It’s a quick reunion for Saints and Hull FC as they meet in the semi final of the Challenge Cup at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday (June 5, kick-off 2.30pm). The two sides met just a week ago in Super League as Saints recorded a 34-16 win fuelled by a fast start.
This time the stakes are somewhat higher. This week’s winner will seal a place in the Challenge Cup final at Wembley. For Saints that would mean a chance to lift the trophy for the first time since 2008 when a 28-16 win over the black and whites brought what was then a third successive cup win. Saints have only been back to the final once since, when a warm milk of a performance saw them go down to Warrington 18-4 in 2019.
Meanwhile Hull were back-to-back cup winners in 2016 and 2017, doing us all a favour on each occasion by denying silverware to Warrington and Wigan respectively. They made a hot start to 2021 under new coach Brett Hodgson but have recently gone a little frosty. They have lost three of their last four league games to spark age old questions about whether Hodgson is the real deal or merely another facilitator of the latest false dawn.
One man you wouldn’t want to meet at dawn is Saints coach Kristian Woolf. He has had to make two changes to his 21-man squad for this one. Mark Percival is the glaring omission having come off early in the second half last week as a ‘precaution’. It turns out that Percival - whose injury record means he is now starting to make Jack Wilshere look like Bruce Willis in Unbreakable - will be out for a couple of weeks with a hamstring problem.
So what we all need is some good news. It arrives with word that first choice wingers Tommy Makinson and Regan Grace - both of whom missed out last week - are named in the 21 and should start. If they do then expect Kevin Naiqama and Jack Welsby to move back to the centres from the wings and the unfortunate Josh Simm to miss out. Lachlan Coote will sweep up behind these four at fullback as well as finding time to do a lot of the creative heavy lifting. Despite suggestions that he will be in Huddersfield in 2022 Theo Fages remains almost a certainty in the halves alongside Jonny Lomax.
The pack is boosted by news that Agnatius Paasi is fit after he left field at a similar time to Percival last time out. The Tongan turned in an impressive cameo in that one and has pressed his claims for more game time in a front row featuring the long-serving titans Alex Walmsley and James Roby. Equally long-serving but often Titanic in a different way is Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook. Nevertheless the Londoner was excellent last week and will play a significant role in the continued absence of Matty Lees. Kyle Amor is the other prop likely to be involved in the rotation.
The back row is still without the services of James Bentley so Joe Batchelor should get another chance to shine somewhere in the 17. He may have to bide his time from the bench however with Sione Mata’utia, Joel Thompson and Morgan Knowles forming a fairly well established back row.
FC have picked up just one new injury concern since last week. Joe Cator has suffered a calf strain and misses out, replaced in the 21 by Connor Wynne. Hull were already without longer term injury victims Jamie Shaul, Scott Taylor and Masi Matongo. While the loss of the latter two does restrict Hodgson’s front row options Shaul has it all to do to get back in the side when fully fit now that Jake Connor is operating regularly at fullback. The modern game continuously shows the value of slotting one of your best attacking players in at fullback and it is a move which has allowed the halfback partnership between Josh Reynolds and Marc Sneyd to prosper.
The backs feature ex-Saint Adam Swift and cup winner Mahe Fonua, while in reserve the black and whites can still call on USA international Bureta Fairamo before his move to Castleford in 2022. The centre pairing is the strong running Josh Hodgson alongside the silkier but no less effective Carlos Tuimavave. Hull have all the weapons they need. Their problem last week was that they could not get the possession and territory required to unleash them. That will be the challenge for them again.
Without Taylor and Matongo Chris Satae is the standout prop. He’s been excellent so far in 2021 but whether he has enough support in the likes of Brad Fash, Josh Bowden and company to wrestle control away from Saints in this area has to remain doubtful. In the back row Andre Savelio is another one once held in high regard in the red vee who will look to show his old club what they are missing. He was ruled out of last week’s game and the black and whites missed his skill and industry. If Ligi Sao and Manu Mau get their handling up to scratch they can also cause Saints some real problems. The pair had an off day a week ago, seeming to lose composure on the few occasions they created opportunities. They cannot afford to be similarly wasteful this week. It will all be held together in the Hull pack by the ever consistent Danny Houghton at hooker, backed up by Jordan Johnstone off the bench. Their battle with Roby and whichever of Lewis Dodd and Aaron Smith is picked by Woolf this week could be pivotal.
Ultimately, you wouldn’t expect this column to predict anything other than a Saints win. If it did then defeat would be viewed as my self-fulfilling prophecy and I’d get more hate mail than usual. Fortunately, the evidence of seven days ago suggests that Saints have the number of a promising FC side which has just looked like it is still trying to find itself in recent weeks. There’s little time to look in a semi final, especially when Walmsley is running at you, your defensive line is busted and Coote, Fages and Lomax are lined up waiting to fire the bullets for Tommy and Regan. Saints by 12.
Squads;
St Helens;
1, Lachlan Coote, 2, Tommy Makinson, 3. Kevin Naiqama, 5, Regan Grace, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Theo Fages, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 11. Joel Thompson, 13, Morgan Knowles, 14. Sione Mata’utia, 15. LMS, 16. Kyle Amor, 17, Agnatius Paasi, 18. Jack Welsby, 19, Aaron Smith, 20, Joe Batchelor, 21. Lewis Dodd, 22. Josh Simm, 25. Dan Norman, 30. Sam Royle.
Hull FC:
1.Jake Connor. 2. Bureta Faraimo 3. Carlos Tuimavave 4. Josh Griffin 5. Mahe Fonua 6. Josh Reynolds 7. Marc Sneyd 9. Danny Houghton 10. Chris Satae 11. Andre Savelio 12. Manu Ma’u 13. Ligi Sao 14. Jordan Johnstone 16. Jordan Lane 17. Brad Fash 19. Ben McNamara 20. Jack Brown 21. Adam Swift 22. Josh Bowden 23. Connor Wynne 24. Cameron Scott
Referee: Liam Moore
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