One thousand, four hundred and fifty days after it begun, Saints’ reign as Super League champions finally came to an end with defeat to the Dragons in Perpignan on Friday night (October 6).
It was a four year domination of the sport in this hemisphere, started by Justin Holbrook’s team of 2019 and continued for the next three seasons under Kristian Woolf. We thought it might never end. Like Neighbours or The Blacklist. But everything does. Well…maybe not Neighbours.
And so it will be Steve McNamara’s Dragons who go forward to the Old Trafford Grand Final to hopefully bring down Matty Peet’s Evil Empire next Saturday night (October 14). There are plenty of ‘what if?’ moments for Saints Head Coach Paul Wellens and his charges to look back on in a contest which - after all - was only settled on the very last play of the game. But ultimately Saints weren’t quite good enough. Particularly in attack where the stifling predictability and lack of pace which has been bothering all but the happiest of clappers among us for weeks finally sucked the life out of the Drive For Five.
Wellens made one change to the 17 which had put Warrington’s season out of its misery a week previously. Joe Batchelor’s hamstring gave up the ghost early in that win but back came George Delaney who had missed the Wire game through suspension. Sione Mata’utia slotted back into the second row but it was Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook who got the nod to start at prop alongside Matty Lees with Delaney on the bench along with Alex Walmsley. The talismanic front rower was still being held back having only returned to the fold for the home victory over Hull FC on September 22. That followed a knee injury which was thought to have ended his season.
Wellens also chose not to restore Konrad Hurrell to the line-up, instead sticking with a left edge partnership of Will Hopoate and Jon Bennison. Wellens has been making vague statements about the level of Hurrell’s fitness whenever asked about the centre’s recent absence. Yet the ex-Leeds Rhino was fit enough to feature in last weekend’s Reserve Grand Final defeat to Wigan.
McNamara was able to start former Sydney Rooster Siua Taukeiaho for just the second time of what will be his one and only season in the south of France. He was partnered in the front row by Mike McMeeken while Paul Seguier returned in the second row. Wigan-bound centre Adam Keighran was preferred to Arthur Romano.
After a tight opening it was the home side who went close to scoring first. Mitchell Pearce - one of a trio of players across both sides facing the prospect of playing for the final time having decided to retire at the end of the year - planted a useful grubber into the Saints in-goal. Tom Johnstone beat Jonny Lomax to it to touch down, but Super League’s joint top try scorer was adjudged by the video referee Jack Smith to have pushed Lomax as the pair raced to get to the ball first.
On-field whistler Chris Kendall had suspected foul play and sent it up to Smith as no try. That decision was supported which looked to be the right call. Yet as any Saints fan who witnessed Zak Hardaker’s try for Leigh Leopards in the Challenge Cup semi-final in July will be aware, it was one of those which could have gone either way.
Less than 20 minutes had elapsed when Walmsley was pitched into the battle. This could have been the plan all along to save the legs and lungs of the 37 year-old McCarthy Scarsbrook who is not accustomed to playing big minutes these days. Or it could have been a reactionary move born of dissatisfaction at the way the game was going.
Yet whoever you have in your pack you need a more varied kicking game than Saints were offering. When Lewis Dodd sent a raking territory finder rolling towards Johnstone deep in the Dragons red zone it only served to accentuate the lack of variety which has plagued his last tackle bootery this year. Too often the Saints half sends it skywards in the hope that the opposition fullback will get all Nathan Graham about it.
That hasn’t happened too often in 2023 and it wasn’t going to happen to Dragons fullback Sam Tomkins on this night. Yet the one time Dodd found the grass with his kick it was good enough to pressure Johnstone into knocking it forward on his own 10 metre line as he stooped to pick it up. It may have been an avenue worth exploring further as the game wore on. On this occasion Saints couldn’t take advantage with Walmsley spilling possession under pressure from Shaun Wane favourite Mickey McIlorum.
Saints’ discipline - or lack thereof - has been a common bone of contention not only in this column most weeks but among the chatter between the fans on social media and over pre and post match drinks in the pubs. It raised its head again on the Dragons’ next attack, and it was serial ban collector Mata’utia who was again pushing his luck. It feels like most of the ex-Newcastle Knight’s suspensions have been for late hits on passers or kickers as the authorities tighten the laws around those kinds of challenges. But his latest indiscretion could not be put down to the difficulty involved in pulling out of a tackle once committed.
This time he flapped clumsily at Tomkins, making contact with his head. As the ex-Wigan man went to ground Mata’utia threw in a cheap shot via a swinging arm. It was a glaringly unconcealed yellow card with more than a hint of red about it. Yet Kendall chose to issue neither, settling instead for a quiet word with the Saints back rower and skipper James Roby. It was a lucky escape for Mata’utia who will nonetheless find himself ineligible for the two games of 2024 after the Match Review Panel (MRP) met at the start of the new week. Unless we can find a useful Reserves fixture or two on the schedule before the season opener with which to quietly let his suspension expire. It’s been done before, apparently.
At the time the only punishment Saints did receive was the concession of an opportunity for the Dragons to register the first points of the evening. They duly did so when Keighran converted the penalty goal. They remained the only points of a first half which Saints had seen the better of territorially and in terms of possession while still managing to look extremely unlikely to score. Defence was keeping Saints in it, which is another theme of 2023 for Wellens’ men.
Early in the second half one of the greatest of all rugby league careers came to an end. Roby was withdrawn by his coach and former team mate with Moses Mbye entering the fray. It’s hard to criticise Wellens for this decision and frankly it would be wise after the event smart-arsery to do so. Mbye has had an impact in most games in which he has replaced Roby off the bench since coming over from Wests Tigers following the departure of Joey Lussick. There was every reason to believe he could again at that particular juncture.
Perhaps you can argue that 37 year-old Roby is still good for a little longer than the 44 minutes or so he was afforded or that his experience and quality would have come in very handy later in proceedings after he’d taken his breather. We’ll sadly never know as the curtain has now fallen on a 20-season career which has seen the great man pick up six Super League titles, four Challenge Cup winners medals, eight League Leaders Shields and a couple of World Club Challenge wins.
Then there is the all-time Saints appearance record broken earlier this season. The mark for others to chase is now set at a monumental 551 games. That’s 20 better than the previous record set by Kel Coslett when he departed the club in 1976. During his run Roby has scored 117 tries in the red vee, made an incalculable number of tackles and established himself as one of the true greats not just of Super League but of any era in rugby league history.
His post match interview underlined his class and humility too. Roby represents true greatness on and off the field and he’s done it all in the manner of you or I going to the office for another average day’s work. We are lucky enough to have seen a plethora of rugby league legends represent our club throughout our lives but few have carried themselves in as grounded a fashion as the outgoing Saints captain.
Within five minutes of the departure of their on-field leader the defending champions hit the front. Kendall had a sudden recollection of the dreaded six again rule, offering Saints a fresh set inside the Dragons defensive quarter. Seemingly more in hope than expectation Welsby shuffled across the face of the defensive line before bringing Hopoate back on his inside 10 metres out. The much maligned Tongan international had run a perfect line, making what was essentially a drop-off play from the Keiron Cunningham tactics board circa 2015-17 look like lock picking wizardry. Hopoate slipped between Paul Seguier and Romaine Navarrete to go over untouched to the left of the sticks. Mark Percival had no trouble with the conversion and suddenly in the tightest of low scoring affairs the visitors had a four-point lead at 6-2. That qualified as real daylight with points at such a premium.
Like Roby, Hopoate is another whose time at Saints is at an end. It’s fair to say that the ex-Canterbury Bulldog departs with a little less fanfare. He ends an injury hit two year stint with just 31 appearances - the same figure reached by some bloke called Meninga though the former Kangaroo skipper reached that number in one season. He also crossed for 28 tries in that spell while Hopoate has mustered just five. Yet his fifth and last could - perhaps should- have been so much more important.
The six again klaxon was getting a workout by the time we reached the hour mark. The Dragons earned two in quick succession after Lomax had butchered a simple Welsby pass in a good attacking position. At the end of the second consecutive set Tyrone May placed a searching kick into the Saints in-goal where Welsby was unable to escape from Johnstone and Matt Whitley. That prompted another Catalans raid, during which Mbye went in high on Johnstone in a central position 30 metres out. With more than a quarter of an hour still to go the French side took the opportunity to reduce the arrears to two points at 6-4 courtesy of the boot of Keighran.
Yet the alarm bells didn’t really start sounding too loudly until the scrap entered its final 10 minutes. Pearce - who had hitherto had just as much trouble creating opportunities as either of Saints’ halves - sent a high ball spiralling into the night sky towards Welsby. The Saints fullback flapped at it but could only push it forward where it was scooped up by the lightning quick and industrious presence of Johnstone. He made it all the way to within five metres of the Saints line before he was halted by Lees.
Whether it was down to a tired mind or the genuine belief that he was opting for the lesser of two evils Lees decided to set up camp on top of Johnstone as the Dragons winger wriggled around on the floor like he’d just been yanked out of the river by Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer. The seconds went by without movement from Lees. It felt like hours as a thousand travelling fans and thousands more sat in front of TVs implored the Saints prop to roll away. Yet still nothing. Lees’ grip on the others involved in the tackle was such that he had trapped Morgan Knowles’ leg in the carnage. The latter was at least making an effort to free himself and get back into a reasonable defensive position but Lees was having none of it. He’d settled in for the night.
At which point Kendall did the only thing he really could do. He whistled for the obvious penalty which would almost certainly see the scores levelled at 6-6. And then - with a certain inevitability - he invited Lees to sit down for 10 minutes for the professionalism of his foul. There weren’t 10 minutes left. Saints would have to go the rest of the way a man short. And they’ll start next season without Lees too as the MRP handed down a one match suspension. If it wasn’t an act of self harm I’d have given him five for stupidity.
As we digested this grave development Keighran put his foot through another two-pointer. Saints still hadn’t conceded a try to this point yet they were still not quite where they wanted to be. Which felt a bit like the entire 2023 season in microcosm.
It was all the Dragons now as it seemed that the whole show would deteriorate into a drop-goal kicking competition. Tomkins had the first sniff but his attempt was a pretty woeful one which bounced inside the field of play and into the arms of Welsby.
Then came the last crumb of Saints-related controversy of 2023. Backed up on his own 20 and just trying to play out the set, Percival was ruled to have knocked on while playing the ball. It was a nervy looking affair but it didn’t look like the ball ever left the centre’s possession as he stood up to execute the restart. It wouldn’t be unfair to call it a phantom knock on. Something perhaps that your mind thinks you might have seen but when you look at the replay you’re less convinced. But Kendall only gets one look. In that context it’s hard to place too much blame on him. He’s certainly not the reason that Saints have come up short this time around.
Tomkins will not face Saints again in his career. His parting gift was a brutal one. He has often played the role of our nemesis, particularly when wearing his home town Wigan colours. Yet no moments in cherry and white are likely to be remembered quite so widely as his decisive contribution to the denouement of this one.
Receiving the ball from former Wigan colleague Mickey McIlorum on the Saints 20 he looked up to see an assortment of Saints defenders rushing towards him, desperate to stop another attempted drop-goal. This time he was unlikely to miss. Except he had other ideas. Tucking the ball under his arm he ran away from those charging at him, around Walmsley and Curtis Sironen, past Welsby and over the line before Dodd could get to him. An absolute dagger. A moment from which there would be no recovery. The game didn’t even restart following Keighran’s conversion.
It’s difficult not to have a grudging respect for Tomkins. His has been a brilliant career. He will aim to pick up his fourth Grand Final winners ring when he comes up against his old team. And in that endeavour I wish him nothing but the best. He has also picked up a couple of Challenge Cup winners medals and played 29 times for England.
He has been named Man Of Steel on two occasions also, most recently after the Dragons’ run to the 2021 Grand Final at the age of 32. The knees have gone now meaning he won’t quite enjoy the longevity of Roby. Yet 350 club appearances including 37 in the NRL for New Zealand Warriors is not a trifling tally. His place among the very best of the Super League era is assured.
The stats show how difficult the Dragons made it for Saints to move the ball down the field. Only two of our number broke 100 metres. Neither of them feature in the pack, indicating that Wellens’ side took what is known locally as a good hiding in the forward battle. Saints’ best ground gainer was the departing Hopoate with 117 while his centre partner Percival contributed 102. The best effort from anyone in the pack was the 90 metres managed by Sironen. Walmsley was way down on his regular haul, restricted to just 71 metres on 11 carries.
Contrast that with the Dragons for whom wingers Tom Davies (160) and Johnstone (133) notched up 293 metres between them. Keighran was also able to make 120 to go with the eight points he landed with the boot. Yet perhaps the key difference between the Saints numbers and those of the French side is the 134 metres made by Taukeiaho and a further 105 added by Ben Garcia. Essentially, Saints were clubbed over the head in the forwards. Especially in those final minutes. At that point it looked like it might develop into that drop-goal-athon I had been fearing. That was before Tomkins flipped the script in what was already about as one-sided an example of the genre as you could imagine.
The game’s leading tackler was Knowles with 47 which is some effort when you consider that he’s on and off the field more often than the physios and the water carriers combined. Following him for Saints were Sironen with 39 and Lees with 33. In between those two you will find Catalans’ best defenders - McIlorum and Whitley with 36 each.
It’s too early for Wellens to think about it now given the raw emotion involved but the boss has much to ponder ahead of his second season in charge. Is there a case for throwing the baby out with the bath water and changing as much as some fans would like to see in terms of personnel? Or should he take a more measured approach? He has already addressed the loss of Roby (in as much as you can) and McCarthy-Scarsbrook (no comment) but there are other issues which were already troubling which this defeat will have done nothing to eradicate.
Do we need to move Welsby from the fullback role into the halves? If so, which of Lomax and Dodd makes way? Or is it both? Who would play fullback? How do we get more pace into the side? Or can we get away with not having any if we have ‘structure’ and ‘stick to the process.’? Not for me. If nothing else changes other than what we already know in terms of personnel the one thing that must change is the tactics. They are often mind numbing. And when mind numbing is fused with unsuccessful you have a serious problem.
With Makinson, Hurrell, Lomax, Walmsley, Mbye, Agnatius Paasi and Sironen all 30 or over do we need to drastically reduce the age profile of the squad? With concerns about Paasi’s fitness irrespective of his age and in light of McCarthy-Scarsbrook’s retirement should we be thinking of signing a new prop? Have we missed a trick allowing Luke Thompson to join Wigan? Or…given the way he left in 2020 and his catastrophic injury record while playing in the NRL was it sensible to leave Luke to turn to the dark side?
All these things are potentially up for consideration. The one thing that is a non-negotiable for me is that Wellens must be allowed to stay put for the next year at least. We can’t be the kind of club that sacks its coach every time we fail to reach the Grand Final. Not to say that you let the situation drift indefinitely. There is a point where there could be potential for a Richard Agar at Leeds situation if you go more than a couple of years without a credible challenge. He spent four seasons at Leeds during which time the steady decline he presided over saw a once great Rhinos team slumming it in the middle eights with Batley and Fev. Fev! Ha! Did you hear the one about Fev? They sacked a Saints legend for losing two games all season and then crapped the bed in the semi-final. Cheer yourself up with whatever you can.
Back at Saints, these are decisions for another time. As I write you have five more days to be able to call yourself a supporter of the Super League champions, strictly speaking. The reign is over in as far as we know our fate, but the title won’t be officially wrested from our grasp until the final hooter blows in Saturday’s Grand Final. We do have at least three or four more months to cling on to the world champion tag. Yet even that title will disappear early in 2024 unless the Australians’ isolationist policy of only wanting to play against NRL teams in NRL approved nations forces the whole kit and kaboodle to be called off as we saw in 2021 and 2022.
Make the most of that time. It’s a long road back to the start of another dynasty.
Catalans Dragons: Tomkins, Davies, Ikuvalu, Keighran, Johnstone, May, Pearce, McMeeken, McIlorum, Taukeiaho, Whitley, Seguier, Garcia. Interchanges: Bousquet, Navarette, Mourgue, M’au
Saints: Welsby, Makinson, Percival, Hopoate, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Roby, Lees, Sironen, Mata’utia, Knowles. Interchanges: Bell, Delaney, Mbye, Walmsley
Referee: Chris Kendall
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