Twelve-man Saints suffered a first defeat of the 2024 season as Salford Red Devils came back from a 14-point deficit after Mark Percival’s second half red card on Friday night (March 8).
There’s little doubt that the game turned on the moment when Percival was ordered off five minutes after halftime for direct contact to the head of Jack Ormondroyd. Until then Saints had been in control, leading 14-6 and looking like making it four league wins in a row to start the campaign. It’s highly unlikely that Paul Wellens’ side would have lost this one had it remained 13 on 13. But whose fault is that? We’ll come to it later.
Wellens was forced into one change to the 17 which beat Leigh Leopards 12-4 at home last time out. Konrad Hurrell picked up a one game ban for some accidental head contact in the act of stopping Ricky Leutele from scoring a try in that game. Waqa Blake - who had missed out through illness last week - came back in at centre to take the place of the Tongan.
Salford Head Coach Paul Rowley made one change also. Ryan Brierley recovered from a groin strain to take his place at fullback so Chris Atkin started on the bench. That meant Kai Morgan was the unlucky man to miss out from the 17 which had beaten Hull KR in their previous fixture.
Saints were first to create a genuine try-scoring opportunity. Jack Welsby’s kick to the left corner was just too strong for Jon Bennison to catch up with it before it found touch. Wellens’ men then fired another warning shot as Morgan Knowles surged 20 metres to within 10 of the Salford line but was just unable to find the supporting Sione Mata’utia with a pass. Alex Walmsley then tried to offload close to the Salford line but his pass was intercepted by Tim Lafai.
Yet Saints would not rue that near miss for long. As they tried to work out of their own end of the field Cade Cust threw what is known in his locality as a bludger of a pass which Brierley could not handle. From the ensuing scrum the ball was moved right from Daryl Clark to Jonny Lomax and finally to Welsby. He expertly used Tommy Makinson as a foil, dummying to the winger before accelerating between two uncertain Salford defenders to score. It was his fourth try in four Super League outings to start the season. Percival could not add the extras but Saints led 4-0.
Still inside the second quarter of the game Saints added a second try. The Saints forwards seem to have a certain license to pass at the line under Wellens and Walmsley’s pass to Mata’utia 30 metres out was the perfect demonstration. Mata’utia found Lewis Dodd on his shoulder and the halfback did the rest. It was his second try of the season having already posted one in the win over London Broncos. It was exactly the kind of support play you want to see from your seven, particularly playing behind a pack that dominates most games. There are a rich supply of try-scoring opportunities on offer for anyone who can get up on the shoulder of a Mata’utia, a Sironen or a Clark when they are running in space. Percival couldn’t add the extras, hitting the post this time but Saints led 8-0.
At this point things were looking a little bleak for the visitors. They weren’t helped by when Cade Cust sustained a head knock as he was twisted to the ground by Knowles. There were only a few charges from the Match Review Panel (MRP) this week so this classic piece of Knowles grubbery didn’t make the cut. However it did lead to the introduction of Atkin off the bench to replace Cust. The ex-Wigan man’s last act of the game was a dab into the Saints in-goal which had Brierley in a flap over an alleged obstruction. The incident also saw Walmsley leave the field with a head knock of his own. He was only a bit part player thereafter.
A minute later the Red Devils - note, not the City Reds Jon Wilkin - were on the scoreboard. Amir Bourouh is another ex-Warrior who now finds himself with the starting job at 9 after Andy Ackers left for Leeds. Bourouh found Sneyd who moved it on to Brierley on the left. His pass missed out Lafai and instead found Deon Cross who was able to step inside Makinson to score. Cross was released by Saints as a teenager but has really found some form at Salford over the last couple of seasons.
Saints have some well documented problems in the goal-kicking department but they are not shared with Rowley’s men. Marc Sneyd is as close as there is to an automatic goal-kicking machine in Super League. He landed this one from the North touchline - the wrong side for a left footed kicker - drawing his side to within two points at 8-6. He even celebrated with what is becoming a trademark salute in front of the fans in the stand on that side. Bold.
Of course there is much more to Percival than a goal-kicking problem. Over the next 10 minutes of this one he went through the whole repertoire. From the ridiculous to the sublime and then back to the ridiculous. Firstly he found himself in vast amounts if space inside the Salford half 10 minutes from halftime. As he cruised down the left edge with Bennison in support he surprised everyone - maybe even himself - by electing to kick ahead and chase. However he had put far too much weight on the kick which drifted dead in-goal.
Not deterred, the Saints centre made a more telling contribution soon after. Kallum Watkins was guilty of a handling error in his own quarter which put Saints in a great attacking position. From there Jonny Lomax took control, pacing along the Salford defensive line to no visible effect before finding a peach of a pass which hit Percival perfectly in stride amid some over relaxing defenders. The Saints centre breezed through untouched, dotting the ball down under the posts for his first try of 2024 and his 118th in Saints colours. He’d made the conversion easy for himself and Saints’ lead was back up to eight points at 14-6.
Saints had one more chance to bother the scorers before the break but after getting through the Red Devils’ line Welsby’s attempt to find Percival was snared by Chris Hankinson. It had hardly been an attacking masterclass but Saints looked fully in control at the interlude.
Just before we get there I’d like to talk once again about the absolute folly of the six again rule. Salford had one last use of the ball after Hankinson’s interception. It was a set which was inevitably one of the slowest on record as the Saints defenders sought to deny quick play-the-balls and limit the amount of defending required. When they overstepped the mark referee Tom Grant issued a six again call but really, what’s the point in that when there isn’t enough time left for another full set? If there isn’t an option for a full penalty then he might as well just wave play on. The six again rule was introduced at a very unusual time to deal with a very specific problem during the pandemic. It’s time has come and gone and it needs putting out of its misery.
Now that’s off my chest we can move on to the second half. And there’s really only one place to begin. Salford made a fast start when Nene McDonald put Cross through a gap and he made it all the way to within 25 metres of the Saints line. There was more than a suspicion of an obstruction in the build up but Cross was allowed to continue. On the next play McDonald found Sneyd who shuffled it on to Joe Shorrocks from whom it went on to Jack Ormondroyd.
Before he could make any significant progress the former Leeds man was met by Percival. Not many inside the ground would have seen the problem at full speed. Commentating for Sky, Wilkin called it great defence. Yet the lengthy delay in restarting play told you that this one was under review. Having seen it from a number of angles the decision by Grant to issue a red card to Percival is perfectly understandable. The Saints man makes no attempt to wrap his arms, instead making direct contact with the head of Ormondroyd with either his chest or his shoulder. Even Wilkin agreed when he saw it again.
Either way it was reckless and a bit lazy. Exactly the sort of challenge that the authorities are trying to get rid of with the tightening of the rules over the last couple of seasons but especially this season. You can dislike the rule, but since those are the rules the red card was a fair call. News has broken today that Saints do not intend to task Mike Rush and his crack legal team with launching an appeal against Percival’s two-game ban, which tells you exactly what they thought of it.
Of more immediate concern was the fact that Saints now faced 35 minutes or more with a numerical disadvantage in the personnel department. It’s hard to think of a more difficult team to face in those circumstance. Salford chance their arm, using the full width of the pitch. That’s extremely difficult to defend when you are shorthanded. And so it ultimately proved.
It also had an effect on the Saints attack initially. On their next serious raid the red vee were caught on the last as Welsby ran out of options amid some average organisation in the final quarter of the field. Salford too were taking a little time to adjust to their new found advantage. Moses Mbye was called upon to tidy up near his own goal-line when the otherwise flawless Sneyd managed not to hear a six again call and kicked ahead from what would have been a good attacking position.
Now Saints didn’t get where they are today by meekly surrendering in the face of adversity, so it was only mildly surprising when they extended the lead. Brierley’s pass out wide to Hankinson deep in Red Devils territory was ruled forward by Grant, which caused the Salford fullback to offer the referee a forceful opinion. Brierley was penalised for dissent which set up the position from where Dodd bagged his second try. Receiving possession from dummy half Mbye, Dodd impressively stepped away from both Sneyd and back rower Sam Stone to cross for his second try of the night.
With Percival now out of the picture and Makinson no longer seeming to fancy a shot at goal it was Dodd who converted his own try to push the lead out to 14 points at 20-6. It was the halfback’s first goal since a 22-18 win over Leeds in July of 2023. Dodd was a regular goal-kicker before he suffered a serious achilles injury early in 2022. He may have to step up into the role once more for the two games that Percival will miss.
Wellens could do worse than hand the job back permanently to Dodd despite the fact that he has only landed 13 goals in his 71 first team appearances to date. He=looks the best fit for what is proving to be an increasingly important role, provided it doesn’t pose a risk to his fitness. Saints need to solve the goal-kicking problem sooner rather than later. If they had made all of their attempts in this one - as Sneyd did - then we’d arguably have all been sticking around even longer in the St Helens chill for a little golden point extra time. If that doesn’t sound too appetising, I’d have taken it over a loss.
Salford only took five minutes to respond. It’s one thing having a man advantage but you can’t afford to hang around waiting for it to bear fruit, especially against this Saints defence. With that in mind Lafai set off on an explosive run just after the hour mark, only halted when he had got within five metres of the Saints line. There was more eyebrow raising among those of us on the side of the home team as it looked like Sneyd’s pass which set Lafai free had been forward. Much more forward than the one from Brierley to Hankinson which had been given and which led to Dodd’s second try.
So instead of taking possession on halfway Saints were left defending their own line. They couldn’t manage it as McDonald took Sneyd’s short ball and forced his way over. It was reviewed but sent up to video referee Marcus Griffiths as a try by Grant. It got the nod, and another Sneyd conversion later the gap was eight again at 20-12.
Saints were starting to cause their own problems, not least when the normally reliable Bennison fluffed a Sneyd bomb deep in Saints territory. The Red Devils half followed his kick to sweep up the possession himself. In the ensuing set Salford edged ever closer, Atkin darting between Sironen and George Delaney to go over by the posts. In the form he was in with the boot Sneyd could have backheeled the extras over. Saints’ lead was now only two points at 20-18. There were just over 10 minutes to try to hang on.
Which they could not do. Salford’s next attack petered out when McDonald’s offload trickled into touch but by now Saints were clinging on grimly. When the final blow came it was Sneyd at the heart of it, His pass to Lafai was perfectly weighted and directed to allow the Samoan centre to pirouette away from the lunge of Blake before firing an expertly flicked pass to Cross who got over for his second try. It was a sublime piece of skill from Lafai if a decidedly eccentric piece of defending from Saints’ new recruit. Already there are knives out for Blake in certain quarters among our notoriously impatient fan base. He’s hardly pulled up trees so far but it’s surely way too early to judge. He’s likely to get another couple of opportunities to impress over the next two games with Percival missing. The narrative around him could easily flip after those games.
Sneyd’s conversion meant that Saints needed a try to salvage anything in the time that remained. Wellens threw Walmsley - a fairly lesser spotted Walmsley in this one - back into the fray. Yet when the England prop’s opportunity came he spilled Mbye’s pass close to the line. More indiscipline scuppered Saints at this point as a bout of handbags wasted another valuable 45 seconds. When play restarted it was Salford’s turn to lie on repeatedly to close it out, knowing that any six agains conceded would be a non punishment. When they got there, it was Salford’s first win in St Helens since 1980. Forty-Four years ago.
In contrast to last week’s win over Leigh when several Saints made significant metres, only three reached 100 against Rowley’s men. Welsby led those with 129 while Curtis Sironen was not far behind on 124. The third was Knowles, who is maybe benefitting in this area from a slightly different role with James Bell flourishing at loose forward off the bench. For me there is a genuine debate to be had about whether Bell should now start at 13 with Knowles moving into the front row, especially if Matty Lees continues to be missing from the lineup.
Only Matt Whitley topped 30 tackles for Saints with 34. More tellingly, Saints’ usually watertight defence missed a total of 33 tackles, although there is mitigation in playing the bulk of the second half a man short.
Perhaps it is not surprising given Percival’s early exit that the Salford centres made hay. Lafai was the game’s top metre maker with 146 with McDonald literally a step behind on 145. Two-try Cross managed 112 while Hankinson ran for 108.
Salford’s defensive effort was led by Stone’s 40 tackles and Shorrocks’ 36. Bourouh made 34 stops on a busy night at nine.
Afterwards Wellens pointedly chose not to focus too much on Percival’s red card as a reason for the defeat. Instead he explained that he felt Saints lacked discipline - in terms of their execution rather than their penalty or card count - after the first 20 minutes. Whether you agree with him or not, not placing too much responsibility on Percival in public looks like a good bit of man management.
Normally at this point we’d take a look at our next opponent. However, the Challenge Cup draw means that Leeds Rhinos provide the opposition in our next two fixtures, both at Headingley on successive Friday nights. Both are huge games on the back of a loss but it is that cup tie on March 22 that is the real must win. There are no second chances in the Challenge Cup.
Following that Saints welcome Wigan for the Good Friday derby. Saints’ defeat means that the Warriors are the only unbeaten team remaining in Super League although they have played a game fewer due to their involvement in the World Club Challenge. Before they arrive in St Helens the champions’ unbeaten record goes on the line this week against…Salford.
If all that doesn’t look tough enough the difficult run continues when Saints travel to Perpignan to face Catalans Dragons at the start of April.
Although cup hopes go on the line at Leeds this run of games is unlikely to be season defining beyond that. But we could be about to learn a lot about Saints’ class of 24 over the next month.
Saints: Welsby, Makinson, Blake, Percival, Bennison, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Clark, Mata’utia, Whitley, Sironen, Knowles. Interchanges: Bell, Wingfield, Delaney, Mbye.
Salford: Brierley, Hankinson, McDonald, Lafai, Cross, Cust, Sneyd, Ormondroyd, Bourouh, Singleton, Stone, Watkins, Shorrocks. Interchanges: Atkin, Vuniyayawa, Wright, Hellewell
Referee: Tom Grant
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