Saints returned to action for first time since their Wembley triumph over Castleford Tigers with a statement 42-10 win over Hull FC. Sixteen days of inactivity is nothing compared to the prolonged nothingness of the early months of the pandemic, but it had still felt like a long hiatus at this time of the year. In many ways - and unlike several other Saints performances you could bring to mind in 2021 - it was worth waiting for.
Saints were not quite at full strength. The recent Covid outbreak at the club has clearly been disruptive. Regan Grace missed out, while the build-up to the game this week also brought the news of Theo Fages season-ending - and very probably Saints career-ending shoulder injury. Agnatius Paasi was another who was not available following the outbreak which saw league fixtures with Hull KR and Huddersfield Giants postponed. Those losses offered opportunities to others. Jack Welsby came in to Grace’s left wing slot while Lewis Dodd began his quest to show that he can become the regular choice at halfback for 2022 and beyond.
Welsby in particular was simply sensational. The stadium at Hull may have changed its name in the intervening months since the 2020 Grand Final but it again felt like home for Welsby. Last time he appeared there he scored a barely credible last-gasp winner to slay the Wigan Dragon Of Shithousery. This time he notched a hat-trick of tries and saved two at the other end. Coach Kristian Woolf made a point of highlighting the fact that Welsby was out of position and out-jumped by Bureta Fairamo for the try that got Hull back into the game at 16-10 early in the second half. Yet even the perfectionist coach and enemy of flair acknowledged the quality of Welsby’s contribution and his incredible ability to adapt to the demands of whichever role he is thrust into.
Woolf has promised that Welsby will play regularly at fullback next year when Lachlan Coote moves on to Hull KR. Still, you get the feeling that Welsby’s versatility will continue to be a massive asset for Saints as the inevitable injuries and suspensions crop up throughout the season. I’m wary of getting too carried away about our young stars so if even I am excited about Welsby you know we’ve got something special emerging.
Comparisons have even been made with the great but universally disliked Gary Connolly. Welsby probably can’t put away as many watered down lagers in Martine’s as the Billinge Lump-hopping rugby league legend, but if he has half of Connolly’s ability then the rest of the league is in a fair amount of trouble. Woolf’s habit for reminding both the fans and Welsby of the areas where he can improve may well be a clever strategy aimed at keeping Welsby grounded and focused. On the other hand that could just be the Woolf psyche, always looking for what didn’t go so well and what could be improved. Maybe he needs that to drive himself as much as his team.
Welsby had already crossed for the first of his tries when the game reached the closest it got to a momentum change in Hull’s favour. Dodd’s clever kick had been scooped up by Coote and he found Welsby who stepped inside the cover to score. That had taken Saints out to a 16-0 lead after earlier tries from Joel Thompson and Tommy Makinson. It should have been 20-0 with a chance to make it 22-0 when Kevin Naiqama went over following what looked like a backwards tap by Makinson as he challenged for a high ball with FC’s Adam Swift.
There didn’t seem too much cause for alarm when referee James Child chose to send the incident up for review. These types of tries are almost always reviewed. Yet it was more than a bit surprising when the try was ruled out for a tackle in the air by Makinson on Swift. Makinson wasn’t even looking at his former Saints team mate. His eyes were fixed on the ball the whole time. If that is not a try then what we are basically saying is that an attacking player can no longer challenge a defender for a high ball. It is very difficult to do so without making some contact. While there is a need to protect players there surely has to be room for a bit of common sense. But then again this is rugby league. A place where World Cups are called off because because self-interested blurts withdraw, and where Castleford Tigers devise a cunning plan to combat their recent staffing issues by inventing an 8 a-side version of the game.
The decision may have been abject but the lucky break was all the inspiration Hull needed to get themselves a foothold in the game before half time. Marc Sneyd sent an innocuous looking kick skyward and as it came down it somehow squirmed out of the grasp of Coote. The Scottish international hasn’t dropped one like that since the Wembley defeat to Warrington in 2019. The thing is that when a high ball is dropped it is usually costly, and there was Swift to pick up the pieces and score the try.
Saints still seemed well in control but five minutes into the second half things got a little bit squeakier. The moment that Woolf had alluded to in his appraisal of Welsby’s performance. Another Sneyd aerial assault and this time it was Fairamo benefitting from Saints failure to snuff out the danger.
It was 16-10 at that point, but that was as close as Hull got. Fairamo narrowly failed to touch down a Josh Reynolds grubber on 52 minutes and the black and whites did not create a chance of that quality again. Saints reasserted themselves, aided by the sin-binning of Jordan Johnstone five minutes after Fairamo’s near miss. Johnstone came in late on Dodd after the ball had gone leaving Child with no option given the recent crackdown in that area. Initially the only damage was a Coote penalty which stretched the lead out to two scores at 18-10. Yet within five minutes of that Kyle Amor pounced on another creative dab from the boot of Roby to score his second try in consecutive games following his game-sealing effort at Wembley. Amor has hardly been a prolific try scorer for Saints, crossing just 20 tries since joining from Wakefield Trinity in 2014. Yet he will have again enjoyed the moment on the occasion of his 200th Saints appearance.
Next to cross was Naiqama, and again it was Saints short kicking game doing the damage. You can call it a coincidence that Saints scored all but two of their seven tries from short kicks without Fages in the side but I reckon Poirot would come to a different conclusion. Naiqama announced this week that he will leave Saints at the end of the season after a three-year spell which has so far brought two Grand Final wins and a Challenge Cup success. He has come in for some criticism from some quarters for some moments of eccentricity in defence but if the game is all about entertainment then we have had reasonable value from the Fijiian. He has notched 35 tries in 68 Saints appearances to date. He can create too. The way he froze his defender then fired out a flicked pass for Makinson’s first half try was one of the highlights of this match. Naiqama will head back home with my best wishes. He might not be remembered as an all-time great import in the Meninga/Lyon/Barba class but he compares favourably to most others. Damien Smith, anyone? Michael O’Connor? Count your blessings with Naiqama.
By now Saints were cruising and Hull were steadily losing it. Prop Ligi Sao - who along with the impressive Chris Satae had given us all we could handle for a spell - was the second FC player to be invited to take a 10-minute rest by Child. Sao was caught off balance by Coote’s neat step inside which contrary to the claims of Barrie Energy Battle McDermott on commentary is not a green light for Sao to then whack the Saints fullback around the head. In Sao’s absence Welsby grabbed his second try, taking Jonny Lomax’s smart pass out wide before running around and needlessly flirting with the dead ball line. Perhaps he was trying to recreate his Grand Final try on this ground in his very own Baddiel & Skinner Phoenix From The Flames tribute.
There was still time for game star Welsby to complete his hat-trick. Dodd hacked on a loose Hull pass and had the presence of mind to keep the ball alive from the floor to find the supporting Welsby. Coote’s conversion rounded off the scoring and a pretty satisfactory night’s work for Woolf’s men. It also gave them the honour of lifting the Steve Prescott Cup, the prize played for by these two clubs in tribute to their former player. Prescott helped raise huge amounts of money and awareness for cancer charities after being diagnosed with the disease and finally, tragically leaving us in 2013. Yet the great work of his foundation continues and it is fitting that these two clubs should remember him each time they meet.
And so to this week, when Covid-permitting Saints are on course for a head-to-head clash with the other occupants of a Super League top two spot, the league-leading Catalans Dragons. The French side are on a run of 12 straight victories and have dropped only one league game all season when losing to Warrington back in April. That run includes a four-point victory over Saints in Perpignan in May. If there is a game in Super League which presents a challenge to Woolf’s currently dominant charges it is this one. Home advantage will help, though there is the pressure of knowing that in this basket case of a season defeat for Saints would probably end hopes of winning the League Leaders Shield.
Which may not worry the ‘youf’ of today who don’t seem to value winning a league. But it is after all the only thing Woolf hasn’t won domestically at Saints now. He’ll hate that.
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