We needed a winger, right? We can all agree on that, surely.
When Regan Grace signed only a one-year deal with Saints half way through the 2021 Super League campaign it was a signal of his intent to explore other options in his career. Specifically rugby union. Being Welsh it was no surprise to discover that he had designs on playing his national game for his national side. And why not?, as a famous film reviewer used to say. If you can do that you are likely to earn a good deal more money for a good deal less effort than if you stay in rugby league. He will probably do that now that he has a deal with French outfit Racing 92. But Regan, pack something thick to wear under your Wales shirt as it might get cold standing out on the wing waiting for a pass in Cardiff in March.
As it turned out Saints had more opportunity to prepare for life without Grace than they might have hoped throughout 2022. He made only nine appearances before his Saints career was effectively ended by a ruptured Achilles suffered at Salford in July. Those nine appearances represent three fewer than the number managed by serial sick note submitter Will Hopoate.
Josh Simm filled the Grace-shaped hole at the start of the season but it didn’t take long for former coach Kristian Woolf to freeze him out. Simm has now left the club, set to try his hand in Australia with Queensland Cup outfit Wynnum Seagulls. Incoming head coach Paul Wellens must have been on board with the decision to release Simm and while it isn’t a particularly controversial one in and of itself the timing of it could have been better.
Simm’s place in Grace’s place went to Jon Bennison for much of last year. Most commonly recognised as a fullback Bennison covered admirably on the wing in 10 of his 18 first team appearances. He has impressed Wellens so much there that he been handed Grace’s number five shirt ahead of the 2023 season. Many felt this was a strong indication that the 19 year-old would emerge as Grace’s permanent replacement. Others cynically suggested it was a sticking plaster because the club had not identified a replacement of Grace’s standard who was available and affordable under the salary cap. Yet how much can you read into squad numbers? Not very much if you are watching the Australian team at the World Cup at the moment. Jake Trbojevic might be the slowest number five I’ve ever seen.
So like I say, maybe we needed a winger. And the cynics were half right. If their implication was that we would bring nobody in then they were slightly off the mark. We just haven’t signed anyone for longer than 12 months. The headline acquisition is a loan one as Tee Ritson comes in from Barrow Raiders. The 26 year-old scored 20 tries at Championship level last term and has impressed many with his outstanding pace.
That is a commodity Saints have been crying out for from my perspective, although they have been doing pretty well picking up trophies with a philosophy of bashing through their opponents and strangling them to death in defence. The challenge for Wellens, assistant Laurent Frayssinous and their staff will be in making sure the Thailand international is up to the job defensively in the top flight.
Joining Ritson in the competition to replace Grace is 19 year-old Wesley Bruines. He is a former Yorkshire under-17 representative and has also played for the Community Lions. Hailing from Dewsbury (Alex Walmsley, Sam, Tom and George Burgess and…er…Stevo country), Bruines spent last year in Australia with the South Sydney development team. Wellens believes his willingness to move to Australia so young is evidence of his ambition. And it is. But it’s also evidence of how likely it is that he will move back there if he reaches the standard we would like him to during his time at Saints. But let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.
That both Ritson and Bruines are only on one-year deals might suggest that there are alternative plans down the line should neither of the pair work out. It can’t be that far down the track that Saints will have the cap space currently allocated to James Roby and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook. Ritson’s loan deal feels especially like a trial period. At 26 he is no youngster. There seems little time to develop him before he hits his peak years. He probably needs to prove his worth quickly whereas if Bruines shows enough potential he might be what these days is fashionably referred to as a project.
Both seem a little bit like gambles for the moment. There isn’t anything inherently wrong in that but it should be remembered that this is the champion side in the league going for its fifth title in succession. Wellens might be a rookie head coach but his job description just reads ‘win’. Expectations remain high and as a player at the club for 17 years and a member of the coaching staff for seven more nobody knows that better than him.
Bruines looks likely to have to wait to establish himself but if Ritson can adapt quickly there is no reason why the loss of Grace should be catastrophic. And then there’s Bennison. Dependable, now a Grand Final winner and a star of the future in the eyes of a lot of savvy observers. If he has to start all 27 of Saints’ regular season games and however many more besides he will not be the least bit flustered.