First of all a confession. I had a ticket for Saints 24-6 win over Wigan but I didn’t go. My mum turned 70 on Sunday so there was a bit of a gathering. Outside as directed by our esteemed government. In the rain but with the aid of a couple of gazebos. It was like Noah’s Ark. Anyway the point is I can’t say I’m sorry I missed the derby. Not only because of the monsoon conditions but also because it was a mismatch. One shambolic outfit trying to paint the loss of three or four key players as the decimation of an entire senior squad and another outfit high on functionality but low on entertainment value. Like a kettle. It does it’s job but having to sit there and watch it just pisses you off.
Like those unfortunate (or fortunate) enough to miss out on the ballot for tickets I watched the television coverage of the match. The best part of which was Sean Long’s insightful if occasionally stumbling interjections as a pundit. On the field Saints main man was the one who all week had been linked with the exit. Lachlan Coote was coy afterwards about reports suggesting he will leave Saints to join Hull KR next season. Yet there was nothing coy about his performance. He was all action, contributing a try and six goals, virtually taking over the kicking game from the beloved but usually invisible Theo Fages and marshalling a defence so good that it will be upset at having allowed Liam Farrell’s 54th minute converted try.
Before the game the perceived wisdom was that it wouldn’t much matter if Coote headed east to Rovers. Many believe that Saints have a ready made (oven ready?) replacement for Coote in the shape of Jack Welsby. That could be the case. Welsby has met every challenge thrown at him in his young career so far, with coach Kristian Woolf having asked him to play virtually everywhere along the back line as well as a stint at loose forward in this one. Yet in waving Coote off and getting high on Welsby’s potential we are doing what we always do with our youngsters. Declaring them world class as soon as they get a run of games.
Perhaps the idea that Welsby is a better bet at fullback right now than Coote is a defence mechanism. After all chances are the Scotland international will jump ship given the extra year of security on offer from Rovers. So with that in mind it makes sense to stay positive and not go off the deep end in lamenting Coote’s loss. Yet none of that changes the fact that we could be about to lose a fullback so good that he has made us all forget about Ben Barba. They didn’t sing ‘he’s the reason’ on the terraces for nothing. Often he was. Meanwhile it is not certain that Welsby’s best position is at number one as Coote’s replacement. He has arguably been more impressive at centre. But then you come back to it - every challenge he is set, he meets.
One of the principal reasons this game was a fairly dour affair - apart from the rain - was the predictable shithousery of Adrian Lam’s side. Willie Isa has picked up a two-match ban for a dangerous tackle on Welsby, but should have been sin-binned before that for inexplicably flattening Mark Percival off the ball. The Saints centre was lying on the ground. The ball was dead, but even had it been in play it was not in the vicinity of Percival. Nevertheless Isa - a hugely over-rated individual in whom the grub force is strong - barrelled through the back of the Saints man. Apparently neither referee James Child nor his touch judge Scott Mikalauskus managed to see it. Undeterred, Isa finally received the yellow card he had been begging for when he tipped Welsby up above the horizontal and then for an encore rushed over to land on the head of a prone and unsuspecting Regan Grace.
Wigan were down to 11 men when newbie Kai Pearce-Paul showed that he will always buy into the Wigan philosophy with an armless hit on Coote following a kick downfield. The tackle was not late. The grumbling element who feel the game has gone soft will say it was a harsh decision. But the point is that Pearce-Paul made no attempt to wrap his arms around and effect a legal tackle. You can argue that the shoulder charge should be allowed as long as it does not involve contact with the head. I’d probably agree with you. What you can’t do is blame the officials for applying the law as it is currently.
By the time Wigan became short-handed Saints had already gained a grip on the game which allowed them to sleepily cruise through the rest of it. Grace had notched his eighth try of the Super League season early, while Coote had converted both that and his own score and added three penalties to give Saints an 18-0 lead at the break. To their credit Saints hardly made an error in that first half but they did it playing Woolfball. A low risk, conservative style of play which puts a premium on set completion and worries less about stretching a defence. No need when the relentless grind machine will wear the opponent out eventually. Some people are thrilled by it but I personally find it hard to get very excited about high completion rates. I would describe Saints first half showing as efficient, but not particularly good. By contrast Wigan were woeful all night as they continue to feel sorry for themselves in the midst of a five-game losing streak.
The highlight from a Saints perspective - apart from Coote - was arguably the performance of Percival. He has missed an awful lot of rugby in the last two seasons and must have had his confidence undermined by all the persistent injury problems. Yet he was absolutely fearless here, ripping into Wigan as if he had hamstrings made of granite. He racked up 174 metres on 14 carries and got over for Saints third try. No player on either side gained more ground on the night. Six tackle busts, two clean breaks and two offloads are further evidence of the constant threat that he posed. If you are going to play conservatively you need players who can make an impact within that framework. Percival certainly did that.
Another who might be worth a watch in these coming weeks is Joe Batchelor. Joel Thompson continues to miss out with a shoulder problem and is retiring at the end of the season, while James Bentley has quietened the chat around his world class status by breaking his leg and then choosing to sign for Leeds Rhinos for 2022. All of which leaves Woolf - if he stays - in need of a couple of second rowers to back up and compliment the industrious but hardly spectacular Sione Mata’utia. Can Batchelor fill the void? Some are starting to talk up his performances which is as annoying as it is dangerous.
However he can be reasonably pleased with his 73 metres on 11 carries and particularly with his defensive effort off 44 tackles. No Saint bettered that - not even Morgan Knowles, a man who would tackle his own grandmother to preserve his try line even if his side were 90 points to the good. Sam Powell was the only Wigan player to put in a bigger defensive stint than Batchelor with 52 tackles. But then he’s the hooker for the team that had less possession. He ought to have a high tackle count. What he doesn’t need to do is talk to the ref after every single one. Batchelor has not convinced me yet that he can fill part of the void that will be left by Thompson and Bentley but he has made a solid start to seizing his opportunity.
Saints go to Wakefield next week. You would think this a gentle enough assignment until you remember that it comes only eight days before the Challenge Cup final meeting with Castleford at Wembley. Woolf has some key decisions to make on who to play and who to rest. Will Matty Lees be back in contention? Will Thompson be back? Will there be off the field announcements on Coote and Fages or the many other Saints who are off contract to provide unwelcome distraction between now and then? Saints sit one win worse off than Catalans Dragons at the top of the table and can ill afford a loss if they have designs on the League Leaders Shield. But Woolf may need to balance that priority against the desire to win the Challenge Cup for the first time since 2008.
Fans will forget an away loss at Wakefield fairly quickly. A second loss at Wembley in three years would linger a little longer.
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