Saints Get Ready For A Graceless Age

The news we’d all been doing our best not to hear came through on Tuesday (July 5) when it was announced that Regan Grace will leave Saints at the end of the 2022 season. The Welsh winger has accepted an offer to switch codes to rugby union, where he will join French outfit Racing 92. A Saints statement revealed that Grace had turned down an offer to extend his stay at Saints in favour of a new challenge. 

Although Grace is a product of the prolific Saints Academy he is that rare thing among Welsh rugby league internationals - a genuine Welshman. Grace is a Port Talbot boy, where the other code is very much in the blood. He started his rugby league journey at South Wales Scorpions before joining Saints where he has - at the time of writing - scored 86 tries in 138 appearances. He is one of eight players to appear in all three of Saints’ Grand Final successes between 2019-21 and was on the winning side when Saints lifted the Challenge Cup at Wembley last year also. 

Grace made a try scoring Saints debut at Wigan in April 2017, the game immediately following the departure of club legend Keiron Cunningham from the coaching position. He became a regular under Justin Holbrook thereafter, making a further 23 appearances in that season and crossing for another 10 tries. 

Grace possesses out and out pace, a throwback to the days when the very best wingers just needed a yard of space to inflict mayhem on opposition defences. In an era in which wingers are increasingly used as battering rams to make hard metres Grace offered something a little different to what many Super League teams had at their disposal. Whether he has fulfilled his potential is a matter for debate. There are still times when he appears hesitant rather than trusting his speed to get him to where he needs to be.

Still, his medal haul tells a story of success and he leaves us with some outstanding memories. A hat-trick in a 36-10 Good Friday drubbing of Wigan in 2019 stands out as do further trebles in a 48-0 shellacking of Leeds Rhinos in August 2020 and in last year’s 23-18 cup quarter final win over Huddersfield Giants. Grace’s key role in that cup run also included a majestic length of the field interception try to secure a semi final victory over Hull FC at Leigh Sports Village. Injuries have reduced him to only five appearances with just two tries so far in 2022. Yet now that he has regained his fitness he looks set to be a major player in Saints’ bid to win that much sought after fourth consecutive Super League Grand Final come September. It would be some way to bow out.

Grace’s decision to leave - although disappointing - is not particularly surprising. The move to union has always been whispered about in the background due to his nationality and the obsession with the 15-man game in that part of the world. When Grace signed only a one-year deal with Saints in May 2021 the signs were ominous. Clearly at that point he wanted to keep his options open should the opportunity to switch codes arise. No doubt the fact that there is a Rugby Union World Cup in France on the horizon in 2023 was a consideration even then. By moving across now he has given himself time to prove his worth to Wales coach Wayne Pivac. Sadly this - and the Covid-related 12-month delay to the Rugby League World Cup - mean that he will now be very unlikely to feature in what looks set to be the biggest international tournament in rugby league since 2017. 

Grace featured in that tournament five years ago but the lack of a consistent international programme in rugby league means he has only managed six appearances for his country. That has to have been a factor in his decision to join Racing 92, though it also seems fairly likely that he will be the recipient of a hefty pay rise. As long as league lags behind its rival in putting on international events which showcase its stars on the biggest stage it can expect to keep losing players from time to time as they seek that opportunity. In the case of Grace his background probably made a switch to union inevitable at some point in his career. Now 25, Grace is likely to be giving Racing 92 and the Welsh Rugby Union his peak years. 

At club level there was very little left for Grace to achieve in league. The only club competition he has never won is the World Club Challenge. Injury ruled him out of his one opportunity when Saints went down 20-12 to Sydney Roosters in 2020. The Covid pandemic put paid to his and Saints’ chances of competing for it again despite qualifying as Super League champions for both the 2021 and 2022 events. 

Any time a prominent league player switches to the dark side there will be those who castigate him for it. I’m no fan of union myself. Frankly I’d rather watch the whole of the last series of A Question Of Sport on a constant loop than watch five minutes of union. Yet it is difficult to find any rage to aim towards Grace. We’ve always suspected it to be his destiny and league has made little or no progress towards matching the financial rewards and exposure offered by union during his time at Saints. Athletes are potentially only ever one injury away from the end of the road and need to maximise their potential and their opportunities. Even injury free it is a relatively short career. The more rational among the fan base will not blame Grace. They will instead continue to question the structural issues within our game that make the move to union make sense for many.

Whatever your views on the move it has happened, meaning Saints now have some recruiting to do. The recent injuries to our back line have been evidence that we were already threadbare at wing. Now we arguably need to bring in two wide men. Without Grace the back line is in desperate need of a genuine speedster. As good as Tommy Makinson is he no longer express pace if he ever has been. Josh Simm’s loan move to Hull FC suggests Kristian Woolf does not see him as the answer. Shay Martyn and Jumah Sambou have both had a taste of first team rugby recently but neither is making a particularly loud claim for regular game time as yet. 

Looking outside the club the overseas quota is maxed out so any new arrivals would need to be home based unless one of our overseas stars were to leave. The most prominent name on the list of British free agents for 2023 is Greg Eden. He’s a prolific try scorer but has not shown the reliability - particularly defensively - which would interest Woolf. That’s assuming the current head coach will make the decision given that as yet there has been no announcement on whether he will be here for 2023. If money and those pesky things called contracts were no barrier then the best option running around Super League might be Leeds Rhinos’ Ash Handley. Or if we wanted to be really mischievous Bevan French has not yet committed to Wigan beyond this season. Think of the meltdown. It would be great.

Back in the real world we now need to enjoy Grace while we can. At best we will probably see him a dozen or so more times in the red vee before he departs. He will go with the best wishes of most of us, especially if he adds that fourth Super League ring to his impressive collection.