The 2021 season chugs on as Saints host Castleford Tigers on Thursday night (August 12, kick-off 7.45pm).
Unlike many other sides we could mention but are far too polite to, Saints have not allowed their Covid tribulations to scupper their form. They have claimed wins over Hull FC and Catalans Dragons in the last 10 days. Kristian Woolf’s side are veering dangerously close to the threshold of 18 completed fixtures which will very likely signal the end of the world for the other Super League sides. Only some arbitrary Covid-based technicality seems even remotely likely to stop Saints who - despite disregarding any need to entertain - are miles ahead of the competition at present. That may change in 2022 with key players leaving and recruitment never an exact science. Yet if Saints do not win the Grand Final this year (assuming it takes place in this shit show of a season) it will be the biggest surprise in sport since Lionel Messi paid his tax bill.
But if you thought things were getting predictable then think again. Woolf has pulled a rabbit out of his huge hat with the inclusion of James Bentley in the 21-man squad for this one. Bentley was last seen pole-axed on the turf at Leigh Sports Village having broken his leg during Saints win over the Centurions at the end of April. It is not quite a resurrection of George Burgess proportions but it is certainly a faster recovery than might have been anticipated.
Since his injury Bentley has announced that playing for the leading force in Super League beyond 2021 is not for him and that instead he will become one of the key pieces in another Leeds Rhinos rebuild. The more level headed among our fan base have accepted this with the indifference that befits a fairly decent player opting to play for his boyhood club, probably for a higher wage. Yet there will be those for whom Bentley’s decision is the ultimate betrayal. It will be interesting to see if there is any shift in attitude towards Bentley from the terraces should he make the 17.
His chances of doing so are increased by the absence of Morgan Knowles. Not much chance of the Cumbrian-born former Welshman giving up the chance to add to his medal collection and instead lace up for his boyhood club given the state of rugby league in that part of the world. But he misses out here, leaving Bentley to battle it out for a back row spot along with Joe Batchelor, Sione Mata’utia and Joel Thompson. Matty Lees suffered a head knock at Hull so missed the win over Catalans Dragons but returns here. He will compete for game time in the front row alongside Alex Walmsley, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Kyle Amor and Agnatius Paasi.
James Roby’s future has been a popular topic of discussion in recent days with reports linking Saints with a move for Parramatta’s former Salford hooker Joey Lussick. For now Roby is backed up by Aaron Smith but the understudy must be feeling less secure about his position at the club given that it seems clear that Woolf is looking to recruit in that area. Smith can’t be one for the future much longer as he will turn 25 in October. He is only 10 months younger than Lussick who has already starred for Salford and found his way into the NRL. If Woolf’s mind is not already made up then you get a sense that Smith is running out of chances to change it.
Over in the backs department there doesn’t seem too much need for change. You could always find a place in the starting line-up for Jack Welsby and nobody would grumble, but who do you leave out? Lachlan Coote is still one of Saints most influential players despite his impending departure, while none of Tommy Makinson, Kevin Naiqama, Mark Percival or Regan Grace have done anything to warrant losing their place. The most likely outcome is that Welsby will start on the bench where he can adequately cover any of the backs including the halfback pairing of Lewis Dodd and Jonny Lomax. Welsby can even do a turn at loose forward if the need arises. We will see him, it is just a question of when and in what role.
Castleford’s eggs were all in the Challenge Cup final basket before their 26-12 Wembley loss to Saints. They now find themselves trying to pick up whatever scraps are left of their season. Yet we should not completely rule out their playoff hopes given the uncomfortably high likelihood that something about the playoff structure will be changed and blamed on Covid between now and mid-September. The Tigers were convincing winners over an improving Leeds Rhinos outfit in their last outing and currently sit seventh in what is still as I write a race for the top six, just one win behind Richard Agar’s side. If they could shock Saints here it would surely force Agar into some sort of dark mutterings about a top 7 or 8 playoff structure. Yet as ifs go it’s pretty sizeable.
Tigers boss Daryl Powell does welcome back some of his leading men for this one. Liam Watts, George Griffin and Cheyse Blair all return to the squad while Brad Graham, Jimmy Keinhorst and Alex Foster make way. However the news is not all positive for Powell this week as it emerged that Jake Trueman requires back surgery and will not play again this season. All of which means he won’t play for Powell again either, unless the young stand-off pitches up at Warrington in the near future. That seems less likely than it once did after Warrington signed George Williams. In Trueman’s absence former Saint Danny Richardson will play a vital creative role. He will have another chance to get one over on the club who did not consider him a better option than either Dodd or Theo Fages.
Jordan Turner is another former Saint and while he spent the fag end of his time with the champions slugging away at loose forward he has moved back into the three-quarters at Castleford and has nine Super League tries to his name this term. That is as many as Grace and considerably more than Makinson’s four, but that stat tells you more about the width with which the Tigers attack (and Saints don’t) than it does about the merits of those individuals. Castleford do not do The Grind, which is one of the reasons why they probably won’t win. Grimly, conservatism is king in the self-styled best game in the world right now.
Another ex-Saint in Castleford’s back division is their skipper Michael Shenton while Gareth O’Brien also had a spell at Saints on loan from Warrington back in 2013. That was when Nathan Brown began building the most unlikely Grand Final winning side in history which took the goods a year later. Things are rather different now which you suspect Castleford may discover to their cost. Yet they remain dangerous on their day and in Grant Millington, Jesse Sene-Lefao, Greg Eden and Paul McShane they still retain some key members of their 2017 League Leaders Shield winning side which lost to Leeds in the Grand Final.
Those Cas fans still nostalgic about that run to Old Trafford might have had their interest peaked this week by talk of a return to the Jungle for Zak Hardaker. Now at Wigan, Hardaker defecated on the Tigers 2017 Grand Final hopes when news that he had failed a drugs test broke in the days before the big game. Yet if he can behave for long enough he still possesses the quality to improve a Cas side that despite its great cup run has seemed to drift in the league since the announcement of Powell’s move to Warrington for next year.
It is hard to see anything other than a Saints win in this one. Which is great. Who doesn’t want to keep on winning and add another Grand Final and maybe - if Woolf decides to go for it - a League Leaders Shield? But the diminishing amounts of jeopardy in Saints games are another reason why they are not very exciting to watch. I don’t want us to lose but please..won’t somebody force us to do something different?
Probably not Cas. Saints by 18.
Squads;
St Helens;
- Lachlan Coote, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Kevin Naiqama, 4. Mark Percival, 5, Regan Grace, 6, Jonny Lomax, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 11. Joel Thompson, 12, James Bentley, 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, 29, Ben Davies.
Castleford Tigers;
- Niall Evalds 2. Derrell Olpherts 3. Peter Mata’utia 7. Danny Richardson 8. Liam Watts 9. Paul McShane 10. Grant Millington 11. Oliver Holmes 12. Cheyse Blair 13. Adam Milner 14. Nathan Massey 15. George Griffin 19. Tyla Hepi 20. James Clare 21. Jesse Sene-Lefao 22. Daniel Smith 23. Greg Eden 24. Suaia Matagi 25. Jordan Turner 26. Lewis Bienek 31. Gareth O’Brien
Referee: Ben Thaler
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