We start with a caveat. Following news today that one member of the Saints playing staff has tested positive for Covid-19 and two more have to isolate due to test and trace protocols, some of what I am about to speculate on may be even further from reality than usual.
We know that none of the three players affected were involved in last week’s 32-18 win over Hull KR. But that doesn’t mean they would not have been involved in tonight’s game with the Huddersfield Giants at Headingley (September 4, kick-off 6.00pm).
There are six players named in Kristian Woolf’s 21-man squad for this one who fit the description of having not been in the 17 last week. They include the two latest call-ups Joe Batchelor and Josh Eaves who have been drafted in to replace Zeb Taia and James Roby respectively. Taia left the Rovers game in the first half with a groin injury while Roby is ruled out after suffering a head knock a few minutes before the end. So any time you see the names of Batchelor and Eaves as well as those of Morgan Knowles, Jack Ashworth, Josh Simm and Lewis Dodd in the rest of this piece remember that at the time of writing it is entirely possible that they are among the trio who we won’t be seeing in action.
Now that’s out of the way we can take the wildest of stabs at what Saints’ line-up might look like. The fitness or otherwise of Theo Fages is another variable that will have a major influence on Woolf’s selection. The French halfback left the field after half an hour last week after appearing to hyper-extend his knee. Woolf was upbeat about the prospect of Fages recovering in time to face Simon Woolford’s side but there is still a good argument for handing Dodd a debut. One of those two will likely play alongside Jonny Lomax in the halves, or Woolf may even choose to switch Lachlan Coote from his regular fullback role. Lomax celebrates his 30th birthday today and with so much uncertainty around him will be an even bigger key to Saints’ ambitions.
With Tommy Makinson serving the second of a five-game suspension Jack Welsby will likely retain his place on the right wing outside centre Kevin Naiqama. Welsby scored two tries against Tony Smith’s side in his first appearance since the restart. He is also an option at fullback - should Coote be moved around - or in the halves. There are lots of possibilities in the backs for Saints though it seems likely that Naiqama, Regan Grace and Matty Costello will continue in their preferred positions.
Two and two often make five so it would be easy to assume that we won’t see Knowles return. The Cumbrian missed the Rovers game through illness and was replaced at loose forward by James Graham. If Knowles is fit and available he plays and Graham reverts to a more orthodox prop forward role. If not then Graham stays at 13 and Matty Lees gets another start in the front row alongside Alex Walmsley. Eaves may make the bench given that Roby is out but it would be a major surprise if anyone other than Aaron Smith is given the starting role at hooker. In the second row Dominique Peyroux’s return to fitness is timely with Taia unavailable and James Bentley has been in impressive form also.
Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Kyle Amor will no doubt hold on to their bench spots and with Eaves also in the mix there could be competition for one remaining bench spot. Ashworth and Batchelor will both have hopes to secure that place but complications elsewhere could see it occupied by Dodd, Lees, Fages or even Simm.
Team selection might be a little more straightforward for Woolford and the Giants if suggestions that they only had 16 fit players as late in the week as Wednesday are to be believed. Darnell McIntosh, Michael Lawrence, Aidan Sezer, Kenny Edwards and Jake Wardle have all been named in Woolford’s 21-man squad despite all having doubts about their fitness. Sezer is perhaps the most significant of these. If he could make it on to the field it would be a major boost to a Giants side already without Lee Gaskell, Ash Golding, Ukuma Ta’ai and Adam Walne through injury and Suaia Matagi through suspension.
As well as their injury woes the Giants have had to deal with speculation about Woolford’s future this week. In expressing his desire to stay Woolford was nevertheless quoted by one newspaper as saying that an extension to his contract ‘probably won’t happen’. He has been linked with a job as an assistant at Penrith Panthers in the NRL.
This unwelcome distraction could have negative consequences on a physically depleted squad but equally it could galvanise them. They still possess quality in the likes of England international Jermaine McGillvary and prop forward Matty English in particular. If they can get the likes of Sezer, McIntosh and Wardle fit in time they have a shot at repeating the 12-10 success over Saints that they enjoyed just before lockdown on March 6. They have not won since the restart but have been close, suffering one-point defeats to both Leeds and Warrington before a disappointing 31-12 loss to Hull FC last time out.
With uncertainty surrounding the make-up of both sides it is difficult to say how well they will go. Yet you would probably back a Saints side with absentees against a Giants side short of its full strength. Woolf’s side also have the incentive of knowing that a win will take them to the top of the Super League table after Wigan’s hilarious chasing by bottom club Hull KR on Thursday night (September 3). With that in mind and with their greater depth I’m expecting Saints to come out on top. Saints by 18.
Squads;
St Helens;
- Lachlan Coote 3. Kevin Naiqama 5. Regan Grace 6. Jonny Lomax 7. Theo Fages 8. Alex Walmsley 12 Dom Peyroux 13. LMS 14. Morgan Knowles 15. Matty Lees 16. Kyle Amor 17. Jack Ashworth 19. Aaron Smith 20. James Bentley 21. Matty Costello 22. Jack Welsby 23. Joe Batchelor 24. Josh Eaves. 26. Josh Simm 27 Lewis Dodd 32. James Graham.
Huddersfield Giants:
2. Jermaine McGillvary 3. Jake Wardle 4. Jordan Turner 5. Darnell McIntosh 7. Aidan Sezer 8. James Gavet 9. Adam O'Brien 11. Kenny Edwards 12. Joe Wardle 13. Michael Lawrence 14. Matty English 15. Oliver Wilson 21. Leroy Cudjoe 22. Tom Holmes 23. Oliver Russell 24. Louis Senior 26. Sam Hewitt 27. Sam Wood 30. Reiss Butterworth 32. Owen Trout 33. Dominic Young
Referee: Liam Moore
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