Saints 28 Warrington Wolves 6 - Review

I told you it wasn’t a crisis.

Saints halted a two-game losing streak in impressive style as they dismissed the early pace setters on Thursday night (April 20). It’s a win which moves Saints back up to sixth in the league as we head towards an international break which has already been shunned into oblivion by the top clubs.  

Head Coach Paul Wellens’ side also have a game in hand which - should they win it - will take them back into the top four.  The result also saw the Wolves relinquish top spot in the Super League table after Wigan became the latest team to beat Wakefield Trinity.  Which to be quite honest is a bit of a downside to the usually blissful feeling of flaying Warrington. But they brought it on themselves. Daryl Powell’s side have now suffered consecutive defeats after winning their first eight.

The Team News

There were plenty of reasons to be pessimistic for Saints fans coming into this one. Most of the starting pack which missed last week’s defeat at Hull KR remained out. Morgan Knowles served the second of a five-game suspension while Alex Walmsley, Sione Mata’utia, Curtis Sironen and Agnatius Passi all missed out again through injury. The one exception was Joe Batchelor who made a more than welcome return. The former York man has not featured since the win over St George-Illawarra Dragons in the build up to the World Club Challenge but has now recovered after ankle surgery.

It wasn’t just the pack with problems this week. There had been rumblings all week about Mark Percival’s availability and they were proved right as he was kept out due to his recurring hamstring problem. Percival played in the back row in last week’s loss to Hull KR at Sewell Group Craven Park but with Batchelor back he would most likely have reverted to his regular slot in the centres had he been available. In his absence Wellens stuck with a pairing of Konrad Hurrell and Will Hopoate.

And there was one more nasty surprise on game day when the list of 17 names on duty for Saints did not include that of Tommy Makinson. Wellens explained that the England winger had been playing at somewhere below full fitness for the last few weeks due to a number of issues and so the decision was taken to leave him out.  

Warrington had some problems of their own up front, most notably the suspension of prop Paul Vaughan. The ex-Canterbury Bulldog has been a revelation in the opening weeks of 2023 and a major factor in the good run which saw Powell’s men shoot to the top of the table. Despite missing this one Vaughan has still made more metres than any other forward in Super League this term which tells you something about what he brings to the Wolves. Wire were also missing the suspended pair of Gil Dudson and Joe Philbin but welcomed back James Harrison. 

Ritson Makes His Mark

Makinson’s absence gave an opportunity to Tee Ritson to make just his fourth appearance since joining from Barrow Raiders. The Thai-born winger impressed, scoring his second try for the club late on but his performance was as much about what he did in defence. Many will have had worries about Ritson in this area especially in comparison to the dependable Makinson. Yet the understudy stood up to the test well. There was evidence of that early when he made a crucial tackle on Ashton. Just five minutes had gone by when the Warrington flyer was found with a little running room on his favoured left wing. Ritson was able to size him up and push him over the sideline in a manner which even Makinson could not have bettered.

Gambler Hurrell Flips The Script

The visitors had been enjoying good possession early but were hit with a classic sucker punch inside 10 minutes. For what it is now worth George Williams has just been appointed England captain by his old Wigan coach Shaun Wane but he did not get there by producing the kind of lapses which led to Saints taking the lead. As Warrington again tried to find room on the left channel Hurrell blew up their plans, intercepting Williams’ pass and rumbling 50 metres to score. It was the ex-Leeds man’s fourth try of the season and his 16th in Saints colours in 35 appearances. 

It was a gamble by Hurrell. He would not have been likely to do much about it had he failed to snaffle the pass and it had instead found its way to a Warrington hand. Yet the gamble paid off and it was ultimately a fantastic piece of opportunism from the Tongan. And you’ve got to love that about Hurrell. At times he’s a reckless chancer in the finest Saints traditions. His intervention set the tone for a fairly dominant Saints performance. With both Percival and Makinson out the goal-kicking responsibility passed on to Jon Bennison but he was unsuccessful with his first attempt.

Vintage Jonny

The 14,800+ in attendance didn’t have to wait long to see Saints build on that lead. Five minutes after Hurrell’s winning bet they were in again. A high shot by Daryl Clark on James Bell set up the position from where Lomax re-established himself over Hurrell as Saints’ leading try scorer in 2023. Hopoate had done well to maintain possession on the previous play, juggling it amid some suspiciously over-enthusiastic attention from Matt Dufty. Hopoate’s party trick enabled Lomax to take possession and step Danny Walker into next Tuesday before going over untouched for his fifth try of the season. 

It was vintage Lomax on a night which - even at this early marker - was shaping up to be a vintage Saints night. Bennison had a much simpler task with the extras this time and Saints were almost keeping up with the clock at 10-0 up after just 12 minutes. 

Things Get Better

Not content with that contribution Hopoate then set about bagging a try for himself. Jack Welsby placed a neat little dab through the Warrington defensive line and into the in-goal area where Hopoate beat both Dufty and Matty Russell to it to touch down. It was his second try of the season after opening his account in the 38-0 win over Wakefield at the end of March. 

Again Ritson had been involved, winning the field position by forcing a goal-line dropout after Ashton and Stef Ratchford had hesitated in dealing with a Lomax kick.

There are just the merest signs that Hopoate is starting to find his rhythm in this side having now appeared in each of the last five matches. That is nearly half as many as he managed in the whole of his first season with the club in 2022. Bennison was on target again with the conversion and the champions were disappearing from view at 16-0.

A Rare Defensive Lapse

Eventually Wire cleared their heads sufficiently to at least threaten to get back into the contest. First Stefan Ratchford had an opportunity snuffed out illegally by Lomax as the Saints stand-off pulled his man back. That gave Wire a penalty 10 metres out from which they took full advantage. When the dam broke it was Dufty who forced it open, finding a good looking long ball out to Russell on the right wing to enable the winger to squeeze over. Referee Jack Smith felt the need to send it upstairs to the video referee but there was never really any doubt that the former Wigan man had stayed in the field of play. An excellent touchline conversion from Ratchford cut Saints’ lead to 10 at 16-6.

Wellens’ made some interesting comments after the game about how leaving space out wide is a deliberate defensive ploy for his troops. It has certainly worked over the last few seasons under Kristian Woolf. Saints conceded an average of only 11.3 points per game during Woolf’s three regular seasons in charge. That figure has gone up to 13.4 per game in the opening weeks of Wellens’ reign but that should still be more than good enough to be able to win consistently. Clearly Saints back themselves to be able to recover in time to stop tries going in on their edges and prioritise making sure the middle of the defence is solidified. The plan went slightly awry on this occasion. That could have given Warrington the proverbial glimmer but although they would have more chances to breach the Saints line it was the last time they would trouble the scoreboard operator on the night.

Another One Off The Conveyor Belt?

Saints have been absolutely prolific in bringing young talent from the academy into the first team in the Super League era. Welsby, Makinson, Percival, Lomax, Lewis Dodd, James Roby and Knowles are all regulars who have been developed in-house. Sam Royle is another who has started the last two, while Jake Wingfield regularly makes the 17 when he is fit. Half an hour in to this one we caught the latest glimpse of perhaps the next emerging academy star as George Delaney entered proceedings. 

There were big shoes to fill with Walmsley and Paasi out but far from being unnerved by it Delaney looked comfortable throughout. He doesn’t seem big enough yet to play front row in Super League yet he carried the ball strongly all night. Eighty-one metres on 10 carries is a more than respectable stat line for the youngster who only turned 19 in February. He has now featured in the last four under Wellens. Although some of that it is a direct result of Saints’ injuries up front he looks a very good prospect. This run in the side can only be helping his development. Walmsley cannot go on forever, especially racking up the ridiculous numbers we have seen from him, so the emergence of Delaney could be timely. One to keep a close eye on.

Saints Hold Firm

Wire finished the half as they started it, enjoying a period of concerted pressure in the Saints half. Walker’s 40-20 kick was the catalyst for it. The Wolves’ hooker then threatened again with a testing grubber which was covered by Lomax. Another wave of attack followed. Williams’ kick was half stopped by Batchelor and gathered by Ben Currie. That led to Sam Kasiano going very close but he was stopped just short by a combination of Roby and Dodd. The pressure was only relieved when Walker’s pass went behind Matty Nicholson and was pounced on by Bennison.

In many ways this was the key period in the game. A Warrington try at that stage - just before half time - would potentially have brought the Saints lead down to just four points. In keeping it to a two score game Saints arguably struck a crucial psychological blow going into the break.

The Champagne Moment

The importance of that stand was illustrated just a few minutes into the second half when Saints stretched their advantage in the grand fashion. Roby, Welsby, Dodd and Lomax all got their hands on the ball in a flowing move which put Bennison in space on the outside of Russell. Dufty came over to cover but Saints’ young wing man had other plans for him. He dummied extravagantly to his inside support, a move that was bought unconditionally by the hapless Dufty. His momentum almost took him into the front row of the stand. Queue all manner of predictable gags about Dufty paying to get back in to the stadium.

With Dufty out of the equation the space opened up in front of Bennison who had a clear run to the line. He coasted over for his fourth try of the season and his 11th in 26 Saints outings. He could not tack on the two points from out wide on the left touchline but with a lead of 20-6 Wellens’ men were in a hugely commanding position. 

He may only have made 26 senior appearances but Bennison looked every inch the veteran on the try-scoring play. It’s hard to think of too many wingers - even the more experienced ones - in Super League who would have had the presence of mind to try such an audacious dummy and then have the skills to execute it. He looks set for a more active role than being stuck out on the wing as his career develops. 

Another Close Call

You may remember a game against Catalans Dragons at Newcastle’s Magic Weekend in September 2021. It is one which still sends shivers down the spine of all Saints fans. An 18-point lead was somehow frittered away in the final five minutes, culminating in Kasiano somehow pouching an attacking bomb and dotting it down to take the game into golden point extra time. Once there, James Maloney’s drop-goal completed the turnaround as the Dragons got home by a point.

Memories of that came flooding back when Kasiano almost stung Saints again with half an hour to go in this one. The opportunity came about thanks to a slightly iffy call from Smith. Greg Minikin appeared to lose possession into Bennison yet Smith ruled that it had been the Saints man who had knocked on. That set up the position from where Kasiano again went tantalisingly close. He was just hauled down short by Welsby, Lees and Hurrell yet made the fatal mistake of trying to promote the ball over the line with a second movement. Smith could have chosen to have the incident reviewed but instead made a brave live call to penalise the former Dragons prop for a double movement. He was right too, as the TV replays showed. Whether it goes Saints way or not I find it refreshing to see referees back their own judgement. I’m not a huge fan of everything being reviewed and scrutinised to the nth degree. Yet the level of risk in spurning the use of technology is high, as Rob Hicks found out in another famous meeting between these two sides at Wembley in 2019. 

Smith’s was a call which was not only brave but crucial. And unlike that of Hicks four years ago it was correct. A score there would have got Warrington back in with a shout. As it was there was a feeling even at that point that everything would be alright and that Warrington were running out of chances. Their increasing desperation was underlined when Ratchford attempted a miraculous behind the back pass out to Ashton which rolled harmlessly over the touchline. 

The Kill Shot

That feeling of security was enhanced with a quarter of an hour left. Lees had gone close earlier when chasing a seemingly lost cause of a kick, and was denied again on this occasion by Dufty. Yet the methods used by the fullback had been illegal. Lees was over the line and fighting to ground the ball when it was stolen by the Wire fullback with other Wolves defenders hanging on in the tackle. There was some suggestion that Dufty had not realised that he was not entitled to steal the ball from an opponent over the try line as the NRL permits that action. That gave Saints an easy opportunity to add two points from in front of the posts. Joey Lussick - now on alongside Roby who had switched to loose forward - took over the responsibility from Bennison and Saints led 22-6.

The Cherry On Top

That score seemed to squeeze any remaining air out of the Warrington balloon. The exclamation point on the victory came late on when Ritson added his name to the list of try scorers. He went in on the right wing after an outstanding flick pass from Hurrell. Lussick landed a very good looking conversion from the right hand touchline to put a touch of gloss on a deserved win. It capped what was undoubtedly Saints best performance of the season domestically. It didn’t quite match the intensity of the World Club Challenge win over Penrith but it showed that - despite some underwhelming results and performances in 2023 -  this is a Saints side which can still mix it with anything that Super League has to offer. 

Even more remarkably they did it while using only 15 of the 17 players on duty. Wellens chose not to use either Lewis Baxter or Wesley Bruines which is rare in the modern game. And bad news for the next coach who wants to offer the loss of one or two interchange players as an excuse for failing to get a result. 

The Stats Bit

With a very makeshift pack on duty you might not expect Saints to have gained the same amount of ground as they would with everyone available. What you might not expect is that all five of the men who topped the 100 metre mark were backs. Hurrell led the way with 169 followed by Welsby (137). Both Hopoate and Bennison had 122 and Lomax 120. Ritson went close with 95. The best effort in the forwards was the 92 made by Lees. Royle added 85 and there was Delaney’s 81.

The Wolves struggled to fill the Vaughan-shaped hole to such an extent that only one player managed the century. And that was winger Russell with 123. The next best effort was Minikin’s 99 while the top forward was Walker on 89. 

Saints’ top tackler was Lees with 34 with Roby just one behind on 33. There was more defensive work for Wire, who could have done with five more with Walker’s work rate. He made 47 tackles to go with his metre-making, while Josh McGuire had 35 and Nicholson 32.

Saints kept their error count below their season average, coughing it up just eight times compared with Warrington’s 12. Meanwhile Hurrell produced half of Saints’ six offloads. Only Wigan’s Toby King and Huddersfield’s Esan Marsters have made more in Super League this year. Powell’s teams are known for keeping the ball alive but were restricted to only five.

Next Up

In a word…nothing. Not this week at any rate. Super League takes a break for a mid-season international between England and France at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. Eight of Wellens’ squad were selected by Wane but at the time of writing only Welsby has a chance of playing as the other seven have been withdrawn. And even Welsby is working on getting a note from his mum. There are suggestions that Catalans Dragons and Toulouse will also pull their players out of the French squad. So an already unappetising fixture has pretty much descended into farce. 

Saints will hopefully be taking French opposition much more seriously the following weekend when they go to Perpignan to face the fourth-placed Dragons. A fortnight of inactivity might help both sides get some bodies back into the frame for selection even if it does diddly squat for the international game. But that’s rugby league. Barf on about how much we need the international game and then run a mile when somebody has the temerity to arrange an actual fixture.

A Saints win would lift them above Catalans on points difference. And they would still have that game in hand on most other sides. Top four with more than half the season to play, anyone?

I told you it wasn’t a crisis.

Saints: Welsby, Ritson, Hurrell, Hopoate, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Roby, Lees, Royle, Batchelor, Bell. Interchanges: Delaney, Lussick, Baxter, Bruines.

Warrington: Dufty, Russell, Minikin, Ratchford, Ashton, Williams, Drinkwater, Harrison, Walker, McGuire, Currie, Nicholson, Clark. Interchanges: Kasiano, Mata’utia, Thewlis, Green

Saints v Warrington Wolves - Preview

It’s a misfiring, injury-ravaged Saints who prepare for the visit of league leading Warrington Wolves on Thursday night (April 20, kick-off 8.00pm).

Paul Wellens won a world title in his first competitive game as Saints Head Coach but it has been a difficult start to the domestic campaign. After conquering Penrith Panthers in Sydney the four-in-a-row Super League champions have won only four of their first eight outings in the latest defence of their crown. Not great form with which to take on a rejuvenated Warrington in their second season under Daryl Powell. The Wolves reeled off eight wins in a row to start 2023, only suffering their first defeat when Wigan came to town and left with a 13-6 win last time out.

Wellens can point to a glut of injuries in the pack as mitigation for his side’s iffy form. Only two of the regular six starting forwards were on deck for last week’s 26-14 reverse at Hull KR and it is a similar story this week. Despite the boost offered by the return to the 21-man squad of Joe Batchelor there is still almost an entire pack missing. 

Batchelor has not played since the Grand Final win over Leeds Rhinos all the way back in September but is in contention once more following his recovery from ankle surgery. He replaces Jake Wingfield who sustained a head knock at Rovers. That this is the only change to Wellens’ selection at least suggests continuity. Yet Batchelor’s return will not be made easier by the absence of Alex Walmsley, Sione Mata’utia, Curtis Sironen and Agnatius Paasi through injury as well as the still suspended Morgan Knowles. Wellens would no doubt make five or six more changes if he could.

As it is we are again likely to see Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook start in the front row alongside Matty Lees and James Roby. The skipper’s fitness was a concern after he only played 25 minutes at Rovers but he is included in the selection. Joey Lussick enjoyed big minutes against Willie Peters’ side and stands by as ever. If Batchelor is fit enough he should come straight back into the second row with perhaps Sam Royle and James Bell completing that back three. 

The backs are in much better health, physically at least. Will Hopoate has shattered his personal best at Saints by managing to appear in four straight games in recent weeks. He was operating at centre at Sewell Group Craven Park as Mark Percival was asked to fill in at second row. Online rumours of a hamstring problem for Percival make it likely that - if he can stay fit - Hopoate will continue in that role. If he does then expect Jon Bennison to stay in the side in a three-quarter line also featuring Tommy Makinson and Konrad Hurrell. 

A combination of some average form and speculation about his future has seen some fans calling for Lewis Dodd to be left out. That school of thought advocates Jack Welsby moving into the halves alongside Jonny Lomax with Bennison operating at fullback and Tee Ritson coming in on the wing. Wellens has addressed the Dodd stories with the straightest of bats. You know the sort of thing? He’s still a Saints player, we can’t do anything about speculation, my job is to get the best out of the players including Lewis. These comments do not suggest that Wellens is ready to freeze the young half out at the moment. 

Beyond the starting thirteen there is a lack of experience available to Wellens. Yes there is Lussick, and prop George Delaney is in line for a Hopoate-esque fourth consecutive first team outing. But the rest of the squad is made up of youth in the shape of Lewis Baxter, Dan Hill, McKenzie Buckley and Wesley Bruines.

Perhaps we can take encouragement from the fact that Warrington have problems of their own in the pack. The headline is that Paul Vaughan picked up a one-match ban for a fashionable but nevertheless grubby hip drop against Wigan and misses out. The former St George-Illawarra and Canterbury man has transformed the Wolves’ front row in the early weeks of the season. He is the top metre maker in Super League so far in 2023 and his go-forward will be missed. 

Powell also has two more props suspended. Joe Philbin serves the second of his two-game ban for dangerous contact in the Easter win over Catalans Dragons while Gil Dudson will be missing for a few more weeks yet after picking up a five-match ban for a quite ludicrous punch on Dragons winger Tom Johnstone in the same game. 

Influential hooker Daryl Clark is included despite the attempts of Wigan grub Kai Pearce-Paul to turn him into a human wishbone. James Harrison returns after injury but there will be a lot on the shoulders of unpredictable giant Sam Kasiano and maybe even Josh McGuire, though the latter has managed only two appearances since making the switch from St George-Illawarra. Ben Currie and Matty Nicholson are currently forming a more than handy second row behind which McGuire operated against Matty Peet’s side.

Like Saints Warrington will be much happier with their back division. George Williams is leading the way in the Steve Prescott Man Of Steel standings and has been further boosted by receiving the England captaincy from coach Shaun Wane. Well…he is his grandad, isn’t he? Fact check that somebody. Josh Drinkwater has also been excellent in Wire’s hot start so you’d have to favour their halfback combination over that of Saints on current form. And neither of them are talking about leaving yet which always helps keep things harmonious. 

There is speed in abundance in the back line in the shape of another ex-St George man Matt Dufty at fullback and in winger Matty Ashton. Stef Ratchford remains a solid performer even at centre but quite how Peter Mata’utia continues to hold down a regular slot in a table-topping team is one of life’s great imponderables. Like how is Pearce-Paul not banned until 2027?

It was awfully close last time these two met in May last year despite the fact that Warrington were in the middle of one of their worst ever Super League campaigns. Tries from Makinson and Walmsley helped edge Saints home 12-10 at the Halliwell Jones. When Powell’s men visited St Helens two months earlier in March they could only manage a solitary penalty goal as another Makinson double added to tries from Welsby, Percival and Lomax gave Saints a dominant 28-2 win. Warrington’s last win at Saints was a tight, low scoring affair. On that occasion it was Saints who could only manage a penalty goal as Lachlan Coote notched their only points in a 6-2 reverse in June 2021. The whole of Warrington celebrated. Saints still won the Grand Final.

Whether or not this is Warrington’s year (it’s not) they still look favourite for this one. The loss of Vaughan is a major blow but on balance the Wolves probably still have more in the pack than your decimated champions, and that is what tends to decide matches at this level. You never write off the Saints but it would be a surprise given not only their injuries but also their underwhelming form if they were to pull this one off.

Squads;

St Helens;

1.Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Will Hopoate, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 12. Joe Batchelor, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 19. James Bell, 22. Sam Royle, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Lewis Baxter, 25. Tee Ritson, 26. Dan Hill , 30. George Delaney, 33. McKenzie Buckley, 34. Wesley Bruines

Warrington Wolves;

Matty Ashton, Daryl Clark, Ben Currie, Josh Drinkwater, Matt Dufty, Lucas Green, James Harrison, Leon Hayes, Sam Kasiano, Josh Lynch, Josh McGuire, Peter Mata’utia, Greg Minikin, Matty Nicholson, Stefan Ratchford, Matty Russell, Josh Thewlis, Luke Thomas, Danny Walker, Tom Whitehead, George Williams.

Referee: Jack Smith

Hull KR 26 Saints 14 - Review

A depleted, ever so slightly floundering Saints suffered a fourth defeat in eight Super League outings with this 26-14 reverse to Rovers at Sewell Group Craven Park.

It was a second consecutive loss for Paul Wellens’ men after last week’s 14-6 derby disappointment at Wigan. It’s also a result which leaves Saints a lowly eighth in the Super League table albeit with a game in hand on all but one of the sides above them. Defeat at home to league-leading Warrington Wolves this Thursday (April 20) would leave the four-in-a-row champions 10 points behind the Wolves a third into the season. In terms of defending the League Leaders Shield it would probably not be our year at that point.

By contrast Rovers’ good form has seen them leap up to third. Only the Wolves and Wigan are looking down on Willie Peters’ side now as they continue the improvement made under previous coach Tony Smith. This win was the Robins’ fourth in a row with Wakefield, Leeds and Hull FC - now under the guidance of Smith - having all left encounters with Rovers empty handed in recent weeks. Their last defeat was a 26-12 loss at Catalans Dragons in mid-March.

The Team News

There’s little doubt that Peters’ side were helped by the team selection forced upon Wellens. The new coach and legendary former fullback was without no fewer than four of his six regular starting forwards and two more key pack men off the bench in Curtis Sironen and Agnatius Paasi. Alex Walmsley is out with a hamstring problem while Sione Mata’utia suffered a second concussion in as many games at Wigan. Morgan Knowles served the first of his five-match ban for an alleged hip drop on Mike Cooper which the disciplinary panel decided was instrumental in the former Warrington prop suffering a season ending injury. To top all of this off Joe Batchelor is still out following ankle surgery. All of which left just skipper James Roby and prop Matty Lees in their regular starting roles up front. 

To solve this very probably unsolvable problem Wellens had to get creative. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook made a rare start to complete the front row beside the remaining regulars while Sam Royle came into the second row for only his sixth start in his 13 Saints appearances to date. He was partnered by Mark Percival, switched from left centre in a move that had many fretting about the fragile body of the man who turns 29 in less than a fortnight. But worry not. Percival played for Saints under Kristian Woolf and now Wellens. He - like all of our outside backs - is often used as a battering ram in any case. There may have been justified concerns about the increased defensive load but in attack Percival’s brief would be very similar. James Bell was the man chosen to fill Knowles’ shoes at loose forward. 

With Percival deployed elsewhere Will Hopoate moved inside to the centres and Jon Bennison made his first appearance since the 14-12 win at Huddersfield on March 23. Hopoate was making his fourth consecutive start, a streak twice as long as his next best effort since joining at the start of 2022. The rest of the back division remained unaltered with Jack Welsby at fullback, Tommy Makinson on the right wing and Konrad Hurrell partnering fellow Tongan Hopoate in the centres. Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd continued their halfback combination though it seems that the latter’s ordinary form could be due to a mind that is elsewhere as much as any perceived restrictions placed on him by Wellens.

It may be negative but I suspect most knowledgable Saints fans feared the worst for this one as soon as the 21-man squads were named 48 hours before kick-off. If winning was not quite Mission Impossible then it was as close as makes little difference. Mission Highly Improbable. The standard of Super League may not be to the taste of endless bleating NRL aficionados but that doesn’t mean you can rock up with no pack and be confident of beating a Rovers side that is now full of quality. And so it proved despite the fact that Saints were probably the better side for large swathes of the first half without ever really threatening to send the scoreboard operator into a spin.

The Dodd Situation

Talk of the NRL brings us back to Dodd. For now he is the creative fulcrum. If he doesn’t play well then the whole of the attack suffers. And wouldn’t you just know it…? He’s not playing very well. You have to allow for the fact that he is only recently back from a serious injury and maybe there is an element of Wellens keeping the shackles on and - some say - applying them a shade tighter than even Woolf had. Yet Dodd’s performances must be due in some part at least to the moves he is making behind the scenes to get out of Super League and out of Saints. He hasn’t gone down the Luis Suarez route of biting anyone yet but watch this space. Last week we heard that he had signed with an NRL agency and tasked them with finding a club for when his Saints contract runs out at the end of 2024. Now we hear that Dodd has informed the Saints hierarchy - in particular tribunal bothering CEO Mike Rush - that he will definitely leave the club at the end of that contract. So can we infer from that information that Dodd’s agency has found him a club? Or at least an offer or two? I doubt very much that he would burn his bridges otherwise.

The whole thing has echoes of Kyle Eastmond’s Saints exit. Albeit without the v-signs and the bird-flipping. Both are talented halves who seemingly chose to move on before they have really achieved anything at Super League level. Both have shouted their intentions loudly from the rooftops well in advance. There is bound to be a faction of the support which takes umbrage at this approach and makes their feelings known. And if a deal has been done or is imminent then it is almost impossible to devote 100% of your focus to the club you are moving on from until that move takes place. It’s potentially a weird sort of limbo. There is a good argument for moving on from Dodd sooner rather than later if he really has made other plans beyond 2024. And not just because Jack Welsby isn’t exactly putting on a clinic at fullback at the present time.

A Fleeting Glimpse Of Flair

Back to Sewell Group Craven Park where Saints took the lead after a tight opening. It was a fantastic movement which was something of a poke in the eye for those who say Wellens has made the side more conservative. Roby, Lomax and Percival combined to find Hopoate in the left channel. His dummy to Bennison on his outside was a thing of beauty before he was then able to find Lomax on his inside with a free run to the line. Playing in the back row doesn’t stop Percival kicking goals and he added the extras for a 6-0 lead.

This was the undoubted highlight of the Saints performance. You might say that they peaked early. Like Macauley Culkin or Musical Youth. Had Bennison not been forced touch in-goal soon after Wellens side might have grown in confidence enough to go on with it. Instead it was Rovers who were next to get on the board. They wasted on opportunity when Parcell made an error at the play-the-ball 20 metres out. But on their next raid Mikey Lewis’ lob had the usually assured Makinson in a flap. It needed a combination of Lomax and Welsby to bat it dead to concede a goal-line dropout. That gave only temporary respite as in the resultant set Parcell and Abdull combined to give Lewis the opportunity to go over for Rovers’ first try. With support on his left he feinted to pass before easing over. Almost in the way that we have seen Dodd demonstrate in the past. That version of Dodd existed not too long ago but right now it feels like a long time since he played with that freedom. Or apparently that commitment. Lachlan Coote is a triple Grand Final winner with Saints but was not about to take pity on his old friends, slotting over the extras to tie the game at 6-6.

Stubborn Resistance

Yet it wasn’t the Lewis try which broke Saints. At that point they were still well in the game. This was underlined when they went back in front.  Still considering expansiveness as a viable option, Saints could have added a second try when Lomax put Hurrell away down the right. He kicked ahead for Makinson but an awkward bounce forced the winger to put boot to ball also. He was then surprisingly beaten to it by Abdull who was relieved to concede the dropout. 

There was another opportunity from a series of dropouts forced by Saints but Roby uncharacteristically failed to spot that a scoring pass to Jake Wingfield might have been on. It was a strange evening for Roby who gave way to Joey Lussick fairly early on in proceedings. Hopefully that was not due to injury but instead a decision by Wellens to protect the skipper. Or else to just try something different with Lussick who would surely have many more minutes under his belt were he not understudy to one of the genuine greats of the Super League era. 

So instead of adding another four or six Saints had to settle for nudging ahead by only two. Matty Storton came up with a sloppy handling error to gift Saints the field position and when Parcell was penalised for a ball steal it provided Percival with the straightforward task of notching his second goal of the game.

Discipline Starts To Crumble

Whatever your thoughts are on the latest Knowles suspension row it is difficult to deny that an inability to stay within the rules has been costing Saints this season. No side has received more than the one red and four yellow cards dished out to the men in the red vee so far in 2023.  There was further evidence of this ongoing flaw in the champions’ make-up as they allowed Rovers back on level terms. 

Firstly George King was taken high before Lees approached the task of stopping Storton with a little too much vigour. Despite the claims of some the available clip does not seem to prove that the challenge was carried out with the shoulder or that it involved any contact with the head. What it does demonstrate fairly clearly is recklessness from Lees. As Lees walked off to serve his time in the sin-bin Coote accepted the gift 30 metres out and the scores were level again at 8-8.

To my mind Lees has to do better in this situation. He knew that along with Roby - who as we have seen didn’t last all that long - he was one of only two regular pack starters on duty. He cannot afford to be getting himself sat down for 10 minutes. Just make the tackle. It is not necessary to put Storton in the stand. What is the thought process? An attempt at intimidation? To show how hard you’re trying? Lees is an international player now and needs to set an example. The days when you could forgive his over-enthusiasm turning into recklessness when he first broke into the team are over. We can bleat at referees and offer up crackpot conspiracy theories all we like. We need to be more disciplined especially in the current personnel crisis. Actions like Lees’ are a serious hindrance.

Fortunately for Lees and for us the disciplinary panel has spun the wheel of justice and decided that Lees will not serve a suspension. Which is handy when you’ve got more injured forwards than fit ones.

Another Kick In The Head

Coote’s penalty goal was the last action of the opening half.  The second half introduced itself politely before taking another big boot to Saints’ metaphorical nether regions. Wingfield - who was only just returning after a month-long absence - left the scene after appearing to collide with one or both of Royle and Bell while attempting to make a tackle. It was getting to the point at which Wellens might have asked for volunteers to play in the pack from the Saints fans on the terraces. 

Downtown…where all the lights are bright…

Now…who knows what a downtown penalty is? I must admit that I didn’t before referee Ben Thaler pinned one on Saints here. I have since discovered that a player is ‘downtown’ if he or she is in front of the kicker in general play and then goes past the point of the previous play-the-ball before the ball passes him or her. Is that clear? Me neither. Petula Clarke never had this sort of trouble downtown. Everything was great there.

I am not about to suggest that Thaler made the wrong call but what I will say is that I can’t remember ever seeing this called before in nearly 40 years watching the game.  That we should get hit with it now - in this game and in the current injury crisis and form slump - is entirely in keeping with how things are going. I should think next week we will get pulled up for feeding the scrum or not playing the ball with the foot. After which Lees will receive a four-game ban for whistling on a Tuesday.

A downtown penalty is one of those which are given away while in possession. A cardinal sin for any side let alone the four-in-a-row Super League and current world champions. And of course it lead to a Rovers try. Lewis was again the scorer, latching on to Abdull’s grubber to touch down. There was a suspicion that the Robins halfback may have ran around the back of Sam Luckley in the build-up but it was the sort of call you can only hope to get if the game is on TV. 

The obstruction rule is an entirely different beast without the presence of the broadcaster and it is unlikely that Thaler even considered disallowing it. Part of me is glad about that. Pedantic obstruction calls have ruined many a televised game as talk of inside and outside shoulders no doubt boggles the mind of the casual viewer until they switch over for Emmerdale. But boy…could we have done with getting that call. As it was the try stood and Coote’s goal gave the home side a 14-8 lead.

Old Boy Twists The Knife

He’s not the reason we’re eighth in the league this season but Coote did manage to inflict a fair amount of damage on Saints soon after. There was a period in which both sides completed well and in Abdull and Dodd took it in turns to launch bombs at opposing wingers and fullbacks, all of whom stood up well to the test. Saints blinked first, wasting an opportunity given to them when Jez Litten came in late on Lomax. It was Royle whose handling let him down just when Saints were looking threatening in Rovers territory. 

That freed up Peters’ men to serve up their champagne moment of the match and all but put the child-proof cap on the win. It was our esteemed former fullback twisting the knife. The hosts produced a thrilling, flowing move down their left in which all of Abdull, Lewis, Kane Linnett and debutant Corey Hall got hands on the ball. Just as the latter was about to be dragged into the front row of the stand he hurled the ball back in play in a fashion which was in truth slightly desperate.

Yet his luck was in. Abdull latched on to it and threw it back inside. At which point Lussick threw out an instinctive hand to try to stop the pass finding a red shirt but succeeded only in parrying it back into his own in-goal area. It was a gift for Coote who beat everybody else to it to touch down for the score which all but killed the game. When he got up to pop over two more points the win seemed even more assured for his side who now led 20-8. 

Game Over

Chances were becoming rare for Saints and when they did get one they set fire to it spectacularly. They were within range as back to back high shots by Rovers had them defending their own line. Yet Dodd’s simple pass to Lees was put down by the prop. A quite amateurish moment which served as a metaphor for the absolute state we seem to be in at the moment. 

Rovers didn’t need asking twice to march down the field, putting a little sauce on the top of their victory when Litten was first to Parcell’s neat kick into the in-goal area. Another Coote goal stretched the home side’s advantage to 26-8 and condemned Saints to a first defeat to the Robins since 2015. 

Scant Consolation

Coote is human, and he proved it by making the proverbial dog’s dinner of Makinson’s short restart. That lead to a period of Saints pressure in the Rovers half which the Robins struggled to deal with. Corey Hall flapped at another Dodd grubber before Rovers were caught offside on the first play from the restart. That allowed Lussick to crash over from dummy half for his seventh try in Saints colours. Which when you consider he has only made 10 starts in his 41 appearances is a decent strike rate. Another Percival goal closed the gap to 26-14.

A comeback never seemed that likely even though there were further chances for the visitors. Makinson was bundled into touch by Coote and Dodd was repelled when he could possibly have found Hopoate or Tee Ritson in space on the left. Yet for the most part Rovers were happy to concede a few penalties and run down a bit of clock before the hooter confirmed their winning pay. Is that still a thing?

Are The Problems Tactical?

Frequent social media users may have noticed the insidious beginnings of an anti-Wellens movement among sections of the fans. On the back of four consecutive Super League crowns and a world title they are smart enough not to be shouting too loud, but there is certainly disquiet about the way that things are going post-Woolf. 

I must concede there have been some games during which I have worried that our attacking game-plan might not be up to the job of continuing that winning run. At Leigh we pitched a tent and lit a barbecue in the Leopards’ half without ever really threatening to press home that territorial advantage and turn it into enough points to win. Eventually, inevitably, we were bitten on the backside. 

Yet I’m not sure that accusation can be levelled at the team in this one. They were arguably in an impossible situation given the absentees yet managed to have much the better of that first half and produce some enterprising stuff. The Lomax try in particular was a joy. For my money the difference between the style of play under Wellens and that under serial winner Woolf is just that. Winning. Most fans only tend to worry about aesthetics if the methods are not producing wins. It was this that did for Keiron Cunningham. However, Wellens has coached nine competitive matches. His job should not be under discussion nor any great scrutiny. It is just possible that this is a squad which could do with some regeneration and that it may have encountered some of these bumps in the road even if Woolf had chosen to stay on.

Despite the grumbling in the background this is not a crisis. I can’t remember the last time Saints were as low as eighth in the league but there are mitigating factors as we have seen. Besides, even if there were not - if eighth was the sum total of the achievements of a fully fit squad at this stage - there would still be no cause for panic. The six-team playoff format and the fact that the Grand Final winner takes it all leave Wellens with plenty of time and opportunity to turn this ship around. 

The Stats Bit

Nothing illustrates the weakness of the available Saints pack like the fact that Lees was the only member of it to gain more than 100 metres. Yet even his 110-metre effort was dwarfed by Hurrell’s 141 as he was again the most dangerous ball carrier as he had been at Wigan. The centre was a menace to the Rovers defence seemingly whenever he received possession. Percival had a crack in his unfamiliar position and managed a credible 98 metres of his own.

Rovers fared no better in this department as a combination of errors and solid defence held sway. Linnett was the Robins’ top forward with 96 metres while only the two Halls - Ryan and Corey - topped a century with 153 and 118 respectively.

Bell and Lees took the bulk of Saints’ defensive workload with the former leading the way with 42 tackles and the latter close behind on 40. Nobody else hit 30 for Saints but with Knowles absent and Roby used more sparingly perhaps that’s no surprise. An honourable mention to Lomax who juggled his role as the main attacking brain with a 27-tackle stint going the other way. Linnett and Parcell were involved in 37 each for Rovers while Elliot Minchella and Dean Hadley both managed 35.

Saints made only nine errors compared with 12 committed by the hosts. That is right about the average per game in 2023 for both sides. However those figures are quite low when you consider that there were so few offloads. Rovers average around nine per game but managed only five. Saints are a 10 per game outfit but their tally of four is perhaps evidence of a more cautious approach. Certainly of a less confident one.

Next Up…

So we have four wins and four losses from our eight games. We are at what American sports broadcasters would annoyingly call ‘500’. That’s a 50% win/loss record to you and me. So what would you least like to happen now? How about a visit from the league leading Warrington Wolves on Thursday night (April 20)? 

Wire’s bid to remain invincible went down in flames on Friday night as Wigan left the Halliwell Jones with a 13-6 win. Even amid the noise around one or two dodgy interpretations of what constitutes grounding the ball for a try it is difficult to make a case that Daryl Powell’s side were hard done by. Wigan were deserved winners, casting doubt on whether it is Warrington’s year after all. 

Like Saints the Wolves have their problems in the forward pack going into this week’s clash. Chief among which is the suspension handed to Paul Vaughan this week. Vaughan has been arguably the form prop in Super League in 2023 since making the move from Canterbury Bulldogs, yet they will have to get by without him for this one. As well as that Joe Philbin will serve the second of his two-match suspension following the win at Catalans over Easter, while Gil Dudson sits out the second of five matches he was handed for his senseless punch on a prone Tom Johnstone in the same game.

It looks set to be something of a phoney war in the trenches then with Saints set to still be without some major pack presence. Knowles remains suspended and Mata’utia will doubtless need more time after his head knocks. There is a squeak of a chance that Batchelor could return but hamstring problems are still likely to keep out Walmsley and Sironen. 

A win would be a huge confidence booster for Saints, injecting some much needed belief into certain sections of the fan base. Yet I have to level with you and say that it doesn’t look all that likely. Things may get worse before they get better. Now is the time to keep the faith, however. Nothing is won or lost in April. Not in this system. 

Hull KR;

Coote, Kenny-Dowall, Opacic, C Hall, R Hall, Lewis, Abdull, Kennedy, Parcell, King, Hadley, Linnett, Minchella. Interchanges: Litten, Storton, Luckley, Halton

Saints:

Welsby, Makinson, Hurrell, Hopoate, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Lees, Roby, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Percival, Royle, Bell. Interchanges: Lussick, Wingfield, Delaney, Ritson

Referee: Ben Thaler