama’s high shot on Kane Linnett took everything out including James Graham. The big prop was hobbling around in obvious discomfort after his involvement in the clash which also saw Linnett shaken up. Yet the ban has since been overturned on appeal. That will no doubt provoke a lot of dark muttering among rival fans. There was mitigation in that Linnett was falling before Naiqama made contact but the manner of the swinging arm makes the decision to overturn the suspension surprising.
Surprising but undoubtedly helpful. A battered three-quarter line has also seen more positive news on Percival’s recovery meaning Saints will be spared having to face the two biggest fixtures of the season so far without three quarters of their backline.
Saints already faced a tough enough task in beating a Warrington side that is perhaps the only one to have matched their consistency in terms of results since the restart. With players set to come back into their squad after their own Covid isolation problems I was starting to fear that this was the wrong time to run into the Wolves. Prospects look a little brighter if both Naiqama and Percival are available.
A Saints side playing a more open style has a chance against anyone regardless of absentees. Equally, if Woolf takes a similar approach to the one shown in this exciting but ultimately unsatisfactory win over the Robins then our wait for another Challenge Cup win may go on.
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