There remains much to think about for Saints Head Coach Paul Wellens after a hardly dazzling 26-6 win over Halifax Panthers at The Shay on Friday night (May 19).
Safe passage to the last eight of the Challenge Cup never looked in any serious doubt, but there will be much for the champions to mull over in the debrief.
The Team News
Wellens surprised this observer when he named a pretty strong 21-man squad 48 hours before the game. He was without the suspended pair of Matty Lees and Curtis Sironen and chose also to do without 532-game record breaker James Roby. Yet it was otherwise about as strong a selection as it could have been.
With a couple of vacancies created in the front row the Saints boss took the opportunity to welcome back Agnatius Paasi after an ankle injury and Joey Lussick who was only selected as 18th man for last week’s home win over Salford. Morgan Knowles came back in after a five-game suspension and was initially named at prop. He would make most of the headlines. For now his positional move meant that Saints other 37 year-old - Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook - got the week off.
Also back was Sione Mata’utia after a series of concussion issues. He slotted into Sironen’s second row berth alongside Joe Batchelor. There were no changes in the backs which meant that Wesley Bruines again missed out on that elusive debut. With no Konrad Hurrell Will Hopoate continued to partner Ben Davies in the centres with Tee Ritson preferred on the wing to Jon Bennison. The latter had to again settle for a spot on the bench. To the disappointment of some Wellens continues to show no sign that he will take Lewis Dodd out of the line-up and move Jack Welsby alongside Jonny Lomax in the halves. Welsby was able to move to 6 late in the game when Lomax went for a Head Injury Assessment (HIA). That was not what those disappointed fans had in mind.
The Game Story
Saints almost made a fast start. Just five minutes had elapsed when James Bell - retained at loose forward from the outset despite the presence of Knowles - burrowed over following Alex Walmsley’s offload. As offloads go it was a scruffy looking thing from the ex-Batley man. But it wasn’t that which scuppered Bell’s claims to a four-pointer. Instead the video referee ruled that he had been held up. Yet the manner of the attempt set the tone for Saints’ attack on the night. Short yardage, one man efforts took precedence over the kind Fancy Dan stuff that seems to appal modern coaches.
In any event there was only a two minute wait for a try which counted. When it arrived it was Lussick, barging over from dummy half for his eighth try in Saints colours in 44 appearances. It would be followed later by his ninth. Tommy Makinson couldn’t add the two points but with Saints ahead early hopes may have been high that the floodgates would open. The champions went close to bagging a second short yardage try inside the first 15 minutes but Mata’utia lost possession of the ball trying to reach out and ground it under pressure from centre Ben Tibbs and hooker Brandon Moore.
Jake Wingfield doesn’t score many tries. In fact the one which added to Saints’ modest lead on 25 minutes was his first in 37 appearances since his debut against Salford in October 2020. From that point of view he could care less about points for artistic merit. It’s hard to be too critical of him for that. When you haven’t yet established yourself as a regular in the 17 and when you are repeatedly referred to by coaches and now fans as a middle rather than having a specific position then I guess you’ll take anything that comes your way. You just want to help, right? He did so by taking Lussick’s pass close to the line and barging over in the kind of no nonsense style that would have played well in a John Smith’s advert since some time ago. This time Makinson found his range and the lead was a double figure one at 10-0.
The most attractive Saints try of the night came within a minute of Wingfield’s effort. And it was Makinson on the end of the scoring pass, this time from Welsby. Walmsley had put a dint in the Fax defence with a typically insistent charge upfield, setting up the position from where Lussick, Lomax and Welsby combined to put Makinson in space on his familiar right edge. Help was arriving so the England winger simply stepped inside the sliding defenders and dived over. It was his 173rd try for Saints in 299 appearances. He then got up off the floor to land his second conversion in quick succession.
It was a brief salvo from Saints. Not quite the 15-minute, four-try blitz that had done for Salford six days previously. But at 16-0 and - with all due and all that - playing against a team from a lower league the argument was basically over. The odds of a Halifax comeback at this point would have persuaded Sheffield Wednesday to pack up and go home. From now it was only really about the margin of victory and the quality of performance.
Yet Halifax weren’t just looking on passively amid these occasional Saints scores. They enjoyed a very good spell in Saints territory immediately after Makinson’s try when he couldn’t gather the Panthers’ attempt at a short kick-off. Initially they forced a goal-line dropout when Welsby won a race with Tibbs and kicked the ball dead. Then Simon Grix’s side came even closer when fullback James Woodburn-Hall claimed to be first to the ball after Tibbs had kicked ahead into the Saints in-goal area. Referee Liam Moore again asked the video referee to confirm but the evidence showed that Woodburn-Hall had been offside from the kick.
Saints came out keen after half-time and scored within two minutes of the restart. Halifax prop Adam Tangata was deemed to have lost it in the tackle of Wingfield, Batchelor and Hopoate. From there Scotland international Lachlan Walmsley - one of the fastest men in the Championship and a man routinely tipped to play at a higher level - knocked down Welsby’s attempted pass to Makinson. Walmsley’s intervention saved a try but it was really only a delay.
In the ensuing set Welsby ran across the face of the Halifax defensive line looking like he had no more idea of what he was going to do than they did. He dummied to Batchelor. He dummied to Hopoate. And finally he dummied to Makinson. At which point he had confused the defenders enough to be able to just straighten up his run and glide over untouched. Makinson damaged his kicking percentages with a second miss of the night but was hardly flustered as his side led 20-0.
Fax briefly threatened again but Tibbs failed to take Woodburn-Hall’s inside pass 10 metres from the Saints line. The chance had been carved out by Louis Jouffret, who was taking on much of the creative burden for the home side having lost his halfback partner Joe Keyes to injury in the first half. Jouffret was making a good fist of it but he and his entire set of team-mates could not seem to shake off the air of a team which knew it was outclassed and whose main goal was to avoid being obliterated. They were successful enough in that regard.
Jouffret had nothing to do with his side’s next, very presentable opportunity. Eribe Dobo crafted it all by himself. He charged down a Lomax clearance inside Saints’ half and set off in pursuit of the loose ball as it sped toward the visitors’ line. Dodd was one of a clutch of Saints defenders in pursuit which seemed enough to spook the Panthers man. Instead of cutting his losses and falling on the ball in what would have been very useful field position he decided instead to hack the ball on further towards the try line. That was all the help Dodd needed to easily win the race to the ball and avert the danger.
Further chances came and went. Zack McComb could only find touch with a pass meant for Lachlan Walmsley at the end of a zany movement which involved at least one hopeful kick and two desperate offloads. Then Makinson was called on to put his opposite winger Lachlan Walmsley into touch with a textbook tackle.
Eventually the giant awoke from its slumber long enough to enjoy a sustained period of pressure of their own. First Alex Walmsley found Lussick’s pass too hot to handle inside the Panthers 10 metre line before a high shot by Moore on Bell set up another chance for the red vee. Fax winger James Saltonstall delayed things as Lachlan Walmsley had before with a knock down of Welsby’s attempted pass to Ritson. Yet Saints were able to keep the pressure on and when Bell was held up over the line Lussick went over from dummy half on the very next play. It was ugly, but it worked. Makinson’s conversion worked too and Saints led 26-0.
Just seven minutes from time Halifax got off the duck egg on the scoreboard. They were gifted possession when Ritson stepped past two defenders but forgot to keep the ball with him as he hared off towards the Championship side’s try line. In the next set Jouffret put back rower Matty Gee through a hole and he handed it inside to Jacob Fairbank on his left shoulder to cross under the posts. It was arguably deserved for their endeavour and was improved from in front by Jouffret to give us our final score of 26-6.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. In fact the previous 1600 words of this piece were very much a subplot to the main thread. That being the dismissal of Knowles 30 seconds from the end for a reckless high shot on Tom Inman. He had come on to fill in at halfback following the injury to Irish international Keyes. More on this debacle to come.
A Stale, Subdued Attack
First a few thoughts on the performance. It wasn’t terrible. In fact it wasn’t remarkable in any way except for the surprisingly - arguably alarmingly - modest amount of good ball and territory enjoyed by Saints especially in the second half. Either they were content to let Halifax into the game with full confidence in their defence or Saints struggled to pose enough questions of their opponents to consistently keep them defending or coming out of their own 20 in possession.
There’s an over reliance on Walmsley for go-forward so far in 2023 and it was evident here. As were the continued struggles of Dodd and - with the exception of Ritson - the lack of out and out pace in the side. Even against lower league opposition we rely on power up front, short passes and the imagination of Welsby and Lomax to break down defences. What I can’t decide is whether this was an intentional approach to tune up for stiffer tests ahead or whether it is just where we are now. Still grinding it out even against a side that we are clearly a level or two above.
Plus Points
Yet even if Wellens wasn’t instructing his side to practice deliberate conservatism there were still aspects of the night that will have encouraged him. The return of Paasi and another promising performance from Delaney may have persuaded Wellens that he at last has some depth in the front row. Even Knowles works as a front rower. Indeed it may be his best position should he manage to clean up his disciplinary act.
Lussick - who many not be everyone’s favourite brew - responded to last week’s personal disappointment pretty well. Two tries and an assist will have provided a much needed confidence boost. Whether he will be the man to take over from Roby when he finally retires is not yet certain. But this performance was a step in the right direction.
The Morgan Knowles Situation
And so…reader…we get to it. The bit you’ve all been waiting for. The That Saints Blog equivalent of the confrontation between Tommy Lee Royce and Raquel from Corrie in the last series of Happy Valley.
What goes through the mind of Knowles? There were 30 seconds left of a game we were winning by 20 points. He was about to complete his first assignment after a five-match suspension incident free. So what does he do? He flies at Inman as if he’s trying to stop a last second game winning drop goal. Not only that but he does it recklessly, swinging his arm as he dives and clocking Inman around his bonce like Basil Fawlty taking his marriage problems out on Manuel. A pointless melee ensues and Moore - following advice from the video booth - does the only thing he can do and produces a red card for the England international..
You won’t be surprised to learn that there were those who defended Knowles’ actions. The default position of some fans is to back their own player in any circumstances. It’s a question of loyalty. Of maintaining the ‘everyone is against us’ siege mentality. And if you take this incident solely on its own merits then it is not the worst offence you have ever seen. From some angles you can even make a case that the initial contact was off the shoulder. If the officials had agreed then Knowles may have got yellow and we’d all be waiting to see what the Match Review Panel made of it on Monday.
The are a couple of problems remaining, however. The first is the sheer scale of the stupidity. It was never necessary. There was everything to lose and absolutely nothing to gain. Except maybe nods of approval from fans who are here for the violence only and believe that if you stop Knowles ‘playing on the edge’ he won’t be the same player. Well good. It’s about time he wasn’t.
The second and biggest problem occurs when you add this episode to what has been a series of brain explosions in recent times. He’s had four separate bans since last September and miraculously avoided a fifth for that playground bully, arm-twisting nonsense on Chris Atkin in last season’s Super League semi-final. That fifth suspension now seems an inevitability.
Whatever he was before - and I’ve never bought into the hype around Knowles’ ability - he is now a grub on a Morgan Smithies scale. Anything else is living in the past. Like telling me that Phillip Schofield was great in the broom cupboard with Gordon The Gopher. Yeah he was, but I was 10 and look at him now. Schofield, that is. Gordon probably looks much the same depending on where they have been keeping him.
I’m totally over Morgan Knowles as an indispensable asset. If he were to make good on all the fan and pundit chat about a future in the NRL I wouldn’t blink. James Bell might not be quite as good at the unseen things at which Knowles excelled before his marbles departed the scene, but he’s a more creative ball handler and hardly ever tries to decapitate anyone. It could be time for a new deal for him and a saving on the wages of Knowles.
Next Up (Cup)
Following the latest instalment of The Last Of Us - A Castleford Tigers Tragi-Comedy, the draw for the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup was made. Saints were given a testing trip to Hull FC - today’s episode’s supervillain in The Last Of Us - A Castleford Tigers Tragi-Comedy. A month ago we may have been rubbing our hands at the prospect. But today’s win was FC’s fourth in a row in all competitions. Head Coach Tony Smith is doing what Head Coach Tony Smith does. Improving players and teams.
The tie takes place on the weekend of June 16-18, a week after the home fixture with Wigan and a week before we travel to Hull in the league. That could be a season defining period.
Next Up (League)
Before all that we return to league action on Friday (May 26) with a visit to Headingley to face Leeds Rhinos. Sironen should return after his ban but I wouldn’t expect to see Knowles. Roby should come back into the side so it will be interesting to see if Lussick has done enough at The Shay to convince Wellens to restore him to the 17 for Super League duty. Matty Lees will serve the second of his two-match ban.
It is hard to know what to expect from Leeds. They have just played back-to-back league and cup matches with Wigan. One with Blake Austin and one without. With Austin they overcame the first half dismissal of Zane Tetevano to wallop the Warriors 40-18. Without Austin they arguably still should have won, but were edged out of the cup 18-14 either because of Harry Newman’s greed or because of Ritchie Myler’s over eager support play. Take your pick.
That league win over Wigan followed defeats to Leigh and Salford, which followed wins over Huddersfield and Hull. Nobody, least of all Leeds fans, knows what to expect. Which is something which you could also say about Saints this term.
Predicting with confidence looks a tad tricky.
Halifax Panthers;
Woodburn-Hall, Walmsley, Tibbs, McComb, Saltonstall, Jouffret, Keyes, Walcott, Moore, Murray, Lannon, Gee, Fairbank. Interchanges: Inman, Doro, Tangata, Larroyer
Saints;
Welsby, Makinson, Hopoate, Davies, Ritson, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Lussick, Knowles, Mata’utia, Batchelor, Bell: interchanges: Wingfield, Paasi, Delaney, Bennison
Referee: Liam Moore
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