Saints look to build on a winning start to 2024 when they host Leigh Leopards on Friday night (March 1, kick-off 8.00pm).
Paul Wellens’ side have started with two resounding wins. London Broncos were dispatched 40-4 at home on opening night while last week’s 28-0 triumph over Huddersfield Giants on their own patch was arguably an even greater statement of intent. Saints are one of three sides - the others being Catalans Dragons and Hull KR - who have begun the league campaign with two wins out of two.
Leigh are yet to secure a first win of 2024 but in mitigation - to use rugby league’s latest buzzword - they have only played one game. Adrian Lam’s side opened with a disappointing 16-8 home defeat by the Giants but were not in action last week due to Wigan’s involvement in the World Club Challenge. Reports that Lam used his time off to act as the video ref as the Warriors became world champions are unconfirmed.
Leigh surprised everyone in 2023 by not only making the playoffs in their first season since promotion from the Championship but also winning the Challenge Cup. Expectations are raised significantly as a result but having already gone down to the Giants a trip to Saints is far from the ideal fixture to help the Leopards restore their confidence and optimism. Yet it’s very early and another bid for a top six spot should still be the aim whatever the outcome here.
Wellens is under pressure to achieve something a little loftier. Having seen his side relinquish the Super League title to Wigan in his first season he is now charged with finding the right formula to wrest the crown back. He has made two changes to his squad for this latest hurdle. Matty Lees was taken to hospital during the win at Huddersfield after coughing up blood following a chest injury. He is said to be recovering well but is not fit enough to be involved this week. Nineteen year-old academy prop Noah Stephens comes in to the 21-man squad for the first time in place of the England prop.
Konrad Hurrell suffered from illness last week and so was not considered for the trip to West Yorkshire. He returns for this one with winger Tee Ritson the man to drop out of the squad. In Hurrell’s absence Jon Bennison came in on the wing to allow Waqa Blake to slot into his favoured centre position. That worked quite well and given the dominant nature of Saints’ win at the John Smith’s Stadium it is far from a given that Hurrell will get back into the side. Mark Percival and Tommy Makinson should also feature in the three-quarters with the talismanic Jack Welsby at fullback.
The ageless Jonny Lomax has started the season in very promising fashion. He looks to be relishing his new role of skipper since the retirement of James Roby and is having a positive influence on halfback Lewis Dodd. The pair should continue their evolving partnership though there must be a slight concern about who steps in should either of them be unavailable at any point.
With Roby out of the picture there is no obvious emergency half. Moses Mbye might be a candidate but beyond that Wellens may at some stage find himself turning to academy products Ben Lane or Will Roberts. Lomax has proven almost bionic in recent years but appears more vulnerable with age, while memories of Dodd’s 2022 torn achilles are still fresh in the memory despite the Widnesian making an excellent recovery last term.
In the pack the prospect of a debut for Stephens is an exciting one but may not materialise despite Lees’ absence. Wellens should have enough cover at prop without having to throw the youngster in. Alex Walmsley is a permanent fixture while all of Sione Mata’utia, Jake Wingfield and even Morgan Knowles could do a shift. Wingfield has also been spending some time as the back-up hooker to Daryl Clark so it will be interesting to see if Mbye can push his way back into the coach’s thinking this week.
The back row still has blush inducing riches even without the injured Joe Batchelor. Matt Whitley has added considerably to the options in that area while Curtis Sironen has looked particularly sprightly in the early stages of the year. Mata’utia remains an option there even if he spends some time at prop as does Wingfield. Sam Royle is another waiting his turn. At loose forward Wellens could stick with Knowles or - if he chooses to move the England man forward to cover for Lees - he has an excellent alternative in James Bell.
Lam is without two of his key players for this one. Edwin Ipape faces weeks on the sidelines due to a medial ligament injury while Tom Amone is suspended. Brad Dwyer has been drafted in from Warrington where he had only just arrived following a spell with Hull FC. The installation of Sam Burgess as Warrington Head Coach after a deal for Dwyer had been agreed proved problematic for the hooker, but he should get plenty of minutes at Leigh while Ipape is out of action.
Few people could identify the problem with the tackle which got Amone banned for a couple of games. The only good news for Leopards fans is that it has been reduced to one on appeal. None of which helps them this week as they face one of Super League’s best without the man who was so influential in their front row throughout 2023.
Amone’s absence places extra burden on Robbie Mulhern while Owen Trout or Frankie Halton could be called upon to help. Ruiner of knees John Asiata has been the subject of speculation linking him with the NRL this week but for now he is free to wreak his own special brand of havoc. Kai O’Donnell, Oliver Holmes and Jack Hughes offer further pack depth.
The main addition to the back line for 2024 is former Cronulla Sharks stand-off Matt Moylan. It is expected that he will form a formidable halfback combination with Adrian Lam’s son Lachlan, through whom a lot of Leigh’s creativity flowed in 2023. At 32 Moylan is at exactly the sort of stage in his career you’d expect a genuine quality NRL playmaker to arrive on these shores, but if Leigh see the best of him it will make them every bit as dangerous as they were a year ago. The pair didn’t quite make it happen against the Giants but there is surely more to come from them. It might be beneficial to be facing them before they’ve had time to really gel.
Across the three-quarter line there is bags of experience in ex-Wigan men Zak Hardaker and Josh Charnley as well as one time Giant Ricky Leutele and Leeds Rhinos treble winner Tom Briscoe. At fullback is Gareth O’Brien who spent time on loan at Saints from Warrington in 2013 and also counts Castleford and Salford among his former clubs.
The sides met three times in 2023 with the Leopards scoring two victories to Saints’ one. Saints were enduring a post World Club Challenge wobble when they lost 20-12 at Leigh Sports Village in March before an epic Challenge Cup semi-final saw Lam’s men sneak home 12-10 at Warrington as Asiata lay waste to the Saints front row. In September the teams played out a classic as the hand of Joe Mellor ruled out a Briscoe try which would have seen Leigh take the lead, only for Saints to find another gear and win it 22-12.
The red vee have been suffocating in defence in the early going and it is that as well as the home advantage which strongly hints that a third consecutive win is on the cards. The fact that Leigh toiled a little in defeat at home to a Giants side dismissed by Saints a week later is another indicator of where this one might be heading. It may not be as straightforward for Saints as it has been so far in 2024 but nor should it be as tight as those thrillers against the Leopards from last term.
Saints;
1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Waqa Blake, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. Daryl Clark, 11. Sione Mata’utia, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Moses Mbye, 15. James Bell, 16. Curtis Sironen, 18. Jake Wingfield, 19. Matt Whitley, 20. George Delaney, 21. Ben Davies, 22. Sam Royle, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 31. Noah Stephens.
Leigh Leopards;
1. Gareth O’Brien. 2. Tom Briscoe 3. Zak Hardaker. 4. Ricky Leutele. 5. Josh Charnley. 6. Matt Moylan. 7. Lachlan Lam. 8. Robbie Mulhern. 11. Kai O’Donnell. 12. Jack Hughes. John Asiata. 14. Dan Norman. 15. Matt Davis. 16. Frankie Halton. 17. Owen Trout. 18. Ben Nakubuwai. 19. Ed Chamberlain. 20. Oliver Holmes. 21. Ben McNamara. 24. Umyla Hanley. Brad Dwyer
Referee: Liam Moore
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