It could be a more youthful, experimental Saints side which takes on Salford Red Devils at Headingley on Monday (October 26, kick-off 5.30pm).
Head Coach Kristian Woolf has made seven changes to his 21-man squad from the one which was on duty for Friday’s 40-8 home victory over Leeds Rhinos (October 23). Lachlan Coote, Regan Grace, Jonny Lomax, James Roby, Zeb Taia, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Matty Lees all drop out with a mix of youngsters and forgotten men drafted in to take their place.
Back rowers Matthew Foster and Jake Wingfield, hooker Josh Eaves and fullback or winger Tom Nisbett are all included while there are recalls for Jack Ashworth, Joseph Paulo and Matty Costello. Paulo has not featured since the pre-lockdown 12-10 home defeat to Huddersfield Giants back in March. The word around the campfire is that he has given up on convincing Woolf that he can contribute in the final year of his Saints contract and instead negotiated a release to enable him to join Toulouse for 2021.
Ashworth has had some off field issues which have been a major reason why he has not seen first team action since a 54-6 win over the Giants at Headingley in early September. For Costello’s part he might have thought the injury to Mark Percival would give him an opportunity for a run in the first team. However he has been overtaken in the pecking order by both Jack Welsby and last week’s hat-trick hero Josh Simm. Costello will hope to make his first appearance since starting that big win over the Giants on the wing but long term his Saints future looks bleak.
Trying to predict what the final Saints line-up might look like is tricky. For all the new blood, Woolf has included 10 of the 17 who strolled past Leeds last time out who could still feature. Add to that the fact that James Graham and Lewis Dodd did not play any part against the Challenge Cup winners and we could still see a relatively strong side. Alex Walmsley’s inclusion is perhaps a surprise given that he has had a heavy workload of late and is one of Saints most important players in the pack. Maybe the prospect of Walmsley picking up a ban after being sin-binned for placing Leeds’ Alex Sutcliffe in a dangerous position is in Woolf’s thinking. If a ban is imminent the England prop might be involved on the basis that he’ll get his rest when that ban comes. If not then maybe he could sit this one out to stay fresh for Wigan on Friday (October 30).
Aside from Walmsley Saints have all of Tommy Makinson, Kevin Naiqama, Theo Fages, Joe Batchelor, Morgan Knowles, Kyle Amor, Aaron Smith, James Bentley and Simm on duty. How many of them we will see is likely to depend on how healthy they are following Friday’s run out. Woolf has said publicly that Dodd will get a start in the halves soon and this looks like being the time. For his sake I hope he is able to do so within a relatively strong line-up. I’m not sure we will learn too much about how he fits in to the shape of the team if he is having to steer a ship that is too reliant on youth. Along with some of the 10 who played on Friday perhaps Dominique Peyroux would be a useful inclusion. He needs the game time and has the experience which could prove vital.
Turning our attentions to Salford their coach Ian Watson has been linked with a move to Hull FC on social media this weekend. He has worked relative miracles in getting the Red Devils to last year’s Grand Final and to Wembley earlier this month. It is easy to see why Hull chief Adam Pearson might consider Watson the ideal candidate to get the best out of a talented but continually underachieving squad.
No deal has yet been done at the time of writing so for now Watson remains focused on Salford. He has made three changes to his 21-man party after they were blown away 58-12 by Wigan on Friday. Dan Sarginson returns from the Covid issues that ruled him out of an appearance at Wembley and he is joined by Connor Jones and Tom Gilmore. Mark Flanagan misses out after being knocked out in that Wigan loss while Niall Evalds withdrew from that one late and does not make it here either. James Greenwood is the other man to miss out.
Watson will hope for a much better performance than the one served up by his players against Wigan. Clearly Wembley took a toll physically and emotionally but there is plenty of quality in the Red Devils line up. Krisnan Inu has been superb this year while Kallum Watkins has also made an impact after joining from Toronto Wolfpack without making an appearance for the Canadian side. Kevin Brown looks gone for the year so the creative onus is on Tui Lolohea and Chris Atkin or Gilmore if he gets the nod.
The forward pack is led by former Wigan man Lee Mossop and there is further experience in the shape of Tyrone McCarthy, Gil Dudson and Parramatta Eels-bound hooker Joey Lussick. Sebastine Ikahihifo and Pauli Pauli bring the power and the unpredictability.
Saints only previous clash with Salford in 2020 was way back on opening night A time before the new normal led us to the point where failing clubs are as I write apparently colluding to end the regular season early and expand the playoff series. That 48-8 home win was arguably Saints best performance of a shaky start to the season before Covid came along and changed everything. Whether they can repeat that depends to some degree on Woolf’s selection decisions but you get the sense that there is enough in the Saints squad to get home. Saints by 18.
Squads;
St Helens;
2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Kevin Naiqama, 7. Theo Fages, 8. Alex Walmsley, 12, Dom Peyroux, 14. Morgan Knowles, 16. Kyle Amor, 17, Jack Ashworth, 18, Joseph Paulo, 19. Aaron Smith, 20. James Bentley, 21, Matty Costello, 22. Jack Welsby, 23, Joe Batchelor, 24, Josh Eaves, 26, Josh Simm, 27, Lewis Dodd, 29, Matty Foster, 30, Tom Nisbet, 31, Jake Wingfield, 32. James Graham.
Salford Red Devils;
2 Ed Chamberlain, 4 Dan Sarginson, 5 Krisnan Inu, 6 Tui Lolohea, 8 Lee Mossop, 9 Joey Lussick, 10 Gil Dudson, 12 Pauli Pauli, 13 Tyrone McCarthy, 14 Sebastine Ikahihifo, 16 Greg Burke, 17 Luke Yates, 18 Chris Atkin, 22 Rhys Williams, 24 Elliot Kear, 25 Connor Jones, 29 Oliver Roberts, 30 Andy Ackers, 32 Kallum Watkins, 33 Tom Gilmore, 34 Oliver Ashall-Bott.
Referee: Ben Thaler
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