Refreshed, revitalised and replenished after an unscheduled hiatus Saints return to action when they host Warrington Wolves in a Super League Round 10 clash on Thursday night (June 17, kick-off 7.45pm).
Last weekend’s planned trip to Headingley to face Leeds Rhinos was postponed due to the Yorkshire side’s need for a more convincing reason for avoiding the trip to France this week Covid-19 issues. As a consequence Saints haven’t played since the epic Challenge Cup semi-final win over Hull FC at Leigh Sports Village on June 5. A 12-day break at this point in the season may turn out to be a good thing for Kristian Woolf’s side. Overall though it was still disappointing to note that the sport is still losing fixtures to the pandemic fully 15 months on from the initial lockdown. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the match at Leeds will be rearranged given the congested nature of the schedule. Hanging on to those loop fixtures doesn’t make as much business sense when you are losing marquee fixtures with the eight-time Super League champions as a result.
Despite the extended period of inactivity Woolf has not needed to make any changes to his 21-man squad. There is however likely to be a change to the match day 17. Agnatius Paasi was not risked against Hull FC despite being named in the 21. He had come off the field early in the second half of the previous week’s league victory over the black and whites with what looked like a hamstring issue. Woolf has already stated that Paasi will be involved against Wire. Whether that is from the start alongside Alex Walmsley and James Roby in the front row or from the bench to allow Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook another start at prop is the question. Also in the hunt for game time at prop are Kyle Amor and - hoping to build on the pointless tokenism of his two-minute debut at Leigh - Dan Norman.
Behind those there is a familiar feel now with Sione Mata’utia and Joel Thompson occupying the second row berths with cheif tackler Morgan Knowles nominally at loose forward.
No changes does of course mean no Mark Percival. Woolf has described the decision to leave the England centre out for a couple of weeks at least as ‘cautious’. There will be those that are starting to worry about the frequency of Percival’s injury problems. For now though there is very little drama, especially when his position can be filled by the always excellent Jack Welsby. Since his last outing for Saints in that semi final win Welsby has put pen to paper on a new deal that will see him remain at Saints until at least the end of the 2024 season.
With so much talk about out of contract stars and imports reaching the point where a return home gathers more appeal it is heartening to know that the club have secured Welsby for as long as any young professional athlete is prepared to commit these days. At his current rate of progress Welsby will attract the attention of NRL clubs at the end of his deal but if it is all the same to you I’m going to leave the fretting about that one for another day.
Welsby will likely be partnered in the centres by Kevin Naiqama while Tommy Makinson and cup hero Regan Grace are back in situ on the wings ahead of fullback Lachlan Coote. Theo Fages - who has reserved his best form for the exact moment before he probably leaves for Huddersfield - partners Jonny Lomax in the halves. Lewis Dodd may or may not get an opportunity from the bench and if you can predict what Woolf is going to do with Aaron Smith this week then you’re wiser than I.
Like Saints Warrington have an unchanged 21-man party from their last outing. Steve Price’s side recovered from their Challenge Cup calamity against Castleford with a strong performance in beating Wakefield Trinity 38-18.
On their day they have threats all over the park with the likes of the in-form Gareth Widdop and the James Blunt of rugby league, Blake Austin (critically acclaimed not that long ago but now somehow a byword for abject shiteness). Tattoed bus-crooner Josh Charnley scored a hat-trick a week ago to offer a reminder of his finishing abilities while Jake Mamo is one of those players who is dangerous because he doesn’t quite know what he’s going to do next himself. The one glaring omission from the back division is moneybagged former NRL legend Greg Inglis. The former Souths man has been seen in a Warrington shirt since coming out of retirement but not often. It’s a bit like trying to spot the jaguars at Chester Zoo. You might get lucky. But not this week.
It’s on the very front line where Saints seem to hold a significant advantage. Warrington have forwards like Ben Currie and Daryl Clark who would light up the best sides in the world but the prop department looks less impressive. Chris Hill’s best years are probably only now visible on a club DVD while Mike Cooper and Price are seemingly in the midst of an uneasy truce following some toy-chucking shenanigans at Leigh. Beyond those two Rob Mulhern and Rob Butler are decent options but you look around the Warrington front row and you can’t help wondering who exactly is going to get a handle on Walmsley.
For all that there is a chance of what would be perceived as an upset here. If Saints defend like they did in the second half at Leigh then trouble could lie ahead. If Warrington get that left edge of Widdop, Currie and Toby King enough quality ball they pose a real threat. It’ll be a close one but look for Saints to just edge it by a score or two.
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.
Warrington Wolves;
Sitaleki Akauola, Blake Austin, Rob Butler, Josh Charnley, Daryl Clark, Michael Cooper, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Chris Hill, Jack Hughes, Toby King, Tom Lineham, Ellis Longstaff, Jake Mamo, Robbie Mulhern, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Josh Thewlis, Danny Walker, Gareth Widdop, Connor Wrench.
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