Saints look to continue their unbeaten start to 2021 when they host Wakefield Trinity on Friday night (April 16, kick-off 6.00pm).
Following opening wins over Salford Red Devils and Hull KR Saints have another favourable assignment on paper as the league holds back its marquee fixtures until after the proposed return of fans on May 17. It represents an opportunity to make a fast start to the defence of the Super League title, while Saints have already reached the last eight of the Challenge Cup with last weekend’s victory over Leeds Rhinos.
Gaining momentum for 2021 has been made more difficult by the need to consistently make changes to the squad. Coach Kristian Woolf has had to make three alterations this week, although Mark Percival is included despite missing the last two games with a leg injury. Matty Lees and Sione Mata’utia are the latest casualties. The former hobbled out of the Leeds game with an ankle injury while the latter wasn’t too far behind him after suffering a head knock in the first 10 minutes of the Rhinos clash. They will both sit this one out, so the as yet unused new recruit Dan Norman comes in along with Aaron Smith who missed the Leeds game due to a concussion. Tom Nisbet is the other man included with Josh Simm now out on loan at Leigh for at least the next fortnight.
Simm has been linked with a move to the NRL this week despite signing a contract with Saints to the end of 2022 only last week. This may seem surprising given his relative lack of first team experience but there is precedent with the likes of Dominic Young at Newcastle Knights and Harry Rushton at Canberra Raiders. NRL scouts are no longer just looking at English players that have established themselves in Super League. How comfortable you are with this depends on your priorities for the game in this country. To use a football analogy, do you want a world beating league and a mediocre national team like England, or an underwhelming league with a World Champion national team like France?
Back to the business of Saints v Wakefield. Lachlan Coote didn’t have the greatest game of his life on his return to action last week but in all likelihood just needs more game time to get back to his best. Class is permanent after all, so expect him to start with Jack Welsby only getting the start if one of Coote or Percival cannot. With Simm currently elsewhere Welsby is the logical choice for cover at centre inside the prolific Regan Grace. The Welshman added two more meat pies to his tally against Richard Agar’s men and has been a constant threat despite Saints penchant for plundering ground down the middle under Woolf. On the opposite side Kevin Naiqama partners England certainty Tommy Makinson.
Theo Fages is another who has been the subject of transfer rumours this week, sparked initially by the club’s decision to tie Jonny Lomax down on a new deal until the end of 2024. Two and two invariably make five in the world of rugby league rumour but the school of thought is that the money spent on new deals for Lomax and Alex Walmsley will necessitate cutbacks elsewhere to stay within the cap. With Lewis Dodd bursting to get an opportunity and a significant number of fans desperate to see him the departure of Fages is an obvious conclusion to come to. Though in Saints system fullback is a far more influential role than halfback to the extent that we could play Theo Huxtable at seven and still not significantly stifle our creativity.
Saints win be because they beat teams to death up front, so the loss of Lees is an inconvenience. Norman will be keen to make a first appearance in Lees’ absence but given the monstrous performance of Agnatius Paasi against Leeds he too must be a contender. It seems to depend only on whether Woolf feels that Paasi is a more potent weapon off bench, coming on to rip holes in tiring defences. Kyle Amor and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook will push their claims too, though the Londoner may see more action in the back row with both Mata’utia and Morgan Knowles out. Joel Thompson and James Bentley are currently the second row pairing of choice, though Joe Batchelor and Jake Wingfield are also in contention in that department.
Wakefield haven’t been excluded from the gossip columns this week, amusing us all with talk of doubling their Fifita quota. The suggestion is that current Wakefield star and dodger of GPS tracking devices David Fifita could soon be playing alongside brother Andrew in the front row. For now David carries the load up front for Trinity, a job made even more difficult by the suspension of the excellent Kelepi Tanginoa from the back row.
Also out is Tom Johnstone. The speedy winger has been stood down for four weeks by Trinity after suffering from concussion problems. Liam Kay is also out so expect Innes Senior to step up with Lee Kershaw, Jack Croft and Ollie Greensmith also three-quarter options for head coach Chris Chester. Reece Lyne and Bill Tupou are the expected centre pairing and Ryan Hampshire could also feature with Max Jowitt and Alex Walker missing. In the halves Jacob Miller partners new recruit Mason Lino. The former Newcastle Knight has looked lively in patches this term but hasn’t quite found the consistency he’d like, much like his team.
Apart from Fifita the pack boasts Tinirau Arona, Jay Pitts, Eddie Battye and James Batchelor, brother of Saints man Joe. Another Joe is influential at loose forward in the shape of Joe Westerman, but former Saint Matty Ashurst is another who misses out. Woods Kyle and Josh cover the hooking duties along with Jordy Crowther.
Wakefield were beaten 26-6 in the Challenge Cup by Catalans Dragons last week, a loss which came off the back of a narrow loss to Leeds and a bit of a towelling by Wigan. Chester is coming under increasing pressure given that the losing start to 2021 follows Trinity’s failure to win three of their last 17 Super League encounters. It’s hard to see that changing here, with Saints unlikely to concede many points on their way to a three-score win. Saints by 16.
Squads;
St Helens;
1, 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. Joel Thompson, 12, James Bentley, 15. LMS, 16. Kyle Amor, 17, Agnatius Paasi, 18. Jack Welsby, 19, Aaron Smith, 20, Joe Batchelor, 21. Lewis Dodd, 23. Jake Wingfield, 25. Dan Norman, 26. Tom Nisbet.
Wakefield Trinity;
4. Reece Lyne 6. Jacob Miller 7. Mason Lino 8. David Fifita 9. Kyle Wood 10. Tinirau Arona 13. Joe Westerman 14. Jay Pitts 15. Eddie Battye 16. James Batchelor, 17. Chris Green 18. Innes Senior 19. Jordy Crowther 20. Arundel 23. J Wood, 24. Jack Croft 25. Brad Walker 27. LeeKershaw 29. Ryan Hampshire 32. Ollie Greensmith 34. Dane Windrow.
Referee: James Child
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