The relentless, trophy-laden Kristian Woolf era is at an end. He signed off with a third Super League Grand Final triumph in as many seasons. No coach has achieved that before in the professional era. He also added a Challenge Cup and a League Leaders Shield to his list of honours. Just how do you follow that?
The man charged with trying is already a St Helens and rugby league legend. Whether that is an advantage or a disadvantage depends on how you look at it. Paul Wellens - promoted from the assistant’s role having been part of the coaching set-up since his on-field retirement in 2015 - succeeds Woolf as Head Coach on an initial two-year deal. Stepping into the number two role vacated by Wellens will be former Catalans Dragons and current French national team Head Coach Laurent Frayssinous.
Despite the incredible success enjoyed by Woolf and before him Justin Holbrook there is still plenty to occupy the mind of Saints’ new boss and legendary former fullback. Here’s a little look at what might be in Wellens’ in-tray for this off-season and beyond.
1. A Left Winger
Priority Number One is arguably to fill the Regan Grace-shaped hole on the left flank. The Welshman missed much of the season through injury and will not return having agreed to switch to rugby union and join Racing 92 in France. Jon Bennison, Will Hopoate, Josh Simm, Mark Percival and Ben Lane are among those who have filled in admirably for Grace, but more pace is needed in that three-quarter line. At a recent forum Woolf acknowledged that left wing is the one area that Saints have been actively looking to recruit for 2023. We should expect at least one new arrival.
But who? The fans’ choice would be Wakefield Trinity’s breakout star Lewis Murphy. Huddersfield Giants’ Innes Senior is a genuine flyer. What about a gamble on a Championship star in Tee Ritson? If money or contracts were no barrier then Super League’s best is Ash Handley. Or perhaps the prolific Fouad Yaha who will be known to Frayssinous among the French squad. If we’re playing Fantasy Football then how about Sydney Rabbitohs and PNG superstar Alex Johnstone or Canterbury Bulldogs’ flying fox Josh Addo-Carr? I’m sure Luke Thompson could have a word. Unlikely given the restrictions of the salary cap.
2. A Roby Succession Plan
Though most of what Woolf has passed down to Wellens places him at a great advantage, there are one or two little hospital passes in the mix. Not least of these is the thorn-riddled issue of how to solve a problem like a generational player. The task of replacing James Roby should really have been Woolf’s problem. Or at least he should have been the main strategist in working out just how you fill those boots. Roby was at pains to remind everyone at every opportunity that he was 99% certain to retire after the 2022 campaign. Which he was until he wasn’t. The skipper has committed instead to one more year. Barring a second and then a third deferral of his retirement Roby has therefore burdened Wellens with the task of finding a worthy successor.
And the truth is that unlike last time we had a generational number nine retire, on this occasion we don’t have anyone who looks capable of stepping into the role. Perhaps we shouldn’t expect to either. Having two all-time greats follow on from each other in the same position is exceptionally rare. As rare as members of M People who endorse Liz Truss. Joey Lussick has been steady in relief of Roby this year without being spectacular, while Taylor Pemberton still has to fall into the unproven category with just two first team appearances to his name. Will Wellens give Pemberton more game time this year? Will he bring someone in? Don’t all shout ‘Not Brad Dwyer!’ at once. Could Aaron Smith’s Saints career be resurrected after seemingly being surplus to Woolf’s requirements? There are options but none of them are James Roby.
3. Be Ruthless - Stop Renewing You Know Who?
Apart from that much needed winger there isn’t going to be much in the way of recruitment ahead of 2023. Woolf said this at that Q & A before his departure was announced and Wellens’ early utterances since taking over have seemed to double down on that position. What we have seen is a lot of existing players being retained throughout the last campaign. Jack Welsby, Matty Lees, Sione Mata’utia, Konrad Hurrell and Lewis Dodd have all had new or extended deals handed to them during the course of this year. And then there is Roby, who was always staying so long as he wanted to play on.
Another with a new agreement in the pocket is the only man in the squad older than the captain, this column’s favourite punchbag Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook. He will be 37 before the 2023 season gets under way. Whether or not you thought the prop was a world-beater at 25 or 30 there are few players who spring to mind who have cut it in Super League at 37 or over. And they have tended to be RL legends like Steve Menzies, Jamie Peacock and Sean O’Loughlin. Putting aside my own bias can we really carry on handing out one year extensions to an average player way past his best just because he’s a good bloke to have around? It won’t be easy for Wellens as McCarthy-Scarsbrook is one of those whom he once played alongside, but he cannot let it go on beyond 2023. McCarthy-Scarsbrook may choose to retire but if not, a conversation needs to be had between friends.
4. Make It Fun
While Saints were conquering all before them under Woolf it was considered heresy to criticise his methods. Not that it stopped me. You can’t argue with his phenomenal winning record but it hasn’t always been fun. In mitigation this year he has been dealing with permanent injury and suspension problems. There was a noticeable shift towards a more conservative approach when Dodd was lost for the season in mid-April. Yet it has hardly been Harlem Globetrotters stuff at any point during Woolf’s reign. The emphasis has always been on defence first, then hammering the door down through the middle before you even think about playing with anything resembling panache.
For some this does not matter. As long as there are trophies being lifted at the end of each year then the ends justify the means. My take is that - especially in a playoff system in which winning the league has never earned you more disrespect - there has to be more to the journey of a regular season. If all we are playing for is to get into the playoffs then what is there to get excited about during a routine 20-point home win over Leigh or Wakefield? Failure to make the playoffs for Saints would be an underachievement of Warringtonian proportions. It’s probably not going to happen. After all, it never has in 25 years of a post-season system. So we need something to make the months from February to September exciting again. We need to play with a swagger.
Happily it looks on the face of it as if Wellens agrees that this has been missing. He has spoken about the club’s traditions of open, flowing rugby. He has identified Frayssinous as someone who can help perk up an attack that is - unusually for a great Saints side - not its main strength. It is going to be fascinating to see what the Frenchman comes up with to shake things up with ball in hand. Having Dodd back will help but if we are going to play more expansively we need buy-in from the players. And arguably a faster back line. It won’t happen overnight but I’d settle for visible strides towards it.
5. Don’t be KC
Like it or not we have to confront the loxodonta in the room. Long before Woolf left - when hypothetical conversations about his potential successor were being held in offices and bar rooms from Billinge to Clock Face - there was furious debate about whether we should appoint another relatively recently retired club legend as Head Coach. For some the trauma of the Keiron Cunningham years and the sadness around his eventual departure is still raw. They fear that if Wellens does not live up to expectations - and let’s face it those are pretty massive when you are going for five titles in a row - then his reputation will dip amongst the support.
One of the saddest things for me in recent years supporting Saints has been the decline of the esteem in which Cunningham is held. These same fans voted for him to be the subject of the statue outside the stadium. Now he’s rated a step or three behind the next great hooker who came along - the admittedly brilliant Roby. Either we have been incredibly lucky in producing number nines in this town in the last 30 years or else it doesn’t compute. It seems to me that a mixture of recency bias and a lingering resentment towards Cunningham for his Lama Tasis and his Atelea Veas is at play.
Of course, Wellens is not Cunningham. He is his own man who will no doubt implement his own ideas and philosophies. Seemingly he has already started that process. You are unlikely to see Saints props diving for the floor to get a quick play-the-ball under the former fullback’s tutelage. Yet as close as he was to the Cunningham situation Wellens will know the risks. If he has listened to the fan chatter or read it on social media he will know the threat to his legacy that is posed by failure. He must learn from his old coach and team-mate’s experience. Everything from tactics to communication with the fans is almost as important as results.
What do you think? What are the things that you would like to see Wello focus on? Or should he employ an ‘if it ain’t broke’ philosophy?
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