A fifth league win in a row saw Saints consolidate their four-point lead at the top of the Super League table. Kristian Woolf’s side edged Hull KR 26-18 in an entertaining clash on Sunday afternoon (June 12).
As Saints pulled clear again at the top the visitors’ defeat meant that they relinquished the sixth and final playoff place for now. The Robins suffered their eighth loss in 15 league outings. That’s an identical record to that of Castleford but if the playoffs were to begin tomorrow the Tigers would squeeze in ahead of Rovers by virtue of their superior points difference. Or some might say their less terrible points difference.
Saints had looked better balanced in last week’s 28-14 win in Toulouse and Woolf wisely stuck as close to that formula as possible. There was an enforced change at centre where Sione Mata’utia - who had filled in for Mark Percival in France - was suspended. With Percival also still out the left gig went to Ben Davies. It offered a good opportunity for Davies to start in his favoured position. He missed out on selection in Toulouse having played the previous five as a makeshift stand-off.
In the forwards Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook missed only his second game of 2022, the other being at Castleford in April when a virtual academy side went down 30-10. A facial fracture is currently laying McCarthy-Scarsbrook low, so both Jake Wingfield and Dan Norman came into the 17 on the bench. Curtis Sironen missed out and with Mata’utia also absent James Bell started in the second row alongside Joe Batchelor with Morgan Knowles in his regular loose forward slot. James Roby started too, featuring in a Super League game for a record-breaking 455th time. The Toulouse game saw Roby tie the record which had been held for seven years by Leeds Rhinos legend Kevin Sinfield. Now he moved out on his own - the latest milestone in a storied, phenomenal career.
In doing so he earned himself a guard honour from both sets of players as he entered the field. If any current Super League player deserves that level of reference it is Roby, though not everyone will be comfortable with Super League records in a sport which started a long time before 1996.
In the Rovers side most Saints fans’ eyes were on Lachlan Coote. The former North Queensland Cowboy made 66 appearances for Saints in three seasons between 2019-21. Three of those 66 appearances were winning Grand Finals. Coote was returning to Saints for the first time since moving to Rovers at the end of 2021. Just has he had been during his three-year stint with the champions, Coote was worth the entrance money by himself.
Rovers coach Tony Smith was still without halfback Jordan Abdull so again paired the exciting but inexperienced Mikey Lewis and Rowan Milnes in his creative department. That meant Rovers were unchanged from the 17 which had thrashed Salford Red Devils 43-16 in their previous outing. Ryan Hall is chasing his own record - now on 223 and only 24 short of Danny Maguire’s Super League record of 247. Matty Storton, Matt Parcell and George King were charged with slowing down Saints’ formidable front row while behind them Frankie Dalton was excellent in defeat.
Expecting an open game, the fans didn’t have long to wait for the first attacking wave from the home side. The opening set ended with a Jack Welsby kick towards the corner which looked destined to roll into touch before Konrad Hurrell got to it and threw a speculator back over his head towards Will Hopoate. The Tongan snaffled it and produced a deft flick pass to allow Tommy Makinson to walk in at the corner. It was the Saints and England winger’s 16th of the Super League season, moving him two clear at the top of the Super League try-scoring charts for 2022. He could not add the goal to this early effort but Saints led 4-0.
Having gained the early initiative Saints quickly set about the task of indulging in a little self sabotage. Their next attack promised to put them into a double digit lead but only succeeded in leaving them a man light. Jonny Lomax’s lob was just too long allowing Coote to diffuse it. As he did so, the chasing Welsby mystifyingly saw fit to push his opposite number and Saints predecessor in the back. Referee Marcus Griffiths took a dim view and sat Welsby down for the next 10 minutes.
There are those who will say that Griffiths was pedantic. No real harm was going to be inflicted on Coote. Yet to my mind Griffiths was not as pedantic as Welsby was needlessly aggressive and fairly brainless. Perhaps he thought he was making a statement about how he is now the new guy in town. Perhaps it was just bantz between master and apprentice. A kind of Obi-Wan vs Anakin in front of the East Stand rather than on the fiery planet of Mustafar or - spoiler alert - Jabiim. Either way it didn’t really help the cause.
Saints compounded that error of judgement when they were caught offside, allowing Rovers to set up the position from which Coote made his first imprint on the contest. Saints had defended a set on their own line pretty well until Coote took hold of proceedings, slashing outside Walmsley to get over from dummy half. Coote kicked 284 goals in his three seasons at Saints so it was no surprise when he landed his first goal of the afternoon to give Rovers a slender 6-4 lead.
More indiscipline cost Saints soon after. Readers of this column will recall my lament of the persistent concession of penalties which made the task harder in Toulouse last week. This week Saints were even causing themselves problems when in possession.
Alex Walmsley put a huge dent in the Rovers defence after he was put through a gap by a clever short ball by Bell. As Walmsley got up to play the ball quickly 10 metres out there was the usual struggle between ball carrier and marker. One trying to get the ball back in play as quickly as possible, the other trying to prevent that from happening. In his frustration Walmsley pushed Parcell at marker and was duly penalised. Parcell didn’t need much persuading to go over. Few players do as the scourge of football-style simulation creeps ever further into the game. Yet for all that it was an exercise in self-harm from Saints and an opportunity lost.
Since this was his record breaking game it just had to have a moment that was typically James Roby. It came at a good time as it put Saints back on top on the scoreboard. Rovers contributed to it too, penalised for offside and a scrum offence and conceding a set restart in the passage of play that put Roby in position to score his 116th try in a Saints career that now extends to 509 appearances in all competitions. Close to the line at dummy half the Saints skipper feinted left, pirouetted back around to the right and shot through a big gap in a confused Rovers defence. It was a signature way to mark the occasion. Makinson slotted over the conversion from bang in front and Saints led 10-6.
George King had to leave the field with what looked like a cut to the head or face on Saints next attack. While he was away Saints pressed home their advantage with a try of some considerable quality. Hurrell was held just short over on Saints’ right edge before Roby, Lomax and Welsby combined to find a rampaging Walmsley. Known more for his north-south, no-nonsense methods Walmsley showed that he is not just a battering ram as his perfectly timed, expertly executed pass back inside gave Morgan Knowles a clear run to the line.
Many - including this writer - have fretted about the lack of cohesion in Saints attack during the recent halfback crisis but this was a display of clinical, devastating precision during which all the moving parts hit exactly the right spot at exactly the right time. It was another simple conversion for Makinson and Saints seemed to have wrestled control of the game at 16-6. It was also Knowles’ second try in successive games, a feat he has not achieved since the last two games of the 2021 regular season.
Had Welsby released the ball to Bell a split second earlier Saints may well have added to their lead on their next raid. Instead Welsby hung on and Walmsley came up with an error. Griffiths then pinged Saints for offside and suddenly Woolf’s men were defending their own line. They have been excellent at doing that this year but couldn’t quite pull it off on this occasion. Milnes and Coote combined in a movement which culminated in a fizzing ball across the face of the Saints defence from Coote to Hall. It was reminiscent of so many we were fortunate to witness during Coote’s time in the red vee and was good enough on this occasion to put Hall in at the left hand corner.
Hall now has 223 Super League tries. He is only 24 short of the record held by Danny Maguire - another former Leeds man with Rovers connections. More importantly in the shorter term it brought the Robins right back into the contest. They were now just four points down at 16-12 as Coote made another testing conversion from out wide look routine. Witnessing this match was a strange experience to this point. Saints had enjoyed more possession and played some pretty un-Woolf-like expansive stuff yet found themselves only four points to the good. Perhaps that is why the coach favours a little more of what modern game planners call structure.
Coote caused more problems when he got on the end of a hopeful punt from Milnes. The former Saints man hacked forwards but the danger was averted by a covering Makinson. He even managed to escape the in-goal before Parcell cheekily claimed a try as the ball came loose. The Rovers man was penalised. Makinson then reminded us that he is a major factor at both ends. He was bundled into touch just short of the try line after good work by Roby, Lomax, Knowles and Welsby.
Having set up one chance for Makinson Parcell then served up another. His horror pass went all along the ground without ever really threatening to get anywhere near a Rovers player. The man most alert to its whereabouts was Roby, who covered it up deep in KR territory. From there Saints moved it right where Makinson - about to suffer the same fate as he had a few minutes earlier and run out of room - tried to find Welsby but the pass shot forward into the Rovers in-goal.
The pendulum swung again, Ryan Hall rampaging down the left wing before handing on to Elliot Minchella. He in turn shifted it to the busy Parcell who was only halted by a fine tackle by Grace 25 metres out. Minchella, Coote and Lewis then tried to engineer a chance on the right flank but the final ball was well anticipated by Welsby. His unfortunate inability to hold on to it meant another set of six for Rovers in great field position. A set restart gave Rovers more encouragement but Saints’ formidable defence held out. Milnes’ kick beyond the try line was scooped back and brought back into the field of play by Hopoate.
That failure to capitalise would eventually cost Rovers another two points before half-time. The visitors came up with a crucial error in their own territory and one typical Roby burst later Parcell felt compelled to interfere at the next ruck. Not only did it offer Makinson an easy opportunity to put Saints a further two points up at 18-12 at the break, it also represented the point where Griffiths’ patience with Parcell’s antics ran out. As the teams walked off the field the Rovers hooker’s interlude would be 10 minutes longer than everybody else’s.
In the early exchanges of the second half Saints spurned one chance with a forward pass, and then were laid low by their recurring disciplinary problems. Perhaps in homage to Walmsley’s earlier effort it was now Knowles’ turn to pointlessly push away at his marker as he got up to play the ball. We could have done without the reaction from George King. His theatrics made Harry Kane’s dive at the Allianz Arena last week look like the consequences of an all out physical assault but the point about Saints’ discipline stands. Stop doing stupid stuff and make life easier for yourselves,
As I write this news is just breaking that Hurrell has agreed a one-year extension to his deal which will keep him in the red vee for 2023. The next significant action was Exhibit A in why Saints have been keen to keep him from a possible NRL return. Picking up possession around 15 metres from his own line the former Rhino stampeded through the defensive line and streaked away to cross half way line. At this point there was only Coote between him and the try line. There was not a thought in Hurrell’s head of trying to go around Coote, or beat him with a bit of footwork. Instead he barrelled straight at the fullback who just about did enough to halt his progress.
Hurrell’s burst had scattered the Rovers rearguard like Boris Johnson rearranging the ministerial code. Seeing this, Welsby placed an unfathomably well weighted kick to the left side of the field where it was seized upon by Davies. The ball held up in exactly the right spot for Davies to gather and ground it in one movement. He took a bang on the head in the process but in scoring his second try in his eight Saints appearances to date he had given his side a two-score cushion at 22-12. Makinson could not tack on two more this time but the threepeaters were starting to exert a deal of control and scoreboard pressure.
Smith’s men weren’t helping themselves by now, making a simple error early in the tackle count. That after surviving a burst by Makinson whose kick was just too long for the chasing Lomax. If fatigue was playing a part for Rovers it was not a surprise against a defence which is still only shipping an average of 10.5 points per game across their 15 Super League outings so far. Rovers had already managed more than that, so perhaps they shouldn’t have expected to pick up too many more.
Perhaps Saints slipped into a temporary comfort zone. Following the Rovers error they gave it straight back when Joey Lussick inexplicably failed to take notice of the ball being played back to him by Batchelor as he waited at dummy half. This sort of thing doesn’t happen in Robyworld. To be fair it’s something of an aberration for Lussick who has been excellent since coming back to England from Parramatta. He must have been feeling particularly off colour as soon after his pass to Roby - which Australians might refer to as an absolute bludger - could not be handled by the skipper and possession was lost again.
Perhaps Saints needed a jolt. They almost got it when former Leeds splinter-collector Jimmy Keinhorst combined well with Lewis to put Jez Litten over on the right. Yet Griffiths deemed the pass to Lewis forward as Saints maintained their 10-point lead. Lewis was not deterred. When Parcell - by now off the naughty step - broke the Saints line and kicked ahead only the presence of Regan Grace denied Lewis the opportunity to get his team back into it. Lewis is quick and elusive but in a straight race the Saints winger was always a likely victor. He covered up forcing Rovers to settle for the goal-line dropout.
From there Rovers had two bites at the proverbial cherry. They got a fresh set when Shaun Kenny-Dowall’s wayward pass was gobbled up by Roby only for Griffiths to rule that it had been knocked forward by a Saints hand. Not to worry, the ball was lost on the very first play of the set by Ethan Ryan. KR must now have been entertaining thoughts that this would not be their day.
All doubt was removed when after a smart break by Lomax the ball was shifted right by Lussick, Roby and Hopoate to Hurrell. He showed more of what has earned him another year as he expertly used Makinson as a foil outside him before gliding through the defensive line with the grace of a man a third of his size. Like Knowles before him it was his second try in as many games. His fifth in 15 appearances since heading to the fun side of the Pennines. It was a thing of beauty and a score which settled the issue on this day.
On his current form Hurrell is more than worth his new deal. Still to turn 31 you would imagine he has more than another good year in him. The only danger is what psychologists refer to as LMS Syndrome, where an ageing player ups his levels until a new contract is secure before reverting to type. If we see this Hurrell rather than the one during his last days at Leeds then we will have got ourselves a real asset for next year and maybe beyond. Though if Hurrell does have designs on another crack at the NRL he doesn’t want to leave it too long.
Makinson could not convert Hurrell’s effort but Saints were now cruising with a 14-point advantage at 26-12. There was a slight scare after Rovers executed a short restart but Lomax’s tackle on Halton was a try saver. Saints went close to adding to their lead when Welsby was brought down just a metre or so short on the last. The challenge which stopped him in his tracks looked suspiciously high but was let go by Griffiths. Hurrell was then called for interference at the ruck allowing Rovers to put Ben Crooks away down the right channel. Yet having been denied at the other end Welsby pooped the Rovers party by executing an assured cover tackle.
The Saints stand-off - soon to make an England debuts of sorts in this weekend’s pick-numbers-in-the-playground, bring-whoever-will-play farce against the Combined Nations All Stars - then put a shrewd grubber in at the other end which only just evaded the unlikeliest of kick-chase try scorers in Walmsley. Saints were happy trading blows at this point, confident that their defence would not be breached enough in the time that remained. Missed opportunities like this were by now something to work on for the next game rather than worry about immediately.
Rovers would have the last word. Coote grabbed his second try when Kenny-Dowall cut in from the left and place a perfect grubber in behind the defensive line. The fullback got up and converted the try himself to narrow the arrears to a respectable eight at 26-18. Kenny-Dowall then coughed up possession in his own half to spurn what would have been Rovers’ very last chance to cause any alarm. Instead the game ended with Saints knocking on the door for more points. Walmsley was held up over the line before a Rovers hand stopped Hopoate’s pass reaching Makinson out wide. The hooter sounded after one play from the resultant scrum as Grace was brought to ground.
Makinson was the leading metre maker on either side with 159, while Hurrell was Saints’ next best with 121. Walmsley added another 120 to his name, Bell managed 110 and Davies 101. Rovers’ best in this category was Halton with 135. Just behind him was Kenny-Dowall with 132 as Rovers’ left edge caused most of the problems. Add Hall’s 120 into that mix and there is further evidence of where the visitors’ attack was at its best. Parcell had a very eventful afternoon in all sorts of ways, one of which was his 104 metres with ball in hand.
Both teams made five clean breaks but were slightly hamstrung by their error count. Saints came up with 11 while Rovers were only a step behind with 10. Uncharacteristically, Saints produced 15 offloads but perhaps even more out of character was their concession of second phase play to their opponents on no fewer than 20 occasions. Woolf will be grumpy about that but with a blank Super League weekend because of the internationals he has some time to ponder a solution.
Coote was a perfect three from three with the boot while Makinson was at 50% with three from six. Had Makinson landed a few more the margin of victory could have been more convincing. Perhaps if Coote had still been in the Saints ranks. To be honest, Coote was that good all round that if he had not been in the Rovers side Saints might have won by 30. He was involved in everything and makes a huge difference to any side.
Defensively only two players topped 30 tackles as the work was shared around and the game became more open than your average Super League encounter. Parcell got through the most work with 39 tackles while Roby led Saints with 36.
A short break coming up then, after which Saints will welcome Leeds Rhinos into town on June 23 for a Thursday night Sky clash. Saints will be going for a sixth straight league win. You’d have to fancy them to get it too despite Leeds showing signs of improvement under another member of the Smith family in Rohan. The problem for the Rhinos is that they have too much improving to do to convince anyone that they will be able to overcome Saints in less than a week’s time. They currently sit eighth with five wins out of 15 and were fairly comfortably handled by Huddersfield Giants last time out.
If Woolf and his side want it there is a League Leaders Shield in the offing before the business of securing what would be a record fourth consecutive Grand Final success.
Saints:
Hopoate, Makinson, Hurrell, Davies, Grace, Welsby, Lomax, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Bell, Batchelor, Knowles. Interchanges: Lussick, Paasi, Norman, Wingfield
Hull KR:
Coote, Ryan, Crooks, Kenny-Dowall, Hall, Lewis, Milnes, Storton, Parcell, King, Halton, Johnson, Hadley. Interchanges: Vete, Litten, Minchella, Keinhorst
Referee: Marcus Griffiths
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