After road trips to Perpignan and Newcastle Saints return to more familiar territory as they host Huddersfield Giants on Friday night (July 15, kick-off 8.00pm).
Following the thrilling 20-18 Magic Weekend win over Wigan at St James’ Park last time out the champions sit four points clear at the top of the Super League table. Kristian Woolf’s side have won 15 of their 18 league matches so far in 2022. Victory in this one would severely damage their opponents’ chances of finishing top of the pile and carrying off the League Leaders Shield. Ian Watson’s side currently sit third in the table, five points behind Saints.
The Giants have a record of 12 wins, five losses and a draw from their 18 matches. A recent six-game winning streak came to an end when they lost to Castleford on July 1 while they have also come out on the wrong end of the scoreline against Saints, Warrington, Hull FC and Wigan so far this term. The one draw came against Leeds in mid-April when they came back from a 10-point deficit late in the game to draw level before the sides could not be separated in the extra period. Though they could slip out of contention to finish top with a defeat here a win would get them within three points of Saints and could see them go as high as second should Wigan lose to Hull FC in a match which kicks off at the same time as this one. Well, it COULD happen…
Woolf has named an unchanged 21-man squad from that which was on duty at Newcastle. He revealed to the media this week that both Mark Percival and Tommy Makinson are three or four weeks away from a return to action, but Alex Walmsley should feature having missed the derby to be at the birth of his child. Sione Mata’utia was initially suspended for this one after an alleged late hit on Wigan’s Jai Field but is free to play after the ban was overturned on appeal.
Taking all that into account it is possible that the reintroduction of Walmsley may be the only change to the match day 17. Will Hopoate was excellent at fullback against the Warriors and can now hopefully string some games together. Jon Bennison is the deputy for Makinson on the right wing now that Josh Simm is on loan at Hull FC, while Mata’utia should again fill in for Percival at left centre. Konrad Hurrell and Regan Grace should complete the three-quarter line.
Jack Welsby was outstanding at stand-off in the derby - so much so that there is a compelling argument for keeping him there and finding an alternative at fullback should Hopoate’s fitness problems resurface. Joining Welsby in the halves will be Jonny Lomax, fresh from scoring the late try which sunk Wigan and made Bevan French look a little bit silly.
In the pack it is likely that Walmsley will start so look for Agnatius Paasi to return to the bench. The ex-New Zealand Warrior was a key figure at Newcastle but has featured as an impact player off the bench in 35 of his 41 Saints appearances. And done so to great effect. Matty Lees is the other regular starting prop alongside Walmsley with James Roby at hooker. If Mata’utia continues in the centres then Curtis Sironen and Joe Batchelor should start in the second row with Morgan Knowles at loose forward. Batchelor is another who was superb in the derby win. His audacious dribble past Field for his try and his befuddling dummy on Liam Marshall to create Lomax’s winner showed a confidence and skill level that is the equal of any back rower in the league.
If Walmsley returns to the starting line-up and Paasi reverts to the bench then there will be plenty of competition to fill the three remaining interchange spots. Joey Lussick has not missed a game this season and there is no reason to believe that he will miss this one. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook returned from injury at Magic and looks another cert for a place on the bench. That could leave James Bell, Jake Wingfield and Dan Norman to fight it out for the remaining berth. The hopes of Ben Davies and Dan Hill appear to rely on unexpected absences in the backs. Sam Royle has featured in recent squads but is now spending two weeks on loan at Hull KR where he will hopefully gain some valuable first team experience.
The Giants were boosted this week by the news that Watson has signed a deal keeping him at the club until the end of 2026. There were suggestions that the ex-Salford boss was on the radar of some NRL clubs. This seems a stretch. I can’t bring to mind a single Englishman who has been head coach at an Australian club since Mal Reilly coached Newcastle Knights in the 1990s. Watson seems infinitely more likely to get a gig coaching Newcastle Thunder.
Still, if you are a Huddersfield fan you’ll see it differently. After an underwhelming first season in 2021 he has turned the Giants into a virtual certainty for the top four. His teams are solid, hard to beat and risk averse. Watson has gone on record with his admiration for Saints and Woolf but to my mind he has so far taken Woolf’s conservatism to new levels. His policy of handing the ball over to Wigan rather than kicking on the last play during the second half of the Challenge Cup final arguably cost the Giants a first cup success since 1953. Woolfball isn’t always pretty but the Saints boss knows when to let the handbrake off and has the stardust in his ranks to make it work. Can Watson really say the same?
Looking at the Giants squad for this one Watson has kept faith with the 21 who were on duty for the win over his old club Salford Red Devils at Magic. Pack leader Chris Hill remains out as does ex-Canterbury halfback Jake Cogger. Prop Sebastine Ikahihifo also misses out along with Oliver Roberts and Adam O’Brien. Winger Louis Senior is about to become a team-mate of Royle after also going on loan to Hull KR. Yet perhaps the biggest loss for the Giants is that of in-form centre Ricky Leutele. The former Cronulla and Toronto man suffered a medial ligament injury in the win over Hull KR on June 26 and could miss the rest of the season.
Watson has called Tui Lolohea the best fullback in Super League so it seems certain that he will pick his former Salford charge in that position. The Giants could still have one Senior on the wing with Innes likely to partner veteran Jermaine McGillvary. Leroy Cudjoe’s form at centre has convinced Watson so much that Jake Wardle felt compelled to engineer a move to Warrington. Toby King arrived in the opposite direction and is partnering Cudjoe in Leutele’s absence. Cogger’s loss is offset by the recent return from injury of Theo Fages. The Frenchman is a two-time Grand Final winner with Saints and seems stylistically perfect for the way Watson wants to play. Oliver Russell partnered Fages at Newcastle but Will Pryce - son of former Saint Leon - is another high quality option in the creative department.
Without Hill or Ikahihifo Watson turned to Owen Trout and Joe Greenwood to lead his front row last time out. Greenwood has moved around a bit since leaving Saints in 2017, taking in spells at Gold Coast, Wigan and Leeds before landing in West Yorkshire. Danny Levi has impressed at hooker since arriving from Brisbane Broncos at the start of the season while in the second row another (but possibly not the last) former Saint Josh Jones is joined by prolific try-scoring ex-Wests Tiger and 2022 Lance Todd Trophy winner Chris McQueen. The 34 year-old has 12 tries to his name this season, more than any other Super League forward. Another of Watson’s former Salford band usually gets the nod at 13 in the shape of Luke Yates. Known as a grafter, his in and away masterpiece on Lachlan Coote in that win over Rovers showed that he is more than just a work horse.
Jack Ashworth has played only occasionally for the Giants since he left Saints in 2020. In that time he has had loan spells at Championship bullies Leigh Centurions and Featherstone Rovers. Yet he is possibly in line to feature in the 17 against his old club along with Nathan Mason, Matty English and the versatile ex-Leeds Rhino Ashton Golding.
Saints’ 24-12 win over the Giants on Easter Monday is the only meeting of the year so far between these two. That also came on the back of a win for Saints over Wigan and was the first game in which Woolf had to find a solution to the problem of Lewis Dodd’s absence. On that day it was Roby filling in for the youngster as Lussick made a rare start at nine. Tries from Percival, Bennison, Lomax and Batchelor sealed the two league points.
Looking further back Saints have won 48 of 64 meetings with Huddersfield in all competitions since they first participated in Super League in 1998. The most high profile of these was undoubtedly the 2006 Challenge Cup final at Twickenham where a double from Sky Sports moustache Jon Wilkin was added to by tries for Jamie Lyon, Willie Talau, Sean Long, Jason Cayless and Maurie Fa’asavalu in a thumping 42-12 win for one of Saints’ greatest ever teams.
Huddersfield’s last win over Saints was a 12-10 success in St Helens on a night when Aiden Sezer kicked us to a slow death just weeks before the sport shut down for the best part of five months due to Covid. The Giants have beaten Saints 15 times since 1998 and there has been one draw. That was memorable for being Keiron Cunningham’s final game as head coach in April 2017.
Whatever happens in this one neither of these clubs will be voluntarily dispensing with the services of their popular head coaches. Whatever the result both will feel like they are still in the fight to get to Old Trafford even if defeat would probably be fatal to any aspirations the Giants may have of lifting the League Leaders Shield for the first time since 2013. It could be a tight one for a while but I’d expect Saints’ greater star quality to get them home by two or three scores by the end.
Just don’t bank on us to kick a goal. So Saints by 12.
Squads;
St Helens;
1. Jack Welsby, 3. Will Hopoate, 5. Regan Grace, 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. LMS, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Jake Wingfield, 20. James Bell, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 27. Jon Bennison, 29. Dan Hill.
Huddersfield Giants;
1. Will Pryce, 2. Jermaine McGillvary, 5. Ashton Golding, 6. Tui Lolohea, 7. Theo Fages, 9. Danny Levi, 10. Michael Lawrence, 11. Josh Jones, 12. Chris McQueen, 13. Luke Yates, 14. Matty English, 15. Joe Greenwood, 17. Owen Trout, 20. Oliver Wilson, 21. Leroy Cudjoe, 23. Oliver Russell, 25. Innes Senior, 26. Nathan Mason, 27. Jack Ashworth, 29. Sam Hewitt, 37. Toby King
Referee: Chris Kendall
Video Referee: James Child
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