Super League’s top spot is on the line when Saints host Wigan in the Good Friday derby (April 15, kick-off 3.00pm).
Seven rounds into the 2022 competition Saints sit top of the Super League table but are only separated from the Warriors on points difference (albeit Saints are a whopping 122 points better off by that measure). With the teams also drawn together in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup we should be in for a fascinating pair of games over the next three weeks. Games which should give us some indication of whether Saints are still the dominant force or whether the pie-loving rugby league journalists are right to suggest that Wigan are bridging the gap under new head coach Matty Peet.
Saints boss Kristian Woolf has made just one change to his 21-man selection from the group named ahead of last week’s cup win over Catalans Dragons. Curtis Sironen fell foul of the disciplinary for the second time this season and misses out. He is replaced by Jake Wingfield who missed the trip to Perpignan due to concussion protocols. With Sione Mata’utia still out injured the only certainty in the second row looks to be the in form Joe Batchelor. Woolf has options in Mata’utia’s absence. He could give the nod to Wingfield or else move Morgan Knowles back from his regular loose forward role. If Woolf goes down that route then Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook or James Bell could be in line for a start. Sam Royle is another back rower in the 21 while prior to the start of the season there were whispers that Konrad Hurrell could move into the pack. That seems less likely for this one as Regan Grace’s continued absence suggests Hurrell will be needed in the three-quarter line while Will Hopoate deputises for Grace on the wing.
No such dilemmas in the front row with Alex Walmsley and Matty Lees restored to their starting roles last week either side of the living legend that is James Roby at hooker. McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Agnatius Paasi and Dan Norman are the likely interchange prop options.
Despite the loss of Grace the back line still looks powerful. Jack Welsby was superb in the win over the Dragons and seems to get better with every game at fullback. Hopoate is a solid presence on the wing while Tommy Makinson remains one of the best in the business. Hurrell will likely start at centre alongside the excellent Mark Percival.
Lewis Dodd is another whose reputation grows with every game. His halfback partnership with Jonny Lomax is now well established. Look for a lot of what Saints do in attack to flow through this pairing once Walmsley and company have softened up the defence enough to create the space they need to weave their magic.
Peet is coaching in his first derby and only his 10th competitive game since taking over the reins from notorious enemy of ball movement Adrian Lam. This is by far Peet’s stiffest test to date. Like Woolf, he goes into it with his fair share of problems. Chief among these is the absence of long time problem child Zak Hardaker. The former Leeds and Castleford star’s off field conduct has not met the standards required by Peet apparently. Which is about as surprising as finding out that bears defecate in woodland areas.
Whatever Hardaker has done this week it causes Wigan problems in the centres. With Kai Pearce-Paul and Ian Thornley (really? At Wigan?) also out Jake Bibby could be moved from the wing and John Bateman may operate in a role he was repeatedly and infuriatingly asked to perform for England under Wayne Bennett. Otherwise 20 year-old Sam Halsall may come in for only his 11th appearance in cherry and white.
If there is a difference between this Wigan outfit and the vintage led by Lam it is that this mob have raw, destructive speed. Bevan French is back from a seemingly endless absence while in Jai Field Wigan possess one of the standout performers of the early weeks of the season. Only Makinson and Hull KR’s Ken Sio have managed more than Field’s nine tries in Super League across the first seven rounds. They are both wingers, while Field’s threat comes from fullback. If he gets a yard of space there is probably nobody in the Saints team who will reel him in, particularly in the absence of Grace. The key will be to do everything possible to deny that space to him and to the equally rapid French.
These strike players will be particularly important for Wigan in the context of not only Hardaker’s absence but that of Liam Marshall. Marshall is the lone survivor from a time when Wigan had the strongest wing group in Super League. The irony is that they kept plundering up the middle through ubergrubs Willie Isa and Oliver Partington regardless. Joe Burgess and Tom Davies have moved on - presumably to improve their chances of getting a pass - while the unfortunate Dom Manfredi was forced to retire through persistent injuries. When Marshall is fit he could form a scary back three alongside Field and French. Fortunately, not this week.
Somehow Tommy Leuleuai still plays regularly in the halves despite celebrating his 56th birthday recently. He has a new halfback partner this year in Cade Cust, who arrived from Manly Sea Eagles at the start of pre-season. Cust looked a lively presence when he was given his opportunities at Manly but you’d argue that he has not yet been totally convincing as a replacement for Jackson Hastings. Despite his apparent boredom and his desire to be elsewhere - even Salford - Hastings was as much of a threat as any playmaker could be inside the Lam strait-jacket.
And so the grubs forwards. This is the area where Wigan look genuinely outmatched. Across all six positions Liam Farrell is just about the only one who would have a mere sniff of getting into the current Saints team. Sam Powell might inch into a conversation about backing up Roby. The continued love affair with Isa is baffling while the likes of Partington, Morgan Smithies and Liam Byrne are only really noticeable when they are trying to start a fight with their tedious ‘passhun’. If Bateman is switched to the centres then one or two more of this young group of ne’er-do-wells might get an opportunity for even more playing time. Which might be bad news for the heads and ACLs of the men in the red vee but in terms of the result of the match I’m feeling very happy about the prospect.
We’re going to find something out about these teams this weekend. In losing to Toulouse Saints have already shown that they are far from infallible. Meanwhile Wigan will want to make a statement that the optimism and excitement around them under Peet is justified. Despite Toulouse Saints still look to be the team to beat. It is highly doubtful - even with French and Field - that Wigan have enough weapons to do it.
Squads;
St Helens;
1. 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, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Jake Wingfield, 20. James Bell, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 26. Sam Royle, 27. Jon Bennison.
Wigan Warriors;
- Bevan French 2. Jake Bibby 6. Cade Cust 7. Tommy Leuluai 8. Brad Singleton 9. Sam Powell 10. Patrick Mago 11. Willie Isa 12. Liam Farrell 13. John Bateman 14. Morgan Smithies 16. Harry Smith 17. Oliver Partington 19. Ethan Harvard 20. Liam Byrne 22. Joe Shorrocks 23. Jai Field 24. Abbas Miski 25. Sam Halsall 26. James McDonald 28. Brad O’Neill
Referee: Liam Moore
No comments:
Post a Comment