With a mission to revive their Super League campaign not merely under way but starting to thrive, Saints turn their attention to Challenge Cup matters this week. They travel to face Hull FC in Saturday’s quarter-final (June 17, kick-off 2.30pm).
After a rickety old start to the season Paul Wellens’ Super League and world champions are finding some form. They are unbeaten in their last five in all competitions and come into this one on the back of a dominant 34-16 win over Wigan last Friday (June 9). They sit fifth in the Super League standings which - while not quite where they want to be at this stage of the season - sees them back in a decent position from which to launch a bid for the top two in the latter half of the regular season.
Meanwhile Hull’s inconsistency continues to plague them. They are a lowly ninth in the table, six points off the final playoff spot which is currently held by Matty Peet’s Warriors. Tony Smith’s FC side will meet Saints in the league just five days after this cup clash when both will look to improve their positions on the grid as the playoffs draw nearer. For now all the major contenders can park their Super League ambitions for a while. This week is all about getting into the last four of the Challenge Cup and consequently within 80 minutes of appearing at Wembley.
The final is back at its regular home after a year down the road at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2022. Some fans would have preferred it to stay at Tottenham or go elsewhere, but nothing elevates the importance of the competition - or any competition - to those outside the sport like holding the final at Wembley.
Wellens has had selection problems in his first season as Head Coach thanks to injuries and suspensions. There was a point a month or so ago when he was forced to lead his team into battle without as many as six first team forwards. Now his selection problems come from the fact that he is almost spoiled for choice. Decisions are more difficult when everybody is fit. He will be delighted to have been able to name the same 21-man squad for the trip east that he selected ahead of the derby. That means Morgan Knowles is included despite coming off late in that game with a rib problem.
Provided Knowles is fit we should see a very similar match day 17 to the one which saw action last time out. Jack Welsby was unplayable at times against his home town club. He’ll operate at fullback again behind wingers Tee Ritson and Tommy Makinson. The latter has crossed for six tries in his last two games and is now in double figures for the season. At centre Mark Percival has played the last two after a seven-week hamstring layoff. He should again partner Konrad Hurrell after the Tongan overcame a neck issue. Should there be a late problem with either then Will Hopoate isn’t the worst alternative you could have despite the scepticism of much of the fanbase.
In the halves Lewis Dodd is showing signs of improvement which are ominous for all future opponents while alongside him Jonny Lomax is one of the few pieces of the Wellens puzzle that has been consistently effective in 2023.
If Knowles is declared fit on the day then expect him to continue at loose forward. He edged out James Bell for the starting berth there last week despite having missed the previous two - and six Saints games in all this term - through suspension. It’s tough on Bell but if there is the slightest doubt about Knowles’ fitness then Wellens knows he can rely on the former Leigh man to step up. If that is necessary then it will likely open the door for Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook to reclaim a spot on the bench. The Londoner missed out on selection for the derby after so long as an almost automatic choice among the replacements. If he doesn’t return this week then he can probably rest assured that further opportunities to feature - and so add to his 358 Saints appearances - will present themselves before the end of the year when it is expected he will retire.
McCarthy-Scarsbrook’s travails are an indication of the strength of Saints’ front row. Alex Walmsley is still one of the best go-forward providers in Super League. He is complimented by the durable and defensively industrious Matty Lees. Saints also have Agnatius Paasi to come in off the bench to add impact. Ask Wigan’s Brad Singleton.
Between the two starting props at nine is one of the genuine greats of the game in James Roby who - like McCarthy-Scarsbrook - is likely entering the last few months of his playing career. Unlike McCarthy-Scarsbrook Roby is still an obvious first choice ahead of bench dwelling back-up Joey Lussick. He’s been questioned by many of late but to my mind he remains one of the better stand-in players around and one who would arguably start for most other Super League clubs. But it’s not that easy when you have a legend in front of you in the queue. He will be watching Saints’ recruitment strategy with interest as they prepare for the post-Roby era.
Curtis Sironen and Joe Batchelor are currently the second row pairing of choice which leaves a one-time Australian international on the bench in the shape of Sione Mata’utia. Sironen’s form has been such that he has been able to secure a new two-year deal with the club which will keep him in the red vee until at least the end of 2025. Less fortunate is Jake Wingfield who again misses out with a shoulder injury which now looks set to keep him out for the remainder of the season after it required surgery.
Although Smith has only made one change to his squad selection the one omission from last week’s defeat at Leigh is a glaring one. Halfback Jake Clifford has been one of the standout players of the first half of the season after joining from Newcastle Knights. Yet concussion protocols rule the 25 year-old out of arguably the biggest game of Hull’s season to this point. He left the field after colliding with Josh Charnley following a Darnell McIntosh try for the black and whites at the LSV.
His place in the squad goes to prop forward Chris Satae who returns after a hamstring injury. Filling Clifford’s role in the team itself will likely be rather trickier. Ben McNamara and Joe Lovodua seem the likeliest candidates or else Smith may ask fullback Tex Hoy to make a positional change. Centre Carlos Tuimavave has played in the halves several times for Hull and is another option. Whoever gets the nod you get the feeling that the responsibility and therefore the pressure will increase on Jake Trueman to provide much of the creativity in midfield.
Satae is as impactful - maybe more so - than Paasi and will add much to the FC pack. But Hull fans should make the most of him as he has already agreed a deal with Catalans Dragons for 2024 and beyond. No doubt he will continue to provide un grand impact for Steve McNamara’s side. Veteran Scott Taylor is villainous enough to have played for both Hull clubs and Wigan. He’s also a Grand Final and Challenge Cup winner with international experience. He has probably seen better days but is currently enjoying something of a renaissance under Smith.
The mulleted Brad Fash should also start in the front row and will be noticeable whether he plays well or not just because of his egregious barnet. At hooker FC have their own indefatigable stalwart but it would be unrealistic to compare Danny Houghton to Roby. For now Houghton is backed up by Brad Drew but the former Leeds and Warrington man has already had his departure at the end of the season confirmed after just one year on Humberside. In the back row Josh Griffin is in excellent try scoring form with four in his last two appearances. Joe Cator has shrugged off the dreaded ruptured Achilles not once but twice and is back in situ at loose forward.
If Hoy remains at fullback he will play behind a wing partnership of former Saint Adam Swift and probably McIntosh. Swift scored 86 tries for Saints in 130 appearances during a seven-year spell between 2012-19. He’s another on the move for next year having unfathomably agreed to join Huddersfield Giants. Tuimavave remains Hull’s best centre so if they can find someone else to partner Trueman in the halves that would be the way to go.
We live in a ludicrous era in which Super League clubs are only required to win one match to make it to this last eight of the Challenge Cup. Saints got here by seeing off Championship Halifax Panthers 20-6 in a game more notable for Knowles’ latest brain freeze than anything else. FC saw off a Castleford Tigers side which is one of its worst incarnations in years and which should be extremely grateful for Wakefield’s stunning ineptitude over the first few months of the season. The black and whites cruised through 32-8 at the home of the Tigers.
Saints have crossed paths with Hull FC once already this season. The champions made hard work of it but squeezed past FC 20-12 on home turf back in March. Jon Bennison crossed twice for Saints that night and there were further scores by Ben Davies and Welsby. The fact that two of those three will probably not be involved in this one tells you something about the chopping and changing to the line-up in which Wellens has had to engage.
The last cup meeting between these two was the 2021 semi-final at Leigh. In an exciting affair Saints looked great early before being pegged back. They were under real strain in their efforts to hang on until Regan Grace plucked a Jake Connor pass out of the air and went the length of the field to send Saints to Wembley. A huge disappointment for what was then Brett Hodgson’s side but at least there will be no Connor around to be reckless with the house money this time around. Saints would go on to win the trophy for a 13th time, beating a much better version of Castleford than the class of 2023 in the last final played at Wembley.
Saints have met FC in the final on one occasion. Wellens was in the Saints side which won 28-16 at Wembley in 2008. A Francis Meli double and further scores by Matt Gidley, Leon Pryce and TV annoyance Jon Wilkin secured Saints’ 12th cup success. It was their last before that victory over Castleford in the baking heat of 2021.
Hull have lifted the cup five times, most recently in 2017 having also won it a year previously. Griffin, Tuimavave, Taylor and Houghton were all involved in that final victory over Wigan six years ago and all could feature this weekend.
The league meeting on the horizon complicates things slightly. Regardless of form it would be some achievement to beat Hull twice on their own patch in the space of five days. If we could only win one I’m sure any sane Saints fan would choose this one. There will still be time to make up for a defeat in the league. By contrast, there will be nothing for the loser of this tie but deep regrets. At last in form and hopefully highly motivated I’m taking Saints to edge this one and book another semi-final spot. But it could get a bit nervy.
Squads;
Hull FC;
- Tex Hoy 2. Adam Swift 3. Carlos Tuimavave 4. Liam Sutcliffe 5. Darnell McIntosh 6. Jake Trueman 8. Ligi Sao 9. Danny Houghton 10. Chris Satae 11. Andre Savelio 12. Jordan Lan 13. Brad Fash 14. Joe Lovodua 15. Joe Cator 17. Cam Scott 19. Ben McNamara 20. Jack Brown 23. Josh Griffin 25. Davy Litten 30. Scott Taylor 33. Brad Dwyer
Saints;
- 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, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. James Bell, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 25. Tee Ritson, 30. George Delaney.
Referee: Chris Kendall
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