Saints v Wakefield Trinity - Preview

Saints will be looking for a third consecutive Super League win when they entertain Wakefield Trinity on Friday night (March 31, kick-off 8.00pm).

After a sluggish start with two defeats in their first three league outings Head Coach Paul Wellens’ side have had back-to-back victories at home to Hull FC and away at Huddersfield Giants. It still leaves Saints in an underwhelming sixth spot in the Super League table but they have a game in hand on most of the other sides in the competition. That’s because the four-in-a-row champions sat out the opening week of league action so they could swipe the world title away from Penrith Panthers.

Meanwhile the first six rounds of the season have been horrific for Trinity. Rock bottom of the table without a win, they have managed to record a resounding zero points in half of those six fixtures. The nadir was a 60-0 hammering at Wigan on February 24. The closest that Mark Applegarth’s side has come to what used to be known as winning pay was an extra time loss to Salford Red Devils on Mother’s Day. Paul Rowley’s side prevailed 14-13 thanks to the drop-goal prowess of Marc Sneyd. Since then Trinity have lost comfortably again, going down 34-6 at Hull KR on Friday night (March 24).

Wellens has made two changes to the 21-man squad which travelled to Huddersfield. Morgan Knowles returns after a one match suspension while McKenzie Buckley is included also. The 19-year old made his Saints debut with a clutch of other youngsters at Castleford last April as former Saints boss Kristian Woolf stood most of his first team squad down following an Easter weekend double header. Buckley has yet to add a second appearance to his name.

The men to miss out are Sione Mata’utia and Wesley Bruines. Mata’utia lasted only 27 seconds of the win at Huddersfield, and that after returning from a two-game suspension of his own. He fell heavily on the back of his head while being pushed back by Giants defenders and was ruled out shortly after following a head injury assessment (HIA). That meant that he was automatically ineligible for this week too under the concussion protocols. He certainly won’t be overworked by the time he is free to line up against Wigan in just over a week’s time. The other side of that coin is that should he be selected by Wellens he will be going into the derby with very little recent rugby league under his metaphorical belt.  

The other man to miss out from last week’s selection is Wesley Bruines who has yet to make his first team debut for Saints after joining from South Sydney Rabbitohs developmental squad.

With only those changes to factor in the line-up on match day should not be massively different to that which edged the Giants 14-12 last week. One perhaps unwelcome distraction was the news which broke yesterday that Lewis Dodd has signed a contract with one of the leading player agencies in the NRL. Dodd - who turned 21 in January - has only managed 40 appearances for Saints following his debut in a 42-0 walloping of the other lot from over the lump in September 2020. Yet his move this week seems to suggest that he is already making plans for an exit when his Saints contract expires at the end of the 2024 season. By rule, a player who is under contract until then can start talking to NRL clubs in November of this year.

Ominous signs with Dodd then, though in truth much like the rest of the Saints squad he has not been playing with the kind of freedom we expect from him. The Saints attack has been underwhelming through their first five league outings. It has all seemed a little too regimented although there is mitigation in the fact that injuries and suspensions have necessitated much more deck-shuffling in the back division than would ordinarily be the case. The cohesion hasn’t quite been there despite the fact that Dodd and Jonny Lomax have been ever present in the halves.

If selected Lomax will make his 300th appearance for Saints. Wakefield were the opposition when Lomax made his debut in March 2009. Were it not for a couple of long term knee injuries the 32 year-old would doubtless have made many more appearances. Yet 300 across a 14-year career at one of the world’s top clubs is not an achievement to be sniffed at. Despite his advancing years Lomax - now playing under his sixth Saints Head Coach - remains pivotal to everything the side does particularly in attack. 

Behind those two in the threequarters  the key decision for Wellens is whether or not to bring Mark Percival back into the starting line-up. The centre did not feature at Huddersfield despite being named in the 21 for the clash. That he remains in the selection suggests he is fit so should still be an option. If he was to come back into the side it could be at the expense of Will Hopoate - a man for whom appearing in one in every five games is about the limit of his durability. Konrad Hurrell made a real difference to the attack at the John Smith’s Stadium so should hold down the other centre spot with Tommy Makinson outside him on the wing ahead of Jack Welsby at fullback. Hopoate can play on the wing - as can Percival for that matter - but Jon Bennison has been impressing there and deserves to keep his place.

The obvious change to the pack is the reintroduction of Knowles. With Joe Batchelor still missing through injury we may see Knowles operate at 13 behind a second row pairing of Curtis Sironen and James Bell. Sam Royle is the likeliest candidate to interrupt that party with Jake Wingfield out for the second game in a row. The props should be Alex Walmsley and - coming off a tireless 68-tackle effort against the Giants - Matty Lees. Agnatius Paasi and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook should spell the starting pair with James Roby at hooker and Joey Lussick waiting to replace the 526-game Saints skipper off the bench. 

In addition to their miserable run of results Wakefield have heaped further punishment on their fans with a strange personnel move this week. Twenty year-old centre Corey Hall was one of the club’s most promising players but has nevertheless been dealt to Hull KR in exchange for fullback Will Dagger. He is no veteran either at just 24 but most observers would agree that Dagger has been an inconsistent performer throughout his five years as a Robin. Rovers coaches obviously were not convinced given that he has had four loan spells with Championship clubs during those five years. Who knows - it may turn out to be a masterstroke on the part of Applegarth but there are certainly Trinity fans on social media who see it as a cost-cutting exercise in preparation for life in the second tier.

Dagger should come straight into the side at fullback, a position which has already been occupied by former Saint Lee Gaskell, winger and occasional hooker Liam Kay and Robbie Butterworth this season since the regular starter Max Jowitt made his only appearance of 2023 to date in the opening round defeat by Catalans Dragons. Gaskell and Jowitt are still unavailable as is former Warrington Tory spokesman Tom Lineham. Ex-Catalans Dragon Samisoni Langi filled in alongside Mason Lino in the halves against Rovers but one time Wigan man Morgan Smith might get the nod this week after coming back into contention.

Smith is one of three men coming back to the squad with a genuine shot of improving matters. NRL veteran Kevin Proctor is named in the 21 as is the sweetly named Harry Bowes. Langi could revert to centre to fill the hole left by Hall but Trinity will still be without highly coveted speedster Lewis Murphy on the wing. Reece Lyne and Jorge Taufua - a man who scored 88 tries in 164 NRL appearances for Manly Sea Eagles before somehow ending up in Wakefield - offer further options in the backs for Applegarth.

Breaking - But wait. Help is on the way for Trinity. Earlier today (Wednesday March 29) it was revealed that Applegarth has secured a two-week loan deal for Huddersfield Giants wing man Innes Senior. The 22 year-old - who has had two loan spells with Trinity already in his career - returns for a third spell and goes straight into what is now a 21-man squad for the trip west. Senior played for the Giants in the Challenge Cup final defeat to Wigan at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2022 and managed 12 tries in his 26 appearances for Ian Watson’s side that year. He has only featured once for the Giants so far in 2023 but will add some much needed pace to the Trinity back line.

The forward pack will be led by another ex-Saint in Matty Ashurst and will likely include Eddie Battye, Jai Whitbread and Jay Pitts as well as Proctor. Liam Hood is still out so either Kay or Bowes could operate from dummy half. 

The teams met three times in 2022 thanks to the ongoing fiasco that is loop fixtures. It will not astonish you to know that the champions beat Trinity both home and away. However, what is perhaps more shocking is that after a 20-4 home success at the end of February and a nail-shredding 13-12 victory at Belle Vue in July Woolf’s all-conquering side went down 34-18 in Trinity’s second visit to St Helens at the end of August. Delve a little deeper however and you will see that this was one of Woolf’s ‘we need a week off’ selections. Keane Gilford, Ben Lane, Daniel Moss, Ellis Archer, Lewis Baxter, Taylor Pemberton and George Delaney all featured in the match day 17. 

Miracles do happen, and occasionally form does go flying out of the nearest window. Yet it remains very difficult to see anything other than a comfortable Saints win here and another step on the upward ladder after those early season jitters.

Squads;

Saints;

1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Will Hopoate,4. Mark Percival, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. James Bell, 22. Sam Royle, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 25. Tee Ritson, 30. George Delaney, 33. McKenzie Buckley

Wakefield Trinity;

2. Jorge Taufua, 4. Reece Lyne, 7. Mason Lino, 8. Eddie Battye, 10. Jai Whitbread, 11. Matty Ashurst, 13. Jay Pitts, 14. Jordy Crowther, 15. Liam Kay, 18. Lee Kershaw, 19. Kevin Proctor, 20. Morgan Smith, 21. Samisoni Langi, 22. Rob Butler, 24. Harry Bowes, 25. Sam Eseh, 27. Rob Butterworth. Oliver Pratt, Tom Forber, Will Dagger, Innes Senior

Referee: Chris Kendall

Huddersfield Giants 12 Saints 14 - Review

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t even Saintsy. But the champions continued their recovery from some early season jitters as they clung on to win at the home of the Giants on Thursday night (March 23).

The Team News

Head Coach Paul Wellens welcomed no fewer than four players back into the 17 from the side which had beaten Hull FC at home on Friday night (March 17). Back came Sione Mata’utia - very briefly as it turned out - and Konrad Hurrell from suspension while Will Hopoate returned in the centres. Sam Royle earned a place on the bench ahead of Jake Wingfield.

For Ian Watson’s Giants the headline was the long awaited second debut of fullback/stand off and wind-up merchant Jake Connor. However, he was only fit enough for the bench and with Tui Lolohea also unexpectedly out at fullback it meant Will Pryce stood in there behind an awkward looking starting halfback pairing of Olly Russell and Esan Marsters. 

Building A Lead

Things haven’t been going totally to plan for Wellens in his rookie head coaching year. Saints have already suffered two defeats from their first four league outings. They started in similarly unfortunate fashion here as the returning Mata’utia was knocked out of the game in the opening set. Just 27 seconds had elapsed when the former Newcastle Knight was pushed backwards by the enthusiastic Giants defence, falling on the back of his head. He failed his subsequent head injury assessment (HIA) and will now also miss the home clash with Wakefield Trinity next week (March 31). 

Saints took the lead late in a first half which - though scoreless for a long time - did not lack for excitement. When the champions went over for the first points of the night it was Hurrell wreaking the havoc. Watching the defeat by Leigh in particular it had struck me how little creativity we had in the backs. It needed a difference maker with ball in hand. Hurrell proved to be that in the opening half here, scoring his first try since the World Club Challenge defeat of Penrith Panthers before laying on the second for Tommy Makinson to help Saints to a 12-0 lead.

Hurrell doesn’t convince everyone and I must admit to having my doubts when Kristian Woolf brought him to Saints from the Rhinos in 2022. Even here he left me with the impression that he would make a great NFL running back more so than a rugby league centre. Running backs are typically destructive or elusive runners who do a lot of damage to opposition defences but crucially they do not have to make any tackles. In American sports they have people for that. Hurrell regrettably does have to muck in defensively and he showed his frailties in that area at times during this game. But his attacking contribution was something we had clearly been lacking in the two games in which he was suspended. And it was ultimately decisive.

The 12-point lead that the Tongan centre did so much to create would have been a great reward for a first half which the Giants may argue that they edged. To that point most of the problems caused by Watson’s side were created by Pryce’s elusive and powerful running. Yet the Giants’ route back into the game came just before half-time and was provided partly by a man who has won three Grand Finals with Saints. 

Kevin Naiqama’s retirement after his 2021 Grand Final glory with Saints lasted about as long as one of Charlie Brooks’ Eastenders sabbaticals. He was first tempted back by Sydney Roosters in the NRL before somehow being persuaded to play Wattoball in front of 4,500 every week at The John Smith’s Stadium. I can’t have been the only Saints fan reflecting on this as the Fijian’s body-skittling run set up the position from where Ash Golding dummied Lewis Dodd into a costly over-read and plunged over from dummy half. Russell’s conversion meant that Saints were only a converted score ahead at the break at 12-6.

Hurrell was involved again as Saints crucially nudged the lead out to eight points 10 minutes after the break. He was caught high as he threatened again, this time beneath the shadow of the posts to allow Makinson to slot over another easy two points from the resultant penalty. 

Green Card 

There was controversy soon after when the green card - a device aimed at stopping players from feigning injury to give their side a breather when under pressure - a device long insisted upon by Woolf having seen one too many attacks broken up this way during his tenure - was shown to Jonny Lomax after he was hit late by former Saints team-mate Jack Ashworth. 

The controversy stemmed from the fact that Ashworth was not even penalised while Lomax was the one forced out of the action for two minutes. I’m not sure that this was how Woolf saw it playing out when he called for something to be done about so-called football-style play acting or what the NBA refers to as ‘flopping’. Besides - much to the disgust of the rest of rugby league watching public- Jon Wilkin on comms for Sky repeatedly insisted that Lomax does not feign injury. He should know. He’s his mate. So suck it up Buffet Warriors. 

The Senior Controversy

The controversy continued when the Giants finally registered their second try with just 15 minutes to go. It was an enterprising move which saw the ball switched to the Giants left. Hurrell had been targeted all night defensively and it was in that area that Innes Senior was put in space for a diving finish. 

The on-field decision of Jack Smith was crucial here. Without really having the best view he sent Senior’s iffy grounding up as a try to video referee Liam Moore. Replays showed that Senior only really grounded the ball with his wrist or forearm. But they also showed that that there had been no separation between his arm/wrist and the ball. With pictures inconclusive except to those who wear their club’s special 3-D glasses 24 hours a day there was little option but for Moore to support Smith’s on-field decision. Had Smith sent it up as no try then that decision would have had to stand too. Like it or not that is the protocol under which our video review system currently runs. Do you know who I blame? The people who wanted more technology in the game as if it would somehow eliminate all wrangling over calls.

Russell produced another great conversion to bring his side to within two points at 14-12 but in truth there were not too many alarms after that. Huddersfield had plenty of the ball as Hurrell’s ball-carrying prowess receded under the weight of the defensive examination he was given but there were no real heart-stopping moments as Huddersfield threw everything - including their would-be saviour Connor at the Saints line. We grimly hung on without really threatening to score again ourselves but in the context of defeats to Leigh and Leeds already in 2023 the result was always going to be the most important thing.

Matty Lees’ Busy Day

With Saints’ signature flair still AWOL a lot of the post-game focus fell on the amazing defensive efforts of Matty Lees. The Saints prop clocked in with a back-breaking 68 tackles. To put this context the last Saints player to even reach 50 tackles in a game was Lussick in a 13-12 win at Wakefield in July of last year. 

I think we can all agree that this is a phenomenal defensive effort from Lees. And needed too given the pressure that the Saints defence came under in that difficult second half. Yet what it says about our team’s performance is more troubling. Should any of our players be needing to make that many defensive efforts? Not if we are exerting the kind of control on a game that Wellens would like us to, I’m sure.

Yet it is great to see Lees receive the plaudits for once. Like pretty much any prop who has put on a Saints shirt over the last 10 years - except maybe Luke Thompson for a year or two before his departure to Canterbury Bulldogs - Lees has been in the shadow of Walmsley. The recent eye-test suggests that Walmsley’s influence may be starting to drop off slightly from the ridiculous heights of a season or two ago when he was racking up 200 metres with ludicrous regularity. Lees has not yet proven to be that kind of metre eater with ball in hand but sooner or later someone is going to have to take over the mantle of being Saints’ premier front rower from the man who will turn 33 on Easter Monday. Lees’ time may just be coming. 

Phil Clarke & Cheating

With the two points safely in the bag those of us watching on television in hospital rooms (I came home today, Friday, thank you for asking) were subjected to what could be a significant moment in the somehow long-running punditry career of Philip Clarke. 

In Lees’ post-game interview he let slip the not-at-all-surprising-to-me revelation that one of the ways in which Saints had managed to hang on under the weight of the hosts possession late in the game was by slowing down the ruck and accepting a few extra ‘6 again’ calls from Smith. Blackrod’s finest - who as we all know has been supporting Wigan for longer than Billy Boston - grasped this opportunity to club Saints over the head with a perceived wrongdoing.

Harking back to a Saints win over Salford Red Devils (the 2022 Super League semi-final I think, it can get confusing when a patient starts rambling) - Clarke pointed out that similar tactics had helped them through to the Grand Final which they went on to win against Leeds Rhinos. Only he didn’t stop at that suggestion, instead going on to describe that philosophy as ‘cheating’. Inflammatory Language Klaxon.

Look, I don’t like the practice of slowing down the ruck either but it is not cheating by any stretch of the imagination. Saints - and it must now be said other clubs who have learned the same lessons - are able to slow it down near their own line at the cost of only an extra set of six because that is what the ill thought through ‘6 again’ rule allows. Doing it early in a defensive set is just the logical conclusion of smart rugby league coaches finding ways to exploit the rules. If you can do something to avoid conceding a try to the cost of only having to defend a tackle or two extra then why wouldn’t you? The problem is not Saints or any other club ‘cheating’. The problem is the rule itself. It has to go.

Of course we should not dismiss the possibility that Clarke knows this. He has been sliding down the Sky punditry batting order for the last 20 years and desperately needs something other than his wardrobe choices to stay relevant. So as much as his anger seems to come from a place of pro-Wigan/anti-Saints sentiment it is also very likely a last ditch career move. After all, accusing the four-in-a-row champions of cheating is very good telly.

Next Up

Having secured a third win in five Super League outings the Saints ship has now somewhat steadied. They are up to sixth in the table which - if the season finished tomorrow - would be enough to maintain the club’s proud record of competing in every playoff series in Super League history. Yet finishing sixth in the table is also the sort of result which will get a Saints club legend sacked and have fans making all sorts of revisionist theories about his playing career. We have seen it before. There is more for Wellens to do.

That starts on Friday (March 31) when Wakefield Trinity come to town. Fortunately for Saints and Wellens the start made by Trinity has most observers - including their own fans - wondering whether Mark Applegarth’s (who?) side are up there among the worst to have ever played in the top flight in the summer era. They are winless through their first six games, have been held scoreless in half of those games and scored just seven tries. By comparison the half-firing Saints have crossed for more than twice as many (16) despite having played one game fewer. A Trinity win would be a seismic shock.

With that, perhaps the focus should be on establishing a bit more fluency around our lumpy attack. Percival’s availability would help. And what will the next seven days hold fitness wise for our one in five man Hopoate. Can he string two games together? Should Wellens give him the opportunity anyway? Will he let the shackles off Dodd? There is plenty of intrigue remaining in what should really be a routine win. 

All of which you should be able to read about here next week, with your preview coming on Wednesday. See you then.

Giants; Pryce, Golding, Halsall, Naiqama, Senior, Marsters, Russell, Hill, Peats, Trout, McQueen, Livett, Yates. Interchanges: Connor, Ikahihifo, Rushton, Ashworth

Saints; Welsby, Makinson, Hurrell, Hopoate, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Mata’utia, Sironen, Bell. Interchanges: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Paasi, Royle, Lussick

Referee: Jack Smith

Huddersfield Giants v Saints - Preview

Saints continue what has been an uncertain start to their 2023 Super League campaign with a visit to face Huddersfield Giants at the John Smith’s Stadium on Thursday night (March 23, kick-off 8.00pm).

You wouldn’t expect your four-in-a-row Super League champions and now world champions to have lost two of their first four league games at the start of the year but that is where we are. An opening stroll over Castleford Tigers was followed by two strangely similar, anaemic defeats at home against Leeds Rhinos and then at Leigh Leopards. Both games seemed perfectly in hand for new Head Coach Paul Wellens before both somehow slipped away. A last-gasp Blake Austin drop-goal saw Headingley’s Riders Of Rohan smuggle the points away before a 20-12 defeat at Leigh Sports Village in which Saints unfortunately showed all the ruthlessness of my cat playing with a recently caught vole. 

Saints just took too long to to finish the job, seemingly believing it enough to hold their feet in front of the fire at a two-score distance for an hour or so and that they would not keep. They did not. With former internationals like Josh Charnley and Zak Hardaker within their ranks the Leopards have strike which they used to great effect on that occasion. 

Saints then bounced back with a 20-12 home win over Hull FC which saw them live on their nerves at times but prove worthy winners. The big scare came when Jake Wingfield’s drop allowed Jake Clifford a very cheap score to get Hull to within four after Jack Welsby’s try had provided a little margin for error. Jon Bennison settled it - overcoming his disappointment at missing out on the World Club Challenge win over Penrith to since start every game on the wing - with two decisive and clinically executed tries. Bennison can fill in anywhere along the back line and is absolute money when he does. Like much of Saints’ continually excellent youth products he just has that mentality to do it when it is required.

The Giants - much fancied again under Ian Watson - have also started with two wins and two defeats from their first four outings. They began with a 26-16 defeat by the Always-Their-Year Warrington Wolves who can still be found battling for early season supremacy with five wins out of five alongside Catalans Dragons. Then came a strangely difficult 8-0 toil to get over a Wakefield Trinity side at that time in the midst of a run of three games without scoring. The Tigers were then blown away 36-6 before the Giants came up slightly short in a testing visit from Wigan. Matty Peet’s Buffet Warriors held on for a 14-12 success and served notice that they will still be around at the top like the annual boil on the arse that they are.

Wellens’ squad selection for this one has been complicated by disciplinary issues. It was announced yesterday that Morgan Knowles had received a one-match penalty notice for a late challenge towards the end of the Hull FC win. As I understand it this is currently being appealed. In the meantime, if Knowles is successful with his appeal he will be added to the party. If not then another player will be named. 

It all throws up fairly tedious echoes of Grand Final week when Knowles controversially had some other misdeed pardoned and was allowed to play in the showpiece event. It was my view then and remains my view now that the club - and Mr Rush in particular - had no business appealing what I saw as a fairly blatant piece of foul play in the semi-final. While the likes of Sione Mata’utia, Curtis Sironen and more recently Konrad Hurrell continue to miss games through suspension we seem to have developed a weird fixation on refusing to allow this player to be disciplined. 

His latest indiscretion seems a trifling offence but would it really do him or the team too much harm to occasionally allow him to sit it it out and reflect on how to improve his technique? This is a domestically dominant world champion team. It does not live or die on the presence of one player who - while one of the top Super League players of the day - is not the all encompassing saviour and all-time club great that some like to cast him as. Let it go.

Breaking - It seems that the authorities have taken the decision out of our own hands. The Rush parlour trick is unsuccessful this time and Knowles will miss out. His place in the 21 will now go to new utility signing Wesley Bruines.

Wellens has been boosted by the return of some of his more important strike players this week. Hurrell is included after his red card against his former club the Rhinos, while the return of Mark Percival to the squad is timely especially given that Ben Davies now faces five or six weeks out with an ankle problem. Even Will Hopoate is back involved in the mix for a three-quarter spot. That could allow Tommy Makinson to revert back to the wings from the centres and maybe put pressure back on Tee Ritson for his place once more. Bennison would be entitled to feel filthy if left out while the 1, 6 & 7 trio of Welsby, Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd has been a permanent fixture. 

In the forwards most of the movement has been in the back row. Joe Batchelor has not featured yet because of injury so the recent return of Sironen and this week’s addition of Mata’utia are significant. Like Bennison - James Bell has shrugged off personal World Club Challenge disappointment to step up and start solidly and reliably in recent weeks. This is a guy who if selected will still only be making his 23rd first team appearance since joining from Leigh in November 2021. And I don’t have a single worry about him. His offload for Welsby’s crucial try against FC on Friday night (March 17) was an example of his skill and his poise. 

The front row has largely been of the ‘same as last year’ philosophy that is the hallmark of many a champion side with the great James Roby backed up by Joey Lussick and the monstrous presence of Alex Walmsley at prop backed up by the consistent Matty Lees and the often explosive Agnatius Paasi. 

This week’s Giants headline is the possible second debut of Jake Connor. The star playmaker played in West Yorkshire between 2013-16 and now returns after a five-year spell at Hull FC. Most recently spent trying to convince everyone that he and Luke Gale a) get on fine and b) are a serviceable and reliable halfback partnership for a modern contender. That pretence has been dropped and Connor is about to be re-injected into the Giants mix having had his restart delayed by injuries. It is a big year for him as the suspicion mounts that he will always be just that bit too much of a risk. Undoubtedly gifted but fatally flawed. Defensively as well as in terms of his mentality. 

One of the fascinations will be to see whether Watson can get a tune out of Connor and Will Pryce this year. Either as a pair or as a multi-facetted attack division along with gifted fullback Tui Lolohea and former Saints bomb manufacturer Theo Fages. The Frenchman is out injured this week but the other three all feature in Watson’s 21-man selection. As does three-time Saints Grand Final winner Kevin Naiqama, who I’m sure would have been a handy presence in helping break down those beaten-looking Leeds and Leigh sides before they bit back. Of all the the things that bite perhaps the salary cap does so the hardest when you have enjoyed such success. 

The Giants still rely on Chris Hill to lead their pack along with another ageing Chris - last year’s try-scoring sensation McQueen. They have lost the excellent Danny Levi to the NRL once more and the Canberra Raiders, but have added Esan Marsters and Jake Bibby to their ranks. They are still clearly finding their rhythms for 2023 but will be a major threat on home soil this week. 

The teams last met in the Super League in Huddersfield last April when Saints took it 24-12. Percival, Bennison and Lomax were all try-scorers for Saints along with Batchelor, while for the Giants Lolohea and Ash Golding crosssed. It was something of a phoney war back then with the Giants having made major changes. This time both could do with the win following their own unconvincing early season form. We should hopefully see cork come off of the top of this one. 

Squads;

Giants;

Ashton Golding, Chris McQueen, Chris Hill, Esan Marsters, Harry Rushton, Harvey Livett, Innes Senior, Jake Connor, Jack Ashworth, Jake Bibby, Kevin Naiqama, Leroy Cudjoe, Luke Yates, Nathan Peats, Olly Russell, Olly Wilson, Owen Trout, Sam Halsall, Seb Ikahihifo, Tui Lolohea, Will Pryce

Saints;

1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Will Hopoate, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 11. Sione Mata’utia, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. James Bell, 22. Sam Royle, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 25. Tee Ritson, 30. George Delaney, 34. Wesley Bruines.

Castleford Tigers 6 Saints 24 - Review

Saints returned to the domestic scene with an eventful but ultimately comfortable 24-6 win at Castleford.

Conquering the NRL champion Penrith Panthers on their own patch was bound to take a physical toll on Saints. Head coach Paul Wellens - taking charge of his first Super League game - was without a clutch of stars who had helped turn Saints into world champions eight days previously. Tommy Makinson was ruled out due to the concussion protocols having been forced out of the World Club Challenge in the first half. Captain James Roby was rested for this one while minor knocks kept out Will Hopoate and Agnatius Paasi.  Curtis Sironen was also out due to illness, and with Joe Batchelor injured in the World Club Challenge warm-up win over St George-Illawarra Dragons it meant that James Bell started in the back row alongside Sione Mata’utia.

Makinson’s absence gave Tee Ritson his Super League debut following his officially loan move from Barrow Raiders while Hopoate’s wing spot from the Panthers game was occupied by Jon Bennison. Joey Lussick was an ever present during the 2022 campaign but this was nevertheless a rare starting opportunity for the former Salford and Parramatta man. 

Castleford had lost at Hull in their opening fixture. Head coach Lee Radford was without Mahe Fonua so former Leeds man Jack Broadbent started at centre. A certain Mr Westerman was conspicuous by his absence, no doubt to the bitter disappointment of the chant lyricists among the Saints following. 

Though this was ultimately comfortable on the scoreboard for Saints there were moments - particularly early on - when a more clinical team than Radford’s would have posted plenty of points. The first points of the match did not arrive until the 23rd minute when Jack Welsby took Jonny Lomax’s short ball to go over under the sticks. The build-up had featured a picturesque flick-pass by the outstanding Mark Percival to Lewis Dodd. 

Yet before all this Jake Mamo had twice shredded Saints’ right edge defence only to butcher the crucial pass to the supporting Niall Evalds on each occasion. Mamo finished the game with a Brian To’o-like 208 metres with ball in hand. The former Huddersfield and Warrington eccentric was the only player on either side to top 200 metres. Which just goes to show that it’s not all about stats. He carved out a third opportunity in the second half but was dealt with expertly by Welsby on that occasion.

Makinson is among the best defensive wingers in world rugby league but it would probably be overly simplistic and a tad unfair to blame this uncharacteristic weakness down the Saints right edge on Ritson alone. Defending is a team effort and it will no doubt take time for the new man to gel with his team-mates and to develop an understanding with his right edge centre Konrad Hurrell.  It seemed more a question of positioning on that edge than any inability of any individual to make tackles. 

That Welsby try - converted by Percival - provided the only points of the first half. While Mamo was busy fluffing Castleford’s best opportunities Saints had a few of their own which were scuppered by poor decision making. Bell tore through the Tigers line on one occasion only to inexplicably attempt to kick ahead for Ritson with tackles still remaining. It was a poorly executed kick which trickled over the sideline before Ritson could latch on to it. Then Dodd suffered a brain explosion, dabbing towards the in-goal having failed to realise that referee Liam Moore had awarded Saints a fresh set of six. But going into the break you got the feeling that Saints would eventually find their clinical edge and ultimately punish Mamo and the Tigers for their profligacy.

Which is exactly how it played out. When the next breakthrough came it was Ritson who profited with a try on his Super League debut. Cas had again started the second half steadily enough, going set for set with Saints for the first five minutes. That was until a scruffy Hurrell offload hit the deck and was scooped up by Lomax. He mesmerised the Cas defence with a dummy and a weaving run before finding Ritson outside him to do the rest. It wasn’t the kind of neat and tidy, by the coaching manual sort of try we saw so often under Kristian Woolf but improvised tries count for four points just the same. Percival tacked on two more and Saints led 12-0.

Cas didn’t just roll over as many sides facing a two score deficit to Saints might have done. Ten minutes into the second half they got on the scoreboard in circumstances which have been the subject of much debate but which to me seemed perfectly above board. They worked the ball left through Jacob Miller, Gareth Widdop and Evalds to put Broadbent away down the channel. That leaky Saints right edge defence split apart again. The only man who could stop a certain try at this point was Welsby. 

He did so, but his methods left much to be desired in the mind of Moore. Having over-pursued Broadbent as the Tigers man stepped inside him Welsby threw out a desperate arm which caught Broadbent around the neck. Some of my fellow Saints fans have suggested that it came off the shoulder but if I’m being honest I wouldn’t want to buy a scarf off those observers. It was not the type of direct contact with the head to justify a red card but it looked a textbook example of foul play preventing a try, and therefore a penalty try. 

In any case the awarding of a penalty try is dependent only on the referee’s opinion of whether a try would have been scored without the foul play. It was very difficult to argue with Moore’s reasoning. The decision probably spared Welsby a spell in the sin-bin as to do so would have been to punish Saints twice for the same offence. Rugby league’s version of double jeopardy.  Yet it is slightly surprising that no ban was handed out when the disciplinary committee met earlier this week. Surprising but understandable. It wasn’t the worst tackle you’ve ever seen and who in their right mind can be arsed attending another three appeal hearings with Mike Rush?

Former Saint Jordan Turner had replaced Fonua in the centre position and he missed an opportunity to get Cas right back in it. Miller’s bomb was caught expertly by the lively Broadbent but the former Rhino’s attempt to offload to Turner squirmed away from the 2014 Grand Final winner. Welsby was required defensively again when Evalds broke through but with the Cas fullback lacking support he was unable to evade his opposite number. 

Welsby is more celebrated for his exploits at the other end of the field and it was he who created the crucial next try which put a bit of distance between the sides again. Fed by Hurrell, the Saints fullback dabbed an expertly weighted kick through the defensive line where Alex Walmsley was first to it to score. As he rose to celebrate the TV pictures captured the gruesome state of his blood-stained ear. He looked like Evander Holyfield after running into a mentally unstable Mike Tyson all those years ago. Yet Moore saw no reason to force him off the field to get patched up as Percival was on target again with the conversion.

With Mamo off the field by now the Broadbent-Turner combination seemed like the only way back into the contest for Radford’s side. Yet every time they tried to link up something went wrong. Broadbent made a long break but when he tried to find Turner on his outside the pass was off target. Despite his attempts to juggle it around his back Turner could not reel it in. 

Within a couple of minutes it was done and dusted. The combination of Lomax and Welsby found Walmsley on the charge. He held off two defenders on a 20 metre rampage towards his second try of the afternoon. Another Percival goal opened up a 24-6 lead and ensured that Saints started their bid for a fifth consecutive title with a win. 

There was just one more cruel indignity for Cas to suffer before the end. Bureta Fairamo thought he had managed a consolation score when he raced down the right flank to touch down having intercepted a Lomax pass. Yet replays showed that the ex-Hull winger had grounded the ball on the touchline inside the in-goal area. 

It was close and he might have got away with it in a non-TV game but ultimately Fairamo was found guilty of one of the stupidest gaffes in the history of the sport. Right up there with Shaun Ainscough’s wild hack towards his own goal line which set up a winning try for Featherstone against Ainscough’s Batley, or Ryan Atkins’ needless acrobatics which cost Warrington a try in their 2018 opening night defeat by Leeds.  Fairamo undoubtedly murdered what should have been an easy four points but credit is due to Matty Lees for chasing back and restricting the amount of space available to the Tigers winger.

Other than Mamo the stat leaders in terms of metres made for Cas were Broadbent with 172, the careless Fairamo with 161 and Evalds with 140. For Saints it was Hurrell with 187, Bell with 184, Walmsley with 163, Lomax with 148, Mata’utia with 139 and Percival who had 102. Defensively there was a chance to shine for others with Roby absent. Perhaps predictably it was his understudy Lussick who topped the count for Saints with 32 tackles. For Cas Muizz Mustapha managed 40, Paul McShane 34 and both Kenny Edwards and Adam Milner had 33. 

Though they didn’t always come off Saints had 13 offloads which is more than three Super League sides have managed in their two outings so far, remembering that Saints have only played once. There does seem to be more of a willingness to take a risk under Wellens but the new coach has struck a decent balance so far between expansiveness and safety first football. 

The champions welcome Leeds Rhinos in round two. It is likely that a few of those who missed this one will feature in the early season repeat of last year’s Grand Final. The Rhinos have started the year in their familiarly dreadful early season form and with a big crowd behind them for their home opener it is hard to see Saints failing to add another win to the one they picked up at what used to be called Wheldon Road.

Saints; Welsby, Ritson, Hurrell, Percival, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Lussick, Lees, Mata’utia, Bell, Knowles. Interchanges: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wingfield, Norman, Royle.

Tigers: Evalds, Fairamo, Broadbent, Turner, Mamo, Widdop, Miller, Griffin, McShane, Vete, Edwards, Mellor, Lawler. Interchanges: Mustapha, Milner, Watts, Robb.