The Challenge Cup moves back into the spotlight this weekend as Saints visit Catalans Dragons in a quarter final tie on Saturday afternoon (April 9, kick-off 2.30pm).
The match-up is a repeat of last season’s Super League Grand Final, when Saints secured a 12-10 win over the French outfit who had earlier pipped Saints to the League Leaders Shield. The victory at Old Trafford gave Saints a third Super League title in a row and a ninth since the switch to summer and the launch of Super League in 1996.
Saints have made a solid start to their bid for a fourth consecutive Grand Final win, topping the table with six wins from their first seven games. The only blip so far was the jarring 22-20 loss at bottom club Toulouse on March 19. The champions will be looking for better things on their return to France although the Dragons have also made a promising start to the league campaign. Defeat to Huddersfield last week was only the second suffered by Steve McNamara’s side in their first seven league outings. The other came at Saints on the opening night.
Saints coach Kristian Woolf has made three changes to his 21-man squad following last week’s 26-0 win over Leeds Rhinos at Headingley. Will Hopoate comes back into the fold at the expense of Josh Simm. Hopoate has only managed three appearances for the club since joining from Canterbury Bulldogs at the start of 2022, and has not featured since the 28-2 win over Warrington on March 11. He will hope to get the nod to start somewhere in a three-quarter line that is still missing Regan Grace with a hamstring injury. In all likelihood Hopoate will start on the wing ahead of Jon Bennison despite the youngster impressing in the win over the Rhinos.
That would leave Konrad Hurrell to continue to partner Mark Percival in the centres with the remaining wing spot held down by Tommy Makinson. The England winger is currently Super League’s joint top scorer with 10, including two at Headingley last time out. Salford’s Ken Sio is the only other Super League player who can match that tally over the first seven rounds.
The front row may have a more familiar feel to it this week. Matty Lees has not played since the defeat in Toulouse but returns to the squad for this one. Of even greater significance will be the presence of Alex Walmsley should he be ready after missing the last three games with a hamstring problem. Saints are a side transformed with Walmsley on deck. The ex-Batley man will celebrate his 32nd birthday the day after this tie but few would dispute that he is still the premier front rower in Super League.
Between Lees and Walmsley at hooker James Roby will play game number 501 of an illustrious career which has already seen him collect four Challenge Cup winners medals. That is some achievement when you consider that Saints went 13 years without winning the game’s oldest trophy before defeating Castleford Tigers in last season’s final. Joey Lussick is the alternative to Roby while behind the starting props Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Agnatius Paasi should resume their impact roles off the bench. Kyle Amor is not included while Jake Wingfield misses out due to concussion protocols. Dan Norman has been quietly establishing himself over recent weeks and will hope to build on that here.
The absence of Wingfield and the still sidelined Sione Mata’utia means a return to the squad for the lesser spotted James Bell. Bell showed some good touches in a pre-season friendly with his former club Leigh Centurions but has so far been unable to make an impact at Saints. He has yet to feature for his new club in a competitive match. He will do well to take too much playing time off the vital cog in the machine that is Morgan Knowles at loose forward, but his inclusion in the initial squad is at least a sign of progress.
Without Mata’utia we should see Curtis Sironen partner Joe Batchelor in the second row. Sironen was found guilty of a Grade A charge following the trip to Leeds but has been cleared to play. The authorities’ loss of nerve over the clampdown on foul play has worked in Saints favour here. Otherwise Sam Royle may have sniffed an opportunity to start after featuring in the last two. He may still earn a place on the bench. That will depend on whether Woolf wants three props on the bench or is happy to go with two. One of the number nines - be it Roby or Lussick - seems a lock in for one of the bench spots.
All of which wild selection speculation is in stark contrast to the creative spine where there seems little debate about who should get the nod. Jack Welsby should continue at fullback and the halfback pairing of Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd seems settled now also. An injury in one of those positions is perhaps the only circumstance where you might worry about Saints having adequate cover.
Amid the Dragons’ defeat at Huddersfield last week was an amusing spat between the two head coaches over the French side’s travel arrangements. The kick-off at the John Smith’s Stadium was delayed by 35 minutes after high winds forced the Dragons to divert to Toulouse before boarding their flight. Giants coach Ian Watson claimed that the delay was overly generous to Catalans and was critical of their decision to travel on the day of the game. Meanwhile McNamara was unimpressed and hit back by suggesting that Watson’s comments were ‘disgraceful’ and that it was a ‘freak of nature’ which had disrupted their travel plans.
Huddersfield laughed last, winning 28-12. The Dragons will have to pick themselves up from that disappointment. Boosting their hopes of doing just that is the fact that McNamara can welcome several key figures back into his 21. The exciting Arthur Mourgue features for the first time this season following an ankle injury, while both Mitchell Pearce and Jordan Dezaria return from suspension. Micky McIlorum and Benjamin Julien are also restored. On the other side of the ledger McNamara is still without Samisoni Langi, Alrix Da Costa, Dean Whare and Julian Bousquet.
Despite those losses there is still plenty of quality in this Dragons side. Dylan Napa was dismissed in that opening night loss at St Helens and is sure to be keen to put that right, while Tyrone May is another with significant NRL experience. Sam Tomkins is the reigning Steve Prescott Man Of Steel, while his ex-Wigan colleague Tom Davies is a genuine contender for England selection on the wing at this autumn’s World Cup. On the other flank Fouad Yaha is powerful and prolific if a little accident prone.
In the forwards Matt Whitley and Mike McMeeken are arguably as good as any second row pairing in Super League. Joe Chan has been linked with a move to the NRL this week and Benjamin Garcia adds further quality. Sam Kasiano is probably best described as hot and cold, but if he’s hot he could give a slightly under cooked Saints front row all they can handle.
Saints won convincingly in that last meeting but if you go back to the two meetings prior to that these two sides look well matched. Saints always looked like winning at Old Trafford but such was Catalans’ spirit that Woolf’s men ultimately only just edged it. Few will forget the clash at Newcastle on Magic Weekend when Saints threw away a commanding lead in the last five minutes to lose by a point 31–30. In many ways that experience could have served Saints well. Never again will they assume that a job has been done on the Dragons until they hear the final hooter sound.
Catalans fans may point out that Saints do not have a great record in Perpignan. Their last win there came back in 2018 but that was a season when Saints made two trips to the home of the Dragons and came away with wins on both occasions. This could be a close one. It was not the draw that either side would have chosen. Saints have not dazzled in possession this year so far but I’m expecting their suffocating defence - which has allowed an average of only just over seven points a game in 2022 - to just about get them over the line and into the last four.
Squads;
Catalans Dragons;
- Arthur Morgue 2. Tom Davies 5. Fouad Yaha 6. Mitchell Pearce 7. Josh Drinkwater 8. Gil Dudson 9. Micky McILorum 11. Matt Whitley 12. Mike McMeeken 13. Benjamin Garcia 15. Benjamin Julien 16. Paul Seguier 17. Mickael Goudemand 18. Matthieu Laguerre 19. Arthur Romano 20. Tyrone May 22. Dylan Napa 23. Jordan Dezaria 27. Joe Chan 28. Sam Kasiano 29. Sam Tomkins
Saints;
- Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Will Hopoate, 4. Mark Percival, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. LMS, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 20. James Bell, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 26. Sam Royle, 27. Jon Bennison.
Referee: Chris Kendall
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