One of Super League’s biggest, if a little lop-sided rivalries resumes as Saints travel to the Halliwell Jones Stadium to face Warrington Wolves on Thursday night (May 19, kick-off 8.00pm).
Kristian Woolf’s side put cup disappointment behind them and continued their impressive Super League form with victory over Hull FC las time out. After absorbing some first half pressure Saints were clinical when they needed to be and eventually cruised to a 24-10 win. The win opened up a two-point gap over closest challengers Catalans Dragons and Wigan in the race for the League Leaders Shield. A very youthful Saints side’s loss at Castleford and the aberration of defeat to Toulouse in France in March remain the only league losses suffered by Saints in 12 matches so far in 2022.
Meanwhile Warrington come into this one in no small amount of disarray. The arrival of Daryl Powell to replace Steve Price as head coach at the start of the season was meant to herald the start of a more successful era. After all, if Powell can guide Castleford to a League Leaders Shield and appearances in both the Grand Final and the Challenge Cup final what could he do at a club with Warrington’s riches?
Not a lot so far. Wire sit a fairly apologetic eighth in the Super League standings after 12 rounds. They have tasted defeat in seven of those 12 matches, the latest of which was a shocking capitulation in Perpignan against the Dragons. Wire were competing well at 8-8 with 25 minutes to go but imploded spectacularly to lose 40-8 in the end. It was Warrington’s second league defeat of the season to the Dragons while there have also been losses against both Hull clubs and Wakefield Trinity. These are results that in recent times would have qualified as surprises but which are now becoming ever more predictable. That they have also lost league games to Saints and Wigan this year should surprise nobody in the context of their struggles.
Woolf had to shuffle the pack last week in the fallout from the semi-final loss, but has this week made just one change to his initial 21-man squad. Utility back Dan Hill is brought into the fold while Jumah Sambou misses out this time. That’s not a change likely to have an effect on the starting line-up or even the interchange bench. Woolf has the opportunity, should he wish, to restore some continuity and field the same side which got the better of Brett Hodgson’s side last week.
That would mean Jack Welsby starting at fullback - nominally at least - though Jonny Lomax has been turning up in the number one position defensively an awful lot since damaging his bicep in the win over Salford on April 29. Lomax is trying to play through it which Woolf obviously considers particularly important with Lewis Dodd lost for the season. Yet it is clear that Woolf has been trying to protect the talismanic Lomax from the more regular contact that comes from operating in the defensive line. He will look a lot more like a halfback in attack, probably alongside Ben Davies who is enjoying a sustained run in the side at stand-off. Woolf also seems to have gone away from using James Roby in the halves despite a perfectly serviceable performance there by the skipper in the win at Huddersfield on Easter Monday in the wake of Dodd’s Good Friday injury.
With Regan Grace and Will Hopoate still missing the only question in the three-quarter line is whether to stick with Sione Mata’utia in the centres and keep Mark Percival on the wing, or else restore the pair to their preferred roles and bring Josh Simm back in to the side. On the face of it there seems no reason to change. Mata’utia was Saints’ top metre maker against Hull with 163 while Percival was singled out for special praise by Woolf for his efforts out wide.
Mata’utia may be a more natural second rower but while there is a need at centre he looks the man for the job. He is not desperately needed in the back row at the moment with Joe Batchelor’s solid form and the fact that Curtis Sironen has managed to avoid a suspension this week. Morgan Knowles should complete the back row. On the opposite flank to Mata’utia and Percival expect Tommy Makinson and Konrad Hurrell to continue their ever improving partnership.
Since he is not needed in the halves Roby should continue at hooker, spelled by Joey Lussick and flanked by starting props Alex Walmsley and Matty Lees. Agnatius Paasi’s penchant for an offload should again be a feature off the bench where there should also be places for Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and James Bell. Others in contention for a bench spot are forwards Jake Wingfield and Dan Norman and maybe Hill.
As if they didn’t have enough problems Wire announced this week that winger Josh Charnley will leave the club at the end of the season amid rumours that he does not see eye-to-eye with Powell. The ex-Wigan man was left out of the 17 for the Dragons game and will not feature in this one either. Nor will promising youngster Josh Thewlis who has a knee injury. Better news for Wire is that former NRL star and England international Gareth Widdop is included in Powell’s selection after missing the last three games.
Toby King may return after missing out last week, which may allow Ben Currie to return to the second row. Stefan Ratchford or Widdop could cover Thewlis at fullback while one of them is likely to partner George Williams in the halves. Connor Wrench and Matty Ashton could again occupy the wing berths.
Up front Powell has included young prop Luke Thomas in a squad for the first time. To see any action Thomas will have to jump ahead of at least Joes Philbin and Bullock. Mike Cooper and Rob Mulhern started in the front row in France with Daryl Clarke at hooker backed up by the lively Danny Walker. If Currie returns to the pack then expect either Ellis Longstaff or Billy Magoulias to drop to the bench.
When Warrington travelled to St Helens earlier in the season they left after a 28-2 hammering. A double from Makinson and further tries for Welsby, Lomax and Percival sealed the points for Saints on a night when the only blemish was an injury to Mata’utia that would keep him out of action for seven weeks. Last weekend’s collapse in France was the only other occasion when Warrington have been held to single figures on the scoreboard in Super League in 2022.
Looking back a bit further Warrington’s last win over Saints was a 6-2 success in St Helens last June. Wire have had a reasonable amount of success over Saints in recent years. The 2020 quarter final was a close affair with the Wolves going through 20-18, while in the previous year’s final Saints had a shocker of a day and went down 18-4 in the Wembley sunshine.
There isn’t much evidence to support a Warrington win this time. The Wolves have the joint third worst defence in the league, conceding an average of 24.8 points per game. Meanwhile Saints are still only offering a miserly 9.6 points per game to their opponents. In attack it is closer, with Wire’s 21.5 points per game still falling short of Saints’ 24.6 points per outing.
That greater defensive solidity, added to Wire’s currently chaotic form leads me to believe that Saints will comfortably get home. I’d expect Saints to place more pressure on Powell and his men with a win in the region of 18 points.
Squads;
Warrington Wolves:
Matty Ashton, Joe Bullock, Daryl Clark, Jason Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Matt Davis, Riley Dean, Oliver Holmes, Toby King, Ellis Longstaff, Billy Magoulias, Peter Mata’utia, Robbie Mulhern, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Ellis Robson, Luke Thomas, Gareth Widdop, George Williams, Connor Wrench.
St Helens:
1. Jack Welsby 2. Tommy Makinson 4. Mark Percival 6. Jonny Lomax 8. Alex Walmsley 9. James Roby 10. Matty Lees 11. Sione Mata’utia 12. Joe Batchelor 13. Morgan Knowles 14. Joey Lussick 15. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook 16. Curtis Sironen 17. Agnatius Paasi 19. Jake Wingfield 20 James Bell 21 Josh Simm 22 Ben Davies 23. Konrad Hurrell 24. Dan Norman 29. Daniel Hill
Referee: James Child
Video Referee: Ben Thaler
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