Woolf At The (Exit) Door

There will be a review piece on the Wakefield game. It’s half finished, in fact. But sometimes events get overtaken by other events. Life comes at you fast. Unlike the Saints three-quarter line at Wigan. 

And so it is that today (August 31) we had it confirmed that Saints head coach Kristian Woolf will leave the club at the end of the season.  He is departing to take up what has been described as ‘an opportunity’ in Australia. That opportunity may or may not be a place on Wayne Bennett’s coaching staff at the new Dolphins NRL franchise due to start play in 2023. That was what was widely reported a few weeks ago despite denials from Woolf and an eerie silence from everyone else other than the Australian media. 

I think most Saints fans have been expecting Woolf’s departure. The deeper into the final year of his contract we went without news of a new deal the more likely it seemed that he would leave. Hearing him speak at a fans forum at the club last night (August 30) seemed to reinforce that expectation. He spoke glowingly about the club, the town and the community. He thanked everyone at the club and the fans for helping him and his family to feel so welcome and to feel a real part of the community. But it was all past tense. Like it was the end of something. Not quite your soon-to-be ex telling you to focus on what good times you’ve had together before ripping out your heart and shoving it up your arse, but something comparable.

You can’t blame him. He has spent three seasons with us. Three seasons in a different culture on the other side of the planet. And three seasons in a post-pandemic world that is so very different to what he would have envisioned when he made the move to the UK at the end of the 2019 season. Three months of his first season were spent in lockdown, communicating with players who were still relatively new to him via Zoom and WhatsApp groups. I can’t imagine that these are things which made the transition easier.  Yet he remained until now he has an opportunity to win the Super League Grand Final in each of his three seasons with the club. That would be a unique achievement among head coaches in the summer era.

Full disclosure. I haven’t always been a fan of his style. Saints have wonderful players capable of playing some mesmerising stuff. Yet their success under Woolf has been built on conservatism. Completing sets. Getting in the arm wrestle. Going through the processes. When this has produced uninspiring attacking displays he has batted it away with suggestions that the team has been ‘clunky’, the current go to buzzword and euphemism for when you lack either the imagination or the will to throw the ball around. As if there was so much more to come next week from an attack that was actually just playing to his orders. 

But whether I like the style or not it has worked. Not only has Woolf won back-to-back Grand Finals with a third within reach, he also ended Saints’ 13-year wait for a Challenge Cup triumph when his side beat Castleford at Wembley last year. Just this week he completed the full set of domestic honours available to a Super League coach when he secured a first League Leaders Shield. It does not really matter what you make of the methods if the team are winning trophies. One of the main complaints made during Keiron Cunningham’s reign was that he bored everyone to death on his way to those semi-final defeats in 2015 and 2016. And he did. But if five drives and a kick had led to as many tries as it did goal-line dropouts his coaching legacy would be somewhat different. He’d probably still be there. But if you are a Saints coach choosing risk averse rugby  - even one with his own statue outside the stadium - then you’d better win.

There is a perception that Woolf has massively improved our defence from where it was during the Justin Holbrook era. The Tonga head coach has improved it, but not by as much as you might think. In his three full regular seasons in charge Woolf’s Saints have conceded an average of 13.16 points per game. In that time they have played 65 games. In Holbrook’s two full seasons as the boss Saints shipped an average of 13.32 points per game. Of course that sample is one season fewer but without a pandemic to contend with Holbrook coached 52 regular season games in that time. The numbers aren’t that different. My working theory on why they are perceived to be so far apart defensively - apart from the recency bias that has taken Cunningham almost completely out of the GOAT debate with James Roby - is that our defence has arguably won us more games under Woolf because the attack hasn’t been quite as good as it was under his predecessor. And that that is by design.

Does that stack up? Well, yes actually. Over the same period Saints’ attack under Woolf has averaged 25.1 points per game. In the two seasons under Holbrook the figure is 31.3 points per game. I suppose it helps your attack when you have Ben Barba but maybe the bonkers genius of our former fullback points us to the different philosophies of these two great coaches. Woolf would never have signed Barba because he was a risk and Woolf does not do risk.  And he does not care about your entertainment. He’s a prolific winner. The ends justify the means. 

The counter-argument is that Woolf’s Saints would not have lost a 2018 semi-final because said bonkers genius decided that tackling was no longer worth his time as Holbrook’s Saints did. To Warrington too. Put simply, if winning is your thing and you don’t care whether it entertains you then maybe Woolf is the greatest you’ve seen . If you’re more of a romantic who yearns for the days when George Mann was latching on to a ball that had been headed over the try line by John Harrison - can you imagine George getting in the grind or the arm wrestle?…actually I bet he could arm wrestle - then you might be Team Holbrook, Millward or McCrae. Whichever you prefer is your choice. You takes your pick. But to place Woolf so far ahead of others - particularly Holbrook - is revisionism or chronic amnesia. And we haven’t even touched on how Holbrook had to drag the club up by its bootstraps in mid-season from the end of Cunningham’s frazzled tenure while Woolf arrived straight into a winning culture. 

Whether he is the best or not Woolf is great, we’ve established that. And with that, are we not in a whole world of trouble now that we are losing someone of his calibre? Only if we get the next appointment wrong. Much of the fan base seems to feel it is time for Paul Wellens to get his chance. Wellens has been assistant to Woolf since Richard Marshall left for an ill-fated tilt at the Salford head coaching job at the end of 2020. Wellens has also been involved with the international set-up for a number of years and has been an assistant to England coach Shaun Wane for the last two years. He is not relying quite as heavily on his legendary playing career as Cunningham was at the time of his Saints appointment in 2015. Yet given the disrespect shown to Cunningham since his admittedly troubled coaching stint I would hate to see the same thing happen to Wellens should it not work out for him either. 

Other names on the wish list of fans in the speculating while hoping it doesn’t happen phase of Woolf’s protracted departure were Ian Watson (Woolf without the trophies) and the rather more entertaining and certainly more decorated Tony Smith. Or what about Paul Rowley, currently overseeing a Salford revival that has them tearing it up and striking fear into any team who might bump into them in the upcoming playoffs? I did see a mention for Leigh Centurions’ ex-Wigan up the jumper merchant Adrian Lam. He’s currently romping away with the Championship thanks to an expensively assembled all star squad. Yet he is still the same Adrian Lam who turned Wigan into Super League’s lowest scorers last season. To be honest I thought his nomination was part of some Ricky Gervais-style spoof script. And in any case if Lam gets it we’d have to put away that 2020 Grand Final reaction shot following Jack Welsby’s miracle moment.

Since Cunningham the model has been to comb Australia - or at least the east side of it - for a hungry assistant who wants to make a name for himself as a head coach in Super League. It has worked spectacularly on two occasions now. It is currently working out pretty well for Leeds Rhinos who have gone from lower mid-table also rans to playoff dark horses under the previously unheralded Rohan Smith.  His only head coaching experience before arriving at Headingley was at Championship basket case Bradford Bulls, and that ended when they were liquidated.  Maybe Saints will go down that NRL assistant route again and the new man will be a name we are not yet familiar with.  

If he is half as successful as Woolf - to whom I offer sincere gratitude for keeping us where we want to be and wish nothing but the best of luck -  then he will be an unqualified success.   

 

Saints v Wakefield Trinity - Preview

Saints welcome Wakefield Trinity on Monday afternoon (August 29, kick-off 3.00pm) in search of the one more point they need to claim a record 10th Super League Leaders Shield.

The champions had a derby date with Wigan just 72 hours before this one. It didn’t go terribly well. The Warriors ran out 30-10 winners to keep alive their slim hopes of snatching top spot away from Kristian Woolf’s side. As a consequence of the short time between that assignment and this one - plus the plethora of injuries and suspensions that have dogged Saints for months - it is likely to be a fairly unrecognisable Saints line-up.

Woolf has named five potential debutants in his 21-man squad, while there are also places for five members of the youthful team which made their only senior appearance in April’s 30-10 defeat at Castleford. Maths enthusiasts will have noticed that in a squad of 21 that leaves only 11 players with any significant first team experience. Those same experts will also have worked out that therefore at least six of the remaining 10 inexperienced players will make the 17. The reality is that it will probably be many more than that. 

I’m not going to even try and convince you that I know anything beyond what Google can teach me about any of the new faces or even those who played at Castleford for the first time. I had the good fortune to be away for that visit to Yorkshire and although I did watch it back for these pages I found the whole thing instantly forgettable and frankly a tad depressing. Saints shirts should not be handed out like Tory peerages.

Taylor Pemberton, Daniel Hill, George Delaney, Lewis Baxter and McKenzie Buckley did not leave a lasting impression on me. But then they were doomed not to, thrown to the lions by a coach working within a system which allows - encourages - him to do so in the name of the protection of his established stars. For all intents and purposes Saints threw that game. All cheered on by a fan base which purports to have the best interests of the game at heart but which is actually only concerned with whether Saints win that fourth consecutive Grand Final.  And why wouldn’t they believe that this is the way to do it? Woolf has done it this way twice before and could very easily do so again. 

Meanwhile the names Rio Osayomwanbo, Ellis Archer, Keane Gilford, Ben Lane and Jake Burns are completely new to me. All of this means that I couldn’t even take an educated guess at how Saints will line-up against Trinity. What I can do is name check the more familiar faces who are in the 21 and who might yet be asked to turn out. Tommy Makinson - who missed the trip to Wigan with a swollen knee - is just about the only regular starting back available although Ben Davies, Josh Simm and Jon Bennison have good experience and are available. I haven’t quite worked out yet whether Makinson’s inclusion is because Woolf thinks he needs game time having recently been out for four weeks with a hamstring injury. Or is it a message to us to let us know that the England winger is fit enough to play if selected for this one and therefore when the knockout games come along?

There may be a few more established players in the pack. Joey Lussick played in that Castleford game and as such is the only Saint to have appeared in every game so far in 2022. There is a fair chance he will maintain that record. If he does I’d still expect Pemberton to get some significant game time. With no Alex Walmsley or Matty Lees the inclusion of Agnatius Paasi in the match day squad would be handy. Dan Norman hasn’t played since the last time Saints faced Willie Poching’s side in July. If anyone needs game time it is surely the former London Broncos prop. To my mind he has been unfortunate not to make the strongest 17 more often this season. 

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook has not missed a game since the trip to Catalans Dragons on July 2. That was one of three in a row he sat out with a facial injury. He will hope to be given the nod to make his 341st Saints appearance. With so many players rested, injured or suspended he might even get a first start since the 26-0 win at Leeds on April 1. His inclusion certainly fooled me that week. Jake Wingfield and James Bell were in the 17 at Wigan and will feel confident of starting or at least playing some part again. 

There is some mitigation for Woolf’s selection outside of the three-day turnaround since the derby. Saints are still without the injured Will Hopoate, Mark Percival, Regan Grace, Lewis Dodd and Sione Mata’utia while Curtis Sironen and Morgan Knowles would have missed out anyway after picking up further suspensions at Wigan. Yet to name 10 players with either one appearance or none at all to their name is a step too far for my tastes. Especially if those 10 are all thrown in together rather than drip-fed into a stronger selection. That policy doesn’t do a lot for their development to my mind.  But yet again I must reiterate that it is the insistence on a winner takes all Grand Final after a knockout playoff series rather than a first past the post league system which enables Woolf to make this selection. 

He is not the only coach to do so. We will see that with Poching’s selections while both Wigan and Warrington have names in their 21-man parties for Monday’s fixtures who will not be familiar to the average rugby league fan. Yet the broadcaster calls the tune. Besides, there is now a whole generation of fans who have grown up on the idea that winning the league means nothing. We are not rowing back from the Grand Final concept any time soon.

As mentioned, Poching has taken similar measures to protect his players. Although quite what for with his side now safe and having only one more match to play after this one I can only speculate. Don’t ask me to tell you anything about Kyle Evans, Isaac Shaw, Dane Winrow, Sid Adebiyi or Yusuf Aydin. In the backs we may see Max Jowitt, Jacob Miller, Lee Gaskell, Liam Kay, Jack Croft and Lewis Murphy. We also might be invited to enter the happy world of Harry Bowes. Or we may not. Who even knows? Does anybody still care? Up front Poching has included Eddie Battye, Tinirau Arona, Matty Ashurst and Rob Butler. 

This will be the third meeting between the two sides this season. Saints won 20-4 at home in February before that 13-12 golden point success five weeks ago. Wakefield’s last win in St Helens was a 16-12 triumph in March 2017. Keiron Cunningham was sliding towards the exit door on a night when Percival bagged a double and Ryan Morgan also crossed in a losing cause. 

Going further back to more famous clashes Saints went down 9-7 to Wakey in a 1979 Challenge Cup semi-final. They lost 21-9 in the 1967 Championship final replay after a 7-7 draw in the first meeting. However Saints did progress to the 1965 Championship final at Trinity’s expense, winning 10-5 in the semi-final before going down 15-7 in the final to a Halifax side which had finished 7th in the regular season. Saints had finished top, which may or may not be an argument for resting players at this juncture. It is highly unlikely that resting players was A Thing 57 years ago.

Given how difficult it is to predict the line-ups it is equally if not more difficult to predict the outcome. On first sighting of the Saints squad I gave them little chance. Then I saw Poching’s selection. Wigan’s selection for their meeting with Hull KR may yet render the choices of Woolf and Poching irrelevant. If Matty Peet’s side go down to Hull Kingston Rovers then Woolf will have secured the first League Leaders Shield of his Saints tenure whether he likes it or not. Regardless of what the best strategy for success is the bean counters will be unhappy if significant numbers of fans consider a televised virtual playoff eliminator between Castleford and Salford preferable to what could be a glorified academy game. 

I’ve already paid to attend the Saints game by virtue of my season ticket. Still, I’m seriously considering staying at home. 

Squads;

St Helens; 

2. Tommy Makinson, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. LMS, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Jake Wingfield, 20. James Bell, 21. Josh Simm, 22. Ben Davies, 24. Dan Norman, 26. Sam Royle, 27. Jon Bennison, 28. Lewis Baxter, 31. Taylor Pemberton, 33. Daniel Moss, 34. George Delaney, 35. McKenzie Buckley, 36. Rio-Osayomwanbo Corkill, 37. Ellis Archer, 38. Keane Gilford, 39. Ben Lane, 40. Jake Burns.

Wakefield Trinity; 

1. Max Jowitt 6. Jacob Miller 7. Mason Lino 8. Eddie Battye 10. Tinirau Arona 11. Matty Ashurst 14. Jordy Crowther 17. Lee Gaskell 19. Liam Kay 20. Jack Croft 21. Brad Walker 22. Yusuf Aydin 23. Sid Adebiyi 24. Harry Bowes 27. Lewis Murphy Dane Windrow 29. Isaac Shaw 30. Corey Hall 31. Thomas Minns 34. Rob Butler 36. Kyle Evans

Referee: Tom Grant

Wigan Warriors 30 Saints 10 - Review

The League Leaders Shield will have to wait for another day as a patched up Saints went down 30-10 at Wigan on Friday night (August 26).

The champions came into this one needing just a point to claim a record 10th top of the table finish of the Super League era. Yet their fifth defeat in 25 league outings saw that party put on hold while Wigan secured a top two finish, a week off in round one of the playoffs and a home semi-final for a place at Old Trafford. But you know, we already have all that.

We also have big problems with this squad right now, and nowhere more so than in the back division. Kristian Woolf was already without Will Hopoate, Mark Percival, Regan Grace and Lewis Dodd when he named his 21-man squad 48 hours before kick-off. Then on game day it was revealed that Tommy Makinson would miss out due to a swollen knee. Josh Simm came in on the wing for Makinson while Joe Batchelor was forced to switch from the back row to left centre as Ben Davies got the nod at stand-off. Woolf chose not to use James Roby in the halves on the day that the skipper announced his decision to play on for another season in 2023 rather than retire. 

Batchelor’s place in the back row alongside the returning Curtis Sironen went to James Bell. Morgan Knowles also returned from suspension so Jake Wingfield dropped to the bench. Yet it won’t be long before Wingfield makes another start with both Sironen and Knowles picking up further suspensions and Woolf having made the proverbial raft of changes for Monday’s home date with Wakefield (August 29). Even Mata’utia and James Bentley would blush at the kind of disciplinary record that has seen both Knowles and Sironen banned in their first game since their last spell on the naughty step. In truth having watched the game back in its entirety I still couldn’t tell you what the former Manly man did to upset the Match Review Panel. Whistling on a Tuesday, perhaps.

You don’t have to be Wayne Bennett to recognise that this makeshift Saints backline has a chronic lack of pace. It is as plain as the snout on Morgan Smithies’ face. Contrast that with the blinding speed of Jai Field, Bevan French and Liam Marshall on the Wigan side and you get some clues as to how this game was won and lost. 

Of the seven backs who started this one for Saints arguably only Konrad Hurrell and Jonny Lomax were in the positions they would be in if every member of the squad was fit. Woolf favours a conservative style as it is. If you then strip all the pace out of his side he is left with little choice but to try and methodically plod down the field, basing the attack on set completion and cutting out errors. Which is right up the alley of Matty Peet’s Wigan who are nothing if not physically sound in defence. 

Saints started well enough and in fact had more than enough territory and possession throughout to have won this one. Knowles went close early on, held up over the Wigan line by Field, Liam Farrell and Cade Cust. Batchelor then broke down the left, halted 10 metres short by Field and French before Matty Lees might have scored but for a suspiciously high challenge which was not penalised by referee Ben Thaler. However the veteran whistler (though never on a Tuesday to my knowledge) did get Wigan for offside on the next play. That allowed Lomax to step up and pop over a simple two points from in front of the sticks. It was the only lead the visitors would have all night.

To this point Wigan had hardly had a touch of the ball. They were gifted a route back in when Hurrell went wandering on the last play of a set, only to be dragged down by Marshall. That gave the home side decent field position. Knowles then went high on the Wigan winger and they were fortunate to get another repeat set when Isa looked to have knocked on, Thaler ruling that a Saints player had got a hand to the ball first. 

An offside against Woolf’s side set up the position from where French scored Wigan’s first try. If you don’t have much speed you better have have good discipline. Saints were sorely lacking in either. French didn’t hang around to analyse it, going in at the corner after a good combination from Brad O’Neill, Harry Smith and Field. Thaler saw fit to send it up to Rob Hicks for video review but there was clearly nothing wrong with it. Smith’s conversion saw Wigan lead 6-2. 

For all Saints’ possession and territory boyhood Wigan fan and Warriors 2020 Grand Final tormentor Jack Welsby hadn’t had much influence. It’s more difficult to be creative when the only two gears possessed by much of your support cast are SLOW and STOP.  Frustration threatened to get the better of the fullback when after his neat kick forced Field into an error he came up with one of his own under pressure from the ex-Eel and Cust. Welsby then needlessly - and probably unwisely for the good of his safety - started a spat with Liam Farrell and the matter was hardly helped by The Usual Shithouses Smithies and Smith. The former rushed over to get in Welsby’s face, grinning at him like a deranged Bond villain while the latter shamefully engaged in the rugby league taboo that is hair-ruffling. This classless nonsense should be an instant red card. 

Alas it is not and the only consequence to come from any of it seemed to be that Welsby remained rattled and a little over emotional. That is surprising given how well the 21 year-old has handled every challenge thrown at him since his 2018 first team debut. Even playing against his home town club hasn’t appeared to get to him before now. It was indicative of the fact that all was not well with this Saints 17 which was always going to be up against it.

The situation in the back line was made worse soon after when Hurrell suffered an injury which appeared to be bothering and hindering him throughout the night thereafter. The Tongan centre damaged his left arm in some friendly fire from Lees. The game was halted while he received lengthy treatment from the Saints medical staff. Hurrell did not leave the field, electing instead to soldier on. The mind boggles on what Woolf would have done to fill the hole at right centre if Hurrell had departed. I still wake up screaming when I dream of the days when Keiron Cunningham tried to turn Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook into Valentine Holmes. 

A few minutes later Peet’s men increased their lead. O’Neill latched on to an offload by Mike Cooper that was one of the latest ever seen in Super League. The young hooker - standing in for Chief Grub Sam Powell - got far enough outside of Lees to make space for Smith to surge through the gap. Smith found the supporting Field on his inside and the former Parramatta man crossed for his 20th try of the season. Smith’s second conversion increased the Wigan advantage to 12-2 as we entered the second quarter of the game.

Saints threatened a response but again their reliance on power and simplicity over guile and speed proved their undoing. First Lomax - who regularly looked like the only Saint who might create something spectacular - was dragged down just short of the line before Hurrell crashed over on the next play. Thaler was unconvinced and again sought the assistance of Hicks. He was right to be sceptical as it turned out, replays showing that the closest the ball got to the ground was when it hit Marshall’s leg with Farrell also in on the stop. 

Still Saints pressed. Simm could have had a walk in to the line had Marshall not got a hand to Welsby’s attempted pass to the winger. From the resultant scrum Welsby came up with an error on the very first play, losing possession in the tackle of Kai Pearce-Paul and Smith. Wigan were then helped down the field by a penalty but Sironen may consider himself unfortunate to have been done for interference at the play the ball. Smithies made little or no attempt to stand up to play it, instead opting for the footballer’s flop as soon as he felt a hand on him. It did not look like Thaler’s best decision of the evening. But that will happen from time to time if you don’t manage to avoid further contact after completing a tackle.

There was a scruffiness to Wigan’s third and probably decisive try. Cust mishandled but it was adjudged to have gone backwards off the ex-Manly Sea Eagle. Smith picked up the loose ball and handed it on to Farrell. He skipped around the admittedly ordinary tackle attempts of Welsby and McCarthy-Scarsbrook before accelerating through the space between Agnatius Paasi and Sironen. Davies gave chase but got there just too late to stop the Warriors back rower touching it down under the posts. It was his 13th of the season. The only forward in Super League who has crossed more often in 2022 is Huddersfield Giants’ prolific whitewash botherer Chris McQueen Try Machine. Another two points from the boot of Smith pushed Wigan 16 points in front at 18-2.

Saints’ last chance of the first 40 minutes was created and ultimately thrown away by Welsby. His astute kick got Marshall into difficulties but then it was the fullback’s error from Knowles’ pass which gifted possession back to the hosts. They couldn’t take advantage of it. They threatened briefly when French was given running room by Field’s pass on half way only to forget to complete the small matter of holding on to the ball. Nevertheless, Wigan went to the break in a commanding position at 18-2 even if the weight of possession and territory was not in their favour. They had taken their chances while the Saints attack had been too pedestrian and predictable and too error prone whenever it tried to cut loose. 

That continued early in the second half when Knowles dropped a simple pass from Lomax just 10 metres from the Wigan line, so scuppering another chance to get back in the fight. The Saints stand-off then went close, as did the recently introduced Joey Lussick as Saints again reverted to trying to crash through what was a pretty resolute home defence. Peet’s side can absorb this sort of pressure for as long as it takes. You need more nous and - critically - speed to get around them often enough. Saints just didn’t have it with so many of their strike players looking on from the DW stands.   

Farrell’s exit through injury 10 minutes into the second half will be a worry for them. But they can cry me a river given the state of the Saints squad at present. Woolf had by now introduced Wingfield and he won a penalty from O’Neill when the stand-in hooker went high on him. Thaler somehow deemed the challenge unworthy of a yellow card but I’m sure it was reassuring for Wigan fans to see that their back-up 9 has taken the teachings of Powell on board. Peet - for all you can say that you like his honest and respectful interviews (unless you run Warrington’s academy) does not appear to have done much to change the culture of needless violence that has been nurtured so lovingly by Michael Maguire and Shaun Wane.

With some more quality territory Saints threatened - and failed - to barge over again. This time it was Paasi, taking Lussick’s short ball and crashing over. Again it was an unconvincing grounding and again it was handed up to Hicks to decide. He ruled that Paasi had not grounded the ball and he was 100% right. Yet it turned out to be a short reprieve for Wigan as moments later Lussick did manage to ground it after scooting over from dummy half in the face of some questionable first and second marker organisation by Wigan. Davies took over the goal-kicking duties but missed wildly, so the deficit remained 12 points at 18-6.

As with any derby the toil was beginning to show. Simm, who had earlier picked up an arm injury was treated for a head knock but avoided decimating the Saints three-quarter line further by leaving for an HIA. Meanwhile Brad Singleton did have to go after sustaining a nasty looking cut to his head. As they tired Wigan began to push the envelope a little further in defence, giving away back-to-back repeat sets during Saints’ next attacking raid. There is a good case for a yellow card to be shown in such circumstances. Arguably sin bins are a must there if there is any chance of making the 6 again rule work. 

Thaler was - to put it politely - an interesting choice of official for a late season derby in which the League Leaders Shield could have been decided. He has missed out on many of the big games in recent seasons and it had felt like the chance to referee the most important matches was unlikely to come around again for him. He didn’t do badly and ref-blaming is not my thing anyway. You always lose because you deserve to and the other team deserves to win. It was just surprising that the authorities would leave themselves and Thaler open to the wrath of the ref bashers when the inevitable 50-50 calls and - yes, dare I say it - mistakes came along.

Sitting comfortably on their lead and probably content that Saints had little of any imagination to throw at them, Wigan attacks were rare in that third quarter of the contest. One such foray ended when Willie Isa’s pass to Marshall travelled forward after Wigan had made it inside Saints 20 metre line. 

Woolf had more to worry about when Alex Walmsley left the field with a foot injury. He had only been reintroduced to the action some seven minutes earlier. A last throw of the dice to try and keep Saints camped in Wigan’s half and hope that the home defence would buckle often enough to get the league leaders back into it. Instead Wigan went further ahead, and they did so off the back of another botched Saints attack.

Welsby found Hurrell just inside the Warriors half but the pass somehow slipped from the centre’s grasp and into the waiting arms of Cust. His quick ball out to Marshall sent the winger tearing down the left touchline. He reached the Saints 10 metre line where it looked like he might be halted by Davies after he worked hard to get back. Unfortunately the Saints man missed the tackle, as did a tiring Lomax who had also by now got back to help. Marshall regained his feet having not been held, ducked under Lomax’s challenge and continued before stretching out to score. 

Thaler would not have kept up with a break like that in his pomp, so it is understandable that he now turned to Hicks for video confirmation not only of the grounding but also to make certain that Marshall had not put a foot in touch as Davies came across to cover. It was clear he had not and with another Smith conversion this one was basically in the books at 24-6 with not much more than 10 minutes remaining.

At which point Saints put something together and registered their second try. Lomax looked to be moving the ball out to the right but instead he cleverly stepped back to the short left side and found Sironen. He moved it on to Batchelor who was able to reach out and ground the ball despite the best efforts of Field to stop him. It was Batchelor’s third try in the four derby meetings in 2022. The only one in which they managed to keep him out was the Challenge Cup semi-final in early May. He has crossed in all three Super League meetings. And who could forget his dummy on Marshall which created the winner for Lomax at Newcastle in July? If these sides meet again at Old Trafford he will be a factor.

Yet his latest effort carried no such glory. It was mere consolation, especially when Davies again failed to find the middle of the uprights from wide on the left. With around six minutes remaining Wigan led 24-10.  Things might have got a tiny bit more interesting had more come of Jon Bennison’s break down the left a few moments later. He was put clear by Davies’ rather expansive wide ball. Where was this style earlier on? Or was it just that both sides were tiring and gaps in the Warriors rearguard were becoming easier to find, even without any genuine pace? It all came to nought anyway as Wingfield’s desperate offload on the last play of the set was intercepted by Pearce-Paul. 

Never a side to give up Saints went to the book of tricks. It ended up costing them another six points but it was refreshing to see a little more ingenuity. Welsby’s torrid evening ended when he attempted a chip and chase on the first tackle of Saints’ next possession with little more than a minute left. He was beaten to it by Marshall who batted it back for Bateman to collect. He found Field who made his way - crab-like - all the way over to the Wigan right. On the very last play of the game Pearce-Paul offloaded to Field whose looping pass found French in space on the right. He scorched away from a tiring Saints cover even more easily than he would have done at the start of the game when they were fresh. Smith this time found the extras to complete a 30-10 success for the home side.

If you looked only at the scoreline you might expect the better looking stats to be on the cherry and white side. That is not so. In fact Saints greater weight of possession and territory is reflected in the fact that five of Woolf’s side made it through the 100-metre mark compared with only three on the Wigan side. Hurrell led the way with 144, Welsby managed 126, Lomax 110, Simm 104 and Sironen a round 100. Marshall was Wigan’s best ground gainer with 128 metres. Surprisingly Field was not one of the other two. Bateman managed 124 metres and French had 106 to add to his two tries. 

Similarly, the tackle numbers show how much possession Saints had. O’Neill made 50 defensive interventions, Smithies 44 and Bateman 41. Even stand-off Cust was forced into making 32 tackles. Only Sironen (38) and Knowles (33) topped 30 for Saints. Perhaps the missed tackle count is a greater indicator of how the game went. Collectively Saints fell off 40 tackles and Wigan 37. Those are 40 and 37 opportunities to make more metres respectively and if you have more speed then you’ve probably got a better chance of making your opponents pay.

Wigan actually made more errors than Saints (13 to 10) and in truth Saints’ error count on the day is nowhere near extraordinary by the standards of the rest of their campaign. Again, maybe you just don’t get away with them if you haven’t got sufficient strike in your team to keep on making scoring opportunities. The lesson here is that if we have to take on Wigan again - or any of the other playoff sides - without much of our backline then we have to take our chances when they come along.

Breaks were even at four apiece while Wigan edged the penalty count 7-6. The hosts had a clear advantage in the goal-kicking stakes with Smith  a faultless five for five and Saints only managing one from three. Lomax made his only attempt with that early penalty while Davies could not convert either of Lussick or Batchelor’s tries. Davies has kicked only one of his four attempts this season while Lomax is a rather healthier seven from nine. It is not clear to me why the responsibility was handed over after that early success. Not that it would have made too much difference.

And so on to the visit of Wakefield on Monday. Saints still need that one more point to secure that record-extending 10th shield. Depressingly - if perhaps understandably - Woolf has selected five potential debutants in his 21 as well as a plethora of sparsely used youngsters. Makinson is included but the next lowest squad number after his 2 is the 14 worn by Lussick. There is a chance some other senior forwards might take part besides Lussick but not any of Walmsley, Lees, Roby or Batchelor. Mata’utia is still injured and there are those suspensions for Sironen and Knowles. A defeat like the one we suffered at Castleford in April is not just possible but arguably likely.

If it happens we still have one more shot at home to Toulouse on Saturday. I couldn’t say with any certainty that we will take that chance. Yet a couple of weeks ago we seemed to be cruising. The injury situation is clearly spooking Woolf and given the way this derby went you can see why.

Wigan: French, Field, Pearce-Paul, Isa, Marshall, French, Cust, Smith, Singleton, O’Neill, Byrne, Farrell, Bateman, Smithies. Interchanges: Mago, Ellis, Cooper, Shorrocks

Saints: Welsby, Simm, Hurrell, Batchelor, Bennison, Davies, Lomax, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Sironen, Bell, Knowles. Interchanges: Lussick, Paasi, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wingfield

Referee: Ben Thaler

Video Referee: Robert Hicks

Wigan Warriors v Saints - Preview

Derbies are always significant. No matter where the competing teams sit in the overall scheme of things there will always be an element of every fan base for whom victory over the neighbours is everything. So when you visit your rivals’ home with a chance of securing silverware - as Saints will when they take on Wigan on Friday night (August 26, kick-off 8.00pm) - the local spat takes on even more importance. 

The champions head for the DW Stadium knowing that a win will secure a first League Leaders Shield since 2019, which is surprising in the context of their run of three consecutive Grand Final successes. The last time Kristian Woolf’s side were not Super League champions Russia was a charming, welcoming FIFA World Cup host rather than an aggressive, bloodthirsty pariah in the international community. The Duchess Of Sussex was still in Suits and the word ‘covid’ was yet to come into common usage. 

So the world was a different place the last time anybody was good enough to knock Saints off their fucking perch. Yet for all of that they have not been able to finish top of the table under Woolf. That does not worry some with the Grand Final now well established as the be all and end all. While those of that persuasion may have a point, sitting on top of the table after the regular season still says something about your level of consistency. To confirm that consistency - especially at Wigan - would undoubtedly qualify as something to celebrate.

Wigan fans, players and coaching staff alike know this, however loudly they refute it. As such they will be desperate to prevent it from happening. Even if Saints’ six-point lead with three games remaining would appear to make their 10th League Leaders Shield something of an inevitability. There will still be a desire among Matty Peet’s side to avoid seeing James Roby hoist a trophy on Wigan soil. Even if that soil is rented. Besides, the Warriors have an incentive of their own outside of the fact that this is a derby and a chance to spoil the Saints party. Following Huddersfield’s loss to Leeds Rhinos last night (August 24) a win for Wigan will secure their own place inside the top two. That comes with a week off and puts you one home win away from Old Trafford.

It is hardly newsworthy by now to relay to you the fact that there are changes to the 21-man Saints squad. Whether it has been due to injuries or suspensions the need for change has been a constant thread running through the champions’ campaign. It has usually involved Will Hopoate and does again. 

The ex-Canterbury Bulldog was withdrawn at half-time during Saints’ 38-12 win over Hull KR last time out with what was described by Woolf as a tight hamstring. We are advised that Hopoate’s substitution was precautionary and that he should still have a part to play in the run in and particularly the playoffs. Yet most Hopoate comebacks this year have been swiftly followed by further setbacks. It has to be a concern.

The reason it is such a great concern is that Saints are still without Lewis Dodd. The young halfback sustained an Achilles injury in the Good Friday derby back in April and was soon ruled out for the year. The effect of that was that it forced Woolf to move Jack Welsby into the halves from fullback. That’s fine if Hopoate is there to cover as the last line of defence, but when he isn’t then it often means that Welsby is dragged back into the number one role and Woolf has to use either Roby or Ben Davies as a makeshift half alongside Jonny Lomax. This makes a massive difference - some would argue a disproportionate one - to the fluidity of Saints attack. Which is the point at which Woolf starts turning the air blue with the c-word (clunky).

Although Woolf has lost one of the most important pieces in his puzzle in Hopoate he will be pleased to welcome back two other first team regulars from suspension. Curtis Sironen has missed the last two games after a high tackle in the win over Castleford Tigers on August 7 while Morgan Knowles sat out the visit of Rovers because of a shoulder charge in the 60-6 humiliation of Hull FC a week later. Both should come straight into the back row alongside Joe Batchelor with Sione Mata’utia still out with a foot injury. Last week’s starters James Bell and Jake Wingfield may have to content themselves with a place on the bench alongside Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Agnatius Paasi.

Both Bell and Wingfield may stay in the 17 if Woolf opts to continue with Roby in the halves. That would mean another start at 9 for Joey Lussick. McCarthy-Scarsbrook is somehow in line to play his 400th Super League game and - alongside Paasi - will spell starting front rowers Alex Walmsley and Matty Lees. Four hundred games is a fantastic achievement for the 36 year-old, now in his 12th season with Saints after starting his top flight career at London Broncos.  The man has the longevity of the crocodile which has survived against all the odds for around 200 million years. It’s tempting to say it has felt like that long with McCarthy-Scarsbrook too but let’s not be scornful on an occasion to be celebrated. Oh. Too late.

The back division has been banged up for some time. Regan Grace was lost for the season and so to the forces of union forever after rupturing his Achilles at Salford, while if anybody has seen Mark Percival can they please alert the authorities as I am getting very worried about him. He hasn’t played since mid-May and has managed only 15 appearances in 2022. That’s only four more than Hopoate. Davies is the likely stand-in with Mata’utia still out. 

Konrad Hurrell will take the other centre spot inside in form Tommy Makinson while outside Davies on the left wing should be Jon Bennison. There is a chance that the latter could be moved to fullback to allow Welsby back into the halves but with Dan Hill injured that would probably involve Woolf putting his faith in Josh Simm. Sadly, we appear to have reached cold day in Hell territory on that score. 

Wigan put 52 points on Toulouse last week and Peet has made only one change to his 21. Mike Cooper - somewhat prematurely acquired from the Warrington shit show - returns from suspension at the expense of James McDonnell. Liam Marshall missed the Toulouse game but is named. While speedsters Jai Field and Bevan French have grabbed most of the headlines for Wigan this year Marshall has quietly amassed 18 tries in Super League. Only four players, including both French and Field, have crossed more often. Marshall also scored game winners in both the Challenge Cup semi-final against Saints and the final against Huddersfield. He looks a reasonable bet to replace Abbas Miski on the wing.

Strangely, Toby King is arriving on loan from Huddersfield next year, but for now you can expect Jake Bibby and Kai Pearce-Paul to occupy the centre berths. Sam Halsall is another option for Peet although what the acquisition of King means for him is uncertain. Cade Cust scored twice against Toulouse and should partner Harry Smith in the halves with Thomas Leuluai having been out for some time. Perhaps if you find Percival you’ll find Leuluai. Like McCarthy-Scarsbrook Leuluai appears to have been around since the dawn of time. The 37 year-old’s 325 Wigan appearances have come in two spells either side of a three-year stint at New Zealand Warriors where he made his professional debut all the way back in 2003.

Grubbery’s Sam Powell is out so Brad O’Neill should continue at hooker. Another Brad - ex-Leeds prop Singleton - will be looking to make amends having been sent off for a shoulder to the head of Sironen in Saints’ 20-18 Magic Weekend win over Wigan at Newcastle in July. Patrick Mago, Kaide Ellis, Liam Byrne, Oliver Partington, Joe Shorrocks and Cooper will all compete for places in the front row rotation. In the back row John Bateman and Liam Farrell are the genuine class of the forward group. Morgan Smithies will hope to take enough time off from chewing wasps to learn something off those two. Willie Isa will again be placed in sole charge of causing bother with unnecessary cheap shots.

That Magic Weekend meeting was one of three in all competitions so far in 2022. Saints won handily on Good Friday, conceding the first try to Field before running out 22-4 winners. Since when the teams have exchanged 20-18 wins. Wigan edged Saints out of the cup at Elland Road in May when Lomax’s errant pass was hoovered up by Marshall for the winning score while the Saints half got his own back in Newcastle by scoring the decisive try in support of Batchelor’s break.

History is littered with meetings between the two which had more on them than just bragging rights. They have met in four Grand Finals, Saints winning three to the Warriors’ one. The latest of those was an odd experience, behind closed doors at Hull during the pandemic-affected 2020 season when Jack Welsby’s last-gasp miracle turned then Wigan coach Adrian Lam into a meme. 

There have also been six Challenge Cup finals between the two, with the current score standing at three wins apiece. Saints beat Wigan at Wembley twice in the 1960s (1961 & 1966) and also at Cardiff in 2004. Wigan’s Wembley triumphs over their old foes came in 1989 and 1991 while Edinburgh’s Murrayfield was the scene of their 2002 success.

In more recent times Saints’ last defeat at Wigan came five years ago, when Grace made a try-scoring debut in a 29-18 defeat. 

What can we expect this time? I have to confess to a modicum of concern about this one. But those concerns are more about Saints and their c****iness rather than any great fear of Wigan. Peet’s side have racked up some big scores in recent times with 60 against Hull and 46 against Hull KR to add to the 52 they managed against Toulouse. But in their last seven they have a record of four wins and three losses. Along with that Wakefield defeat they were blown off the park by Leeds after that narrow derby loss at Newcastle. 

Saints meanwhile have only lost one of their last seven, that being the thrashing at a currently rampant Salford. I’m just not certain that Saints will be as motivated as Wigan knowing that they have the comfort blanket of home meetings with Wakefield and Toulouse to come in order to finish the job of topping the league. And I still can’t help but fret about the attack without Dodd or Hopoate. I just have a sinking feeling that they’re going to get us this time. But that does not mean that they will get the Grand Final win that their fans on Twitter seem to think is a given.

Four in a row still looks the most likely outcome.

Squads; 

Wigan Warriors;

1. Bevan French 2. Jake Bibby 5. Liam Marshall 6. Cade Cust 8. Brad Singleton 10. Patrick Mago 11. Willie Isa 12. Liam Farrell 13. John Bateman 14. Morgan Smithies 15. Kaide Ellis 16. Harry Smith 17. Oliver Partington 20. Liam Byrne 21. Kai Pearce-Paul 22. Joe Shorrocks 23. Jai Field 24. Abbas Miski 25. Sam Halsall 28. Brad O’Neill 36. Mike Cooper

Saints;

1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 6. Jonny Lomax, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. LMS, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Jake Wingfield, 20. James Bell, 21. Josh Simm, 22. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Dan Norman, 26. Sam Royle, 27. Jon Bennison, 28. Lewis Baxter.

Referee: Ben Thaler

Video Referee: Robert Hicks

Saints 38 Hull KR 12 - Review

Champions Saints moved within one win of capturing the League Leaders Shield with with a mostly trouble free 38-12 success over Hull Kingston Rovers.

Since wobbling wildly at Salford Kristian Woolf’s side have steadied their ship. Wins over Castleford, Hull FC and now the Robins have helped maintain a six-point lead over Wigan at the top of the table. With a little assistance from Wakefield whose 30-12 walloping of the Warriors on August 14 was among the more surprising outcomes of the 2022 season. Saints now require just one more win - with a visit to the DW Stadium next on the schedule - to secure a first top of the table finish under Woolf and a first since Justin Holbrook’s 2019 Grand Final-winning farewell season.

For Rovers this defeat - while probably not unexpected - left their playoff hopes hanging by a thread. In fact if it is possible to hang by anything weaker than a thread then that is about where they are. Interim coach Danny McGuire’s team now lie four points outside the top six with three games to play. They must win those remaining games against Wakefield, Wigan and Hull FC and hope that two of Leeds Rhinos, Salford Red Devils and Castleford Tigers falter badly in the run-in. Injuries have derailed the second half of KR’s campaign. Prior to that Tony Smith’s announcement of his intention to leave the club provided a further distraction especially when he then went with immediate effect rather than holding on until the end of the season. Against that backdrop it was always going to be hard for Rovers to emulate last season’s semi-final appearance.

Woolf was able to call on Jack Welsby for this one after the increasingly influential star missed last week’s 60-6 shoeing of Hull FC. Yet the coach was again without the injured Sione Mata’utia and the often suspended Curtis Sironen. Adding to the issues in the back row was the one game ban handed down to Morgan Knowles for a shoulder charge during Saints’ MKM Stadium cake walk. It meant that both James Bell and Jake Wingfield earned rare starts. Will Hopoate started back to back games for the first time in a month and for only the fourth time in his first season with Saints. Predictably, worryingly, he would not make it past half-time.

McGuire was without star man Shaun Kenny-Dowall and just as many backs as Saints were missing. None of Ben Crooks,  Ethan Ryan, Sam Wood or Jordan Abdull were on deck. Matt Parcell was on the suspended list but with both Rowan Milnes and Mikey Lewis available Jez Litten was able to revert to the number nine role having been filling in at halfback. McGuire gave a debut to 17 year-old Connor Barley on the wing. Albert Vete was available off the bench but the visitors had to do without Korbin Sims and ex-Saint Greg Richards.

Saints made the faster start, presented with an opportunity after George King lost the ball on his own 20 metre line on the opening set of the game. Konrad Hurrell threatened the Rovers line before the ball was stripped from his grasp in a two-man tackle. Tommy Makinson is now firmly back on goal-kicking duties and slotted over an easy penalty to give Saints a 2-0 lead. Some may have been underwhelmed by the decision to take the two points given that Saints were at home against a side that they’d expect to beat and who arrived in a world of personnel pain. Yet so early on and with the game still scoreless it seemed reasonable to nudge a couple of points ahead and build from there.

Anyone unhappy at that decision didn’t have to wait long for a Saints try. They’d been helped out of their own end from the restart by a Robins hand getting to a pass intended for Makinson, giving Saints another set of six to build an attack. The end result of that was the winger’s 20th try of the season. James Roby, Jonny Lomax and Welsby all combined to allow Makinson to dive in at the right corner. A characteristically powerful surge from Alex Walmsley had brought the defence in a couple of plays earlier. Makinson landed a beautiful conversion from the right hand touchline and Saints led 8-0.

The home side missed out on the chance to add a second try when Hurrell could not take Hopoate’s bullet pass inside the Rovers 10 metre line. McGuire’s men then threatened to hit back when Lachlan Coote - returning to St Helens for the second time since his move east thanks to the vagaries of loop fixtures - found an intelligent pass to put Barley away on the right hand touchline. Yet the youngster understandably lacked a little bit of composure as his attempted pass inside to the supporting Lewis went forward. It was so far forward in fact that Lewis could not take it in.  

Lewis’ evening wasn’t get any better. His next major involvement was a strange one. Makinson had got away again down the Saints right after a nice pass from Hurrell, but with the cover awaiting an opportunity to put him into touch Makinson kicked ahead. Lewis found himself closest to it for Rovers but instead of gathering it or even falling on it he came up with an eccentric kick which wobbled it’s way back towards Makinson’s wing. The Saints man succeeded where Lewis had failed in collecting it but credit goes to the Rovers man in recovering enough to help Coote bring Makinson down just short of the line. The ball came loose as Makinson attempted to stretch over in the tackle and the chance was lost.

But it would be foolish to think you can keep the best winger in the competition down for long. With a sense of inevitability Makinson soon added his second of the night. Saints had forced a dropout after Lomax’s kick was taken dead by Lewis. That after Saints had been gifted the field position when Jimmy Keinhorst went high on Roby. The finish was a little more straightforward this time as Roby, Lomax, Hopoate and Hurrell moved the ball quickly to offer enough space for Makinson to walk in at the corner. His 21st four-pointer of the season was his 168th for Saints in 284 appearances. A strike rate of 0.6 tries per game. Or to put it another way better than one in every two games. 

It also leaves him third among all try scorers in Super League in 2022 behind only former Rover Ken Sio and someone called Bevan French. This is the third season that Makinson has broken through the 20-try barrier and the first since the last campaign unaffected by Covid in 2019. He is four short of his best ever season tally of 25 which was achieved during another Grand Final winning year in 2014. Unfortunately he could not add the extras to his latest work, missing for the one and only time all night as Saints’ lead stayed at 12-0.

Saints’ next try was probably the game highlight, and arguably the one which put the result beyond any genuine doubt. Welsby started and finished it, sending a glorious cut out ball to Bennison on the left before supporting the young winger and taking the return to score. It was genuinely a thing of beauty and showed just why Welsby’s name now routinely crops up when the conversation turns to the identity of Super League’s best players. Another Makinson conversion pushed Saints out to an 18-0 advantage. 

Anything Welsby can do - Lomax can do just as well. The more senior halfback partner found a similar ball to Bennison who attempted to find Ben Davies with a low kick. Lewis - who to this point had spent far more time scrambling around trying to put out fires and avert danger than he had orchestrating KR attacks - was again in the way but could only knock the ball dead for a goal line dropout. The restart was botched by Coote. His drop-kick sailed over the touchline without ever threatening to hit grass on its way out. That gave Saints a penalty directly in front of the posts. An easy two was not an opportunity that Saints were going to turn down given that it would mean Rovers would need to score four times to mount a hugely unlikely comeback. Makinson did the honours for a 20-0 lead. 

There was no further scoring before the break, though Saints might have added to their tally had Agnatius Paasi not put down Roby’s pass five metres from the try line. In response the hitherto quiet Milnes put a searching kick in behind the Saints defence but Welsby read it well and covered up the loose ball before a lurking Ryan Hall could latch on to it.

With the win all but sewn up the week’s big talking point from a Saints point of view came up when the teams emerged for the restart. Hopoate was not among the Saints 13. Welsby had to be shifted to fullback and Roby was again pressed into action alongside Lomax in the halves. Joey Lussick came off the bench to take over the hooking role from the captain. More reshuffling of the sort that hasn’t always worked out well for Woolf’s side, particularly in terms of their attack.

That is just how important Hopoate could be to this side. He offers balance, especially with Lewis Dodd out. With Welsby at fullback there is then no natural partner for Lomax. You could ask Roby to paint your house or fix your tumble dryer and he’d probably do a decent job, but there is no doubt that there is a drop off in fluidity in the Saints attack without a more natural half alongside Lomax. This has to be a major concern for Woolf going into not only the trip to Wigan on Friday (August 26) but also ahead of the knockout games to come. I say games. Plural. There may only be one if we can’t find better solutions to Hopoate’s absence and that of Dodd. It’s probably not going to stop Saints winning the League Leaders Shield - such is their advantage - but it is a real concern beyond that.

Perhaps still pondering his mistake close to the line at the end of the first half, Paasi set about making up for it early in the second. Taking the ball at his own 25 metre mark the Tongan prop was met by three Rovers defenders around the 30. He spun his way out of that tight spot before setting off on a riotous, anarchic 35m run which was only ended inside the visitors’ 40.  That allowed Saints to force a goal-line dropout as Makinson’s kick into the in-goal made it too difficult for Coote to escape. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook had been held up just short on the previous play. 

Coote was having a torrid time under his own sticks. Having already butchered one dropout leading to two more Saints points he managed it again. This time his clearance did not travel the requisite 10 metres. Two more points would have been a given but with a 20-0 lead Saints were in the mood to chance their collective arm a little more. Having been held up over the line by a posse of defenders Lussick made no mistake with his next opportunity. He burrowed over from dummy half for his fourth try of the season and his third in his last four games. With Roby being moved around to cover injuries perhaps it is no surprise that the greater number of minutes now being offered to the ex-Salford man is translating into more points. It was another easy conversion for Makinson for a 26-0 lead.

At which point a couple of things started to go against Saints. McCarthy-Scarsbrook was taken from the field for an HIA. I shall resist the temptation to make an achingly obvious gag about his brain. McCarthy-Scarsbrook’s exit (LMexit?) brought Matty Lees back into the action. Saints then fluffed an opportunity to score again as an excellent exchange of passes between Makinson and Hurrell came to nothing when the former’s pass to Lomax was ruled forward by referee Chris Kendall. 

At which point the Robins scored. There was a touch of fortune in how they retained possession when Coote’s wayward looking pass was deflected into touch 10 metres inside the KR half. From the ensuing set Litten and Coote caused havoc in the Saints defence before Vete found Kane Linnett on his shoulder for a simple try. McGuire’s men were on the board, but a very kickable conversion was missed by the normally reliable Coote.  It wasn’t only the dropouts which were proving challenging for the 3-time Grand Final winner. Rovers were not exactly back in the contest at 26-4 but they had at least saved themselves the ignominy of the duck egg.

Yet no sooner had they got on the scoreboard than KR were handing the initiative back to their hosts. Frankie Halton came up with an error inside his own 40, compounded by the rest of his team as Kendall pinged them for offside. That set up the position for another bit of Welsby magic, this time sending a looping pass out to Bennison. He hit it in stride and had the simple task of diving over for his third try of the season and his fourth in 14 first team appearances in a breakout year. Makinson proved that he can kick them from both touchlines when he’s at his best, popping over his sixth goal of the night. The lead was now 28 points at 32-4. 

Sam Royle played three times on loan for Rovers recently. Getting a rare chance off the bench thanks to Saints’ back row issues he unfortunately found himself helping them again when he came up with an error from the restart. This time Coote’s kicking game did come up trumps as his short kick-off proved problematic for Royle. 

That led to Rovers second try. Milnes kicked right to left making it a contest between two international wingers in Makinson and Hall. The former Leeds man was prevented from notching his 225th Super League try in pursuit of McGuire’s all-time record of 247. But in stopping Hall Makinson somehow managed to present possession straight to Keinhorst just a few metres out. Lomax put in a desperate tackle but Keinhorst - another of Hull KR’s former Rhinos herd - was able to shrug him off and score. Coote could not convert a more difficult attempt from out on the left so the gap was still 24 points at 32-8.

Another try for the visiting side hardly put the wind up Saints who were comfortable on the scoreboard, but it would have made Woolf a little more tetchy. This is a side built on the principle of doing everything possible to keep their line from being breached. Without going all Wigan Warriors about it, mind. So the ease with which another cross-field kick caused chaos in the Saints rearguard will have been a concern to the coach. This time it was Litten airing one out from left to right. Keinhorst - popping up everywhere by now - hauled it in and fed Halton who put Barley over for a debut score.  On a night that few associated with Rovers will care to remember young Barley made himself the exception. A try scoring debut against the threepeat champions in their own back yard is a good story to tell wherever his career goes from here. Meanwhile Coote’s night to forget continued as he missed with another conversion. Whether linked to his fuzzy kicking performance or not, it was revealed after the game that Coote’s first season with Hull KR will end prematurely after a third concussion of the year. 

KR are right to take every precaution possible with concussions, particularly with a player in the autumn of his career.  We have seen first hand at Saints how similar issues put paid to Lance Hohaia’s playing days (with a little help from that infamous Wigan ‘defence’) while the denouement of Stevie Ward’s time at Leeds should still act as a cautionary tale. I wish any player all the luck in the world in overcoming these sorts of problems and especially Coote who has done more than most to make Saints the dominant force in the game since his 2019 arrival. Anyone who has the power to stop an entire fan base worrying about the departure of Ben Barba has something special about them.

Barley provided two more moments of genuine excitement before the end. First he made a scintillating break down the right straight from the restart after his own try. Then he went in again only to be denied a double when Kendall ruled that there had been an obstruction in the build-up. Sixty-five metres on eight carries with four tackle busts and that debut try is not a bad stat line for such a young man playing in a side which ultimately was well beaten. 

As if to put the exclamation point on their dominance Saints had the last word. Davies crossed for their sixth try of the night. Chalk it up as another assist for Lomax who delivered the killer ball after receiving possession from Lussick. Lomax now has 18 assists in 2022. He is closing in on the 20 mark, a feat which has only been achieved by six men so far this season. One of those is Welsby, whose 25 assists place him behind only Jake Connor and Tui Lolohea on this year’s chart. For his part, Davies’ try was his sixth in 13 appearances in 2022. Not bad for a player who had made only two first team appearances - both in demonstrably weakened sides - coming into this season. 

Another conversion gave Makinson his sixth goal of seven attempts and a personal points haul of 22. His success rate of 64.9% is an improvement on what it was just a couple of weeks ago, suggesting that some extra work on the training field is being done. Saints may need it if things get tight and there is no prospect of Dodd returning to action before the start of 2023. 

The game ended how much of the first half had panned out, with Saints threatening to score. This time it was Welsby, hunting a second try as Lomax kicked straight from a scrum. Phoenix Laulu Togaga’e (easy for Bill Arthur to say) beat Welsby to it on what turned out to be the last play of the game. 

As well as that impressive points total Makinson had a big night statistically. He led all comers in metres made with another 190. He now has 2,679 for the season which is more than all but five others in Super League and 170 ahead of Walmsley who is the next Saint on the list in ninth. Bennison showed his worth with 155 to add to his try while it was another big night for Paasi with 130. Welsby (109), Lees (105), Walmsley (102), McCarthy-Scarsbrook (102, yes really) and Davies (100) were the other Saints to hit the hundred mark. Tellingly, only centre Will Tate managed it for Rovers as he gained 118.

Joe Batchelor was fairly anonymous in attack but still managed to be Saints top tackler with 27. It was another night when topping 30 just wasn’t necessary for the league leaders. That extra juice in the tank may prove handy when the bigger games come along. Most of the defensive work was done by McGuire’s side with Saints dominating large parts of the game. Litten had the high mark with 38 tackles while Elliot Minchella and Halton both managed 36. 

Saints got Rovers on the edges with Makinson (5) and Bennison (4) accounting for 9 of the team total of 12 breaks. By contrast Rovers managed only five with two of those coming from Barley late on. Litten also breached the Saints line on a couple of occasions. The error count was quite low with Rovers committing only seven and Saints nine. When you make only seven errors but concede six tries it does perhaps say something about your defensive resolve or the ruthlessness of your opponents. Or both. The offload count of 13 for Rovers and 11 for Saints may also suggest a closer game than the one we actually saw. 

Kendall - finally sick of being blamed for everything from the cost of living to the colour scheme of the England Rugby League World Cup shirt - kept his whistle in his pocket for the most part as the visitors conceded eight penalties to only five by Saints. That is a commendable effort from the champions for whom discipline has been almost as big a headache as the injury list in recent times. For once there was not even the merest hint of a card, which again seems remarkable with Kendall in charge. Perhaps there has been yet another flip by his officiating overlords and we will see fewer as the season reaches its most serious stage. Perhaps…

And so - whether you care or not - one more win will earn top spot. Woolf has named a pretty strong squad for the visit to Wigan, our final away game of the regular season. This is slightly surprising as I expect him to rest players at some point before the playoffs and club bean counters tend to prefer you to do it for away games if you are going to do it at all. If weakened squads are announced for the two remaining home games against Wakefield and Toulouse they will be a hard sell. One name not included in the 21 for Wigan is that of Hopoate. There will be more reorganising for Woolf and more worry for this observer about the effect on our attack.

Perhaps the solution to the question of whether to play weakened teams is to rest a few in each of those home matches rather than stand everyone down en masse as Woolf did at Castleford earlier in the year. Yet the Wakefield game comes just three days after the derby as Super League continues with an increasingly unpopular policy of double header weekends. If anyone can see any possible motive for continuing with them besides the fact that they leave more dates free for equally unpopular loop fixtures (of which Hull KR and Wakefield at home are examples) then do holler. 

The motive appears purely financial but if coaches respond by resting great swathes of their first team then fans will catch on and the money through the gate will surely not justify the down sides. It will be interesting to see if shadowy, corporate solution to everything IMG have any plans for loop fixtures and double headers following their recent fan lip service survey. 

I’m normally a stickler for playing the strongest team possible but if Saints secure the League Leaders Shield by winning at Wigan I might just let any selection grumbles in the final two games pass. But I just can’t help but worry about our fullback/halfback situation with Hopoate out.

Saints: Hopoate, Makinson, Hurrell, Davies, Bennison, Welsby, Lomax, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Bell, Batchelor, Wingfield. Interchanges: Lussick, Paasi, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Royle

Hull KR: Coote, Barley, Tate, Keinhorst, Hall, Milnes, Lewis, Storton, Litten, King, Halton, Linnett, Minchella. Interchanges: Vete, Maher, Laulu Togaga’e, Fishwick

Referee: Chris Kendall