Two games qualifies as a losing streak in these heady days in Saints history so it was with some relief that one of the weakest Hull FC teams in living memory were this week’s visitors.
After losing narrowly at Catalans Dragons and being blown out of the Challenge Cup by Warrington Paul Wellens’ side did everything that could have been expected of them - probably more than most of us expected - with a 58-0 demolition of the black and whites on Friday (April 19).
Saints scored 10 tries in the win, giving their points difference a welcome boost in the process. We should not underestimate the potential importance of that. It was the difference in the for and against columns which denied Saints a top two spot at the end of last season, consequently sending the then defending Super League champions to Perpignan for the semi-final rather than welcoming the Catalans Dragons at home. It was arguably decisive.
There’s a long way to go in the regular season but Saints now have a healthier points difference than either the Dragons or Wigan, as well as others threatening to break into this year’s top spots such as Warrington and Hull KR.
Meanwhile Hull remain on only one win from their first eight Super League encounters of 2024, that being a last gasp 28-24 success over London Broncos in early March. Their problems were never going to be a quick fix despite the removal of Head Coach Tony Smith and the arrival of new Director Of Rugby Richie Myler. There was little in this performance to suggest anything other than a hard slog ahead for the remainder of 2024 for Hull fans. IMG have ensured that it won’t matter but the realistic goal on the field will be to avoid finishing bottom of the pile. Performances like this one don’t make that an easy target to hit.
On the subject of bad performances Saints were coming off a shocker of their own after last week’s cup exit to the Wolves. In his post match press conference a crestfallen Wellens hinted at changes but quickly added the caveat that they wouldn’t be numerous and they wouldn’t be based on emotion.
As it was there two high profile names missing from the expected 17 when the lineups were named. Halfback Lewis Dodd and hooker Daryl Clark were conspicuous by their absence. The official line on Dodd was that he was set to start but withdrew late with a groin problem. Meanwhile the stated reason for Clark’s absence was a knee injury.
Jon Bennison was apparently set to be left out but Dodd’s injury earned him a reprieve. He was switched to fullback to allow Jack Welsby to partner Jonny Lomax in the halves. Without Clark Moses Mbye was the lone hooker in the squad, and he’s not exactly a specialist. Mark Percival returned at centre after concussion protocols forced him to miss the defeats to Catalans and Warrington, while Matty Lees was back from a two-game absence of his own through suspension.
Percival’s inclusion meant Waqa Blake shifted out to the wing from centre while Sione Mata’utia - a starter at centre against Warrington - began this one at prop. Make your own mind up about whether Mata’utia is just that versatile - a Swiss army knife of a player - or whether you think Wellens is just that confused about the best use of the former Newcastle Knight.
The decision may have disappointed George Delaney who started the last two in Lees’ absence but could not keep a starting role despite the loss of Alex Walmsley with a hamstring injury. There was also a change in the second row where Matt Whitley was restored to the starting lineup. Curtis Sironen hit the bench alongside Delaney, James Bell and - after an eternity as 18th man - Ben Davies.
Hull interim coach Scott Grix was forced into making at least two changes from the team which had lost 56-22 at home to Huddersfield Giants a fortnight earlier. The turbulence which eventually saw Smith leave and Myler arrive had also seen both Tex Hoy and Nu Brown released from their contracts. Ligi Sao and Jack Brown’s suspensions limited Grix’s options further. His 17 had an average age of just over 21 with Logan Moy, Matty Laidlaw, Zach Jebson, Will Gardiner, Jack Charles and Lewis Martin all involved. By contrast Saints’ 17 had an average age of over 27. It literally was men against boys. Visibly so, for the most part.
That was in evidence just three minutes in when Tommy Makinson scored the first of Saints’ 10 tries on the night. Mbye, Lomax and Welsby moved the ball right to Konrad Hurrell who looked as though he could have crashed over himself but instead chose to give Makinson the honour. The England winger just about squeezed in at the right hand corner for his fifth try of the season and his 198th in a Saints shirt. Percival was back on goal-kicking duty on his return and it looked like he had been practising as his first attempt sailed over from the south touchline.
It was a whole 10 minutes before Saints scored again. This time Morgan Knowles created the opportunity with a neat pass which put Mata’utia through the line. As he broke upfield he found Lomax on his inside with a clear run to the line. Percival’s task was much simpler this time from in front and Wellens’ men led 12-0.
With Hull struggling to make metres Saints were dominant. Blake was next to go over after a period of sustained pressure in which FC were forced into two consecutive goal-line dropouts. Again Mbye, Lomax and Welsby started the movement, sweeping it left to Whitley who found Welsby with an offload. Welsby dummied before finding Percival who danced around a defender to give Blake a walk in. The Widnesian centre was on target with the extras again for an 18-0 lead. The pattern of the game was just about set.
Bell came off the bench around the 25 minute mark and was on the scoresheet within eight minutes. He received the ball 10 metres out from Mbye before jinking his way past two black and white defenders and ploughing through another couple to touch down. Bell has caught the eye for Saints this year especially, yet for all his industry and class that was just his sixth try for the club in 57 appearances. His first since a 24-20 win at Warrington last July. Another routine Percival conversion had Saints 24-0 up.
That was the last of the scoring before the break but Saints should perhaps have added one more four-pointer. And most observers inside the stadium - including the players on the field- thought they had after a video refereeing error by Liam Moore. Asked by on-field referee Tom Grant to rule on whether Hurrell had grounded the ball after being fed by Lomax the Wigan whistler decided that the Tongan had only done so short of the line before losing control.
This was evident if you were watching on TV and listening to Moore’s explanation. Clearly he had just somehow managed to press the wrong button. Like Alan Partridge getting confused about whether he wanted to continue watching that adult movie in his hotel room or not. Yet in the ground with the giant scoreboard and game clock obscuring the evidence on the screen there was a fair bit of head scratching going on when Grant summoned the two packs to form the scrum. Not the first time this year already that Moore has been involved in some comedy decision making. Ask the good people of Penrith.
An accidental offside set Saints up for their next score just two minutes into the second half. Lomax was the architect once more - one of three try assists on the night for the skipper. His inside ball might have looked eerily like something from the Keiron Cunningham era but when married to the impeccable line run by Joe Batchelor it was ruthlessly effective. Batchelor was another notching his first try of 2024 despite having managed a respectable 21 in his 57 Saints appearances to date. Prior to this effort his last one had been in that epic 22-12 win over Leigh Leopards in September. Percival stayed perfect with the boot to stretch the lead to 30-0.
His only miss would come four minutes later as he attempted to convert his own try. Mbye and Sironen shifted it left to Lomax whose perfectly timed pass allowed Percival to get outside Davy Litten to stroll in. No sooner had Percival failed with the conversion than he was withdrawn by his Head Coach. Job done and no need to risk any injuries, particularly after a longer than anticipated spell out of the side due to concussion protocols. His exit allowed Davies to get on the field for only the second time in 2024 and the first time since the opening night win over London Broncos.
Denied earlier Hurrell did manage to cross for a try with half an hour left. The position was set up by his pass to Makinson which set the latter free on a 30-metre jaunt down the right edge of Saints’ attack. He turned it inside to Bennison who was promptly flattened by the covering defence. Yet after Hull were caught offside Mbye and Lomax found Welsby whose silky catch and pass allowed Hurrell to take the shortest route to the try line. That being directly through anyone brave enough to stand in his way. Bennison took over the goal-kicking duties and had clearly been taking notes on Percival’s successes as he nailed it from the north sideline for a 40-0 lead.
Despite great effort and signs of potential for the future FC were being hammered physically. That point was accentuated once more when Sironen was next to go over for the hosts. Lomax provided the ammunition just outside the Hull 10 metre line and the back rower simply barged his way through the posse of defenders attempting to stop him. Another Bennison conversion opened up a 46-0 advantage.
Twelve minutes from the end Davies registered his first try assist of the year as Blake grabbed a second score of the night. The link up was familiar - and one that Hull defenders might still be seeing in their sleep - as Mbye, Lomax and Welsby combined to find Davies. His task in finding Blake outside him was simple.
The ex-Parramatta man - who let’s not forget is meant to be a centre - showed a winger’s instinct in cutting inside the last defender to help improve the angle for another Bennison conversion. The fullback obliged to take Saints past the half century at 52-0. It was the first time they had reached that particular milestone since a 60-6 win over the same opponents in July 2022. Must be something about Hull. Like the fact that they are - as the cool kids now say - absolute pony. Or not very good to you and me.
Grix’s boys had to suffer one more blow before the end. Welsby managed the sixth try of his campaign so far, running a line any forward would have been proud of to take advantage of another scoring pass served up by Lomax. Bennison’s third conversion was his 11th goal in Saints colours and rounded off the scoring with Saints just two shy of a 60-point haul. Yet importantly they had managed another shutout at the defensive end after the alarming leaks sprung by Warrington’s pacy attack in the Challenge Cup last week.
Despite the emphatic nature of this win it remains hard to draw too many conclusions. FC’s young side were physically outmatched to the point where their skill levels almost became an irrelevance. Without any kind of platform in the forwards they were never going to be able to emulate Warrington’s strategy of drawing in bigger defenders before going to an edge quickly to exploit Saints’ lack of pace out wide.
Of all the dominant defensive displays Saints have produced this year this was perhaps the most comfortable. There were very few - if any moments when Grix’s side looked likely to breach the Saints defensive line to make a break much less their try line. Which is helpful for Saints’ incredible defensive statistics in the early part of 2024. In 20 completed halves of rugby league in all competitions Saints have held their opponents scoreless in nine of them. They are conceding only just over eight points per game in Super League which will give you a chance however slow and unadventurous your attack is. And you aren’t going to have any problems with short kick-offs if you don’t concede any points. Rohan, take note.
Hull were poor, and have so much to sort out amid rumours this week that Salford Head Coach Paul Rowley might be on his way to help Myler and company start the job. But from a Saints perspective you can only beat what is put in front of you. There isn’t really much more you can do than rack up 58 points while keeping the back door firmly locked. Some of the action was even quite entertaining at times, which has to be seen as progress.
Unsurprisingly there were a number of Saints making hay as the sun shone in terms of metre making. Top of the pops this week was Whitley with 152, while Blake added 126 and Mata’utia 119. Apropos of nothing I hope the West Stand don’t intend to keep their ‘Shagger Blake’ song on the terrace hit parade going forward. Sung to the tune of KC And The Sunshine Band’s ‘Give It Up’ it’s slightly witless and does a rather cringey job of both mocking and celebrating the pissed up actions of a player who - despite his two tries in this one - has not exactly earned the right to be given his own chant just yet. And besides, there was very little sunshine among the chant creators when KC was last here.
Back to the stats where Knowles (105) and Lees (104) were the other Saints to stand out. No Hull player managed to make 100 metres with Herman Ese’ese their best with 90.
The limitations of the young FC attack is summed up by the fact that despite registering another clean sheet the Saints defence wasn’t exactly overworked. This column often uses 30 tackles as the barometer for an exceptional individual defensive effort yet Batchelor’s 25 was the highest necessary by any Saint. Contrast that with Hull for whom Danny Houghton - who appears to be but isn’t actually older than the rest of his team mates combined - and Joe Cator made 36 tackles each. Will Gardiner added 33 and Ese’ese 32. It was a long night for the FC in defence.
It’s what is annoyingly referred to as a short turnaround this week as Huddersfield Giants visit on Thursday (April 25). The ease of this victory has not convinced me that the changes made by Wellens for the Hull win are irreversible. Clark has to be involved if fit no matter how many tries in this one began with a decent pass from dummy half by Mbye, while I’m unconvinced by Bennison as an attacking fullback.
He can fulfil the duties of a traditional fullback like fielding high balls, covering line breaks and maybe even marshalling a defensive line as he matures, but he doesn’t appear to have the attacking qualities of the 21st century fullback. For that you need fast, reliable hands and a sense of awareness which allows you to pick the right pass to break down a defence. The instincts of a halfback, in other words.
You might argue that it’s worth sacrificing those attributes in a fullback to get Welsby into the halves. And after a sticky start with some errant passing in the first 20 minutes we saw the best of Lomax alongside him. It’s a debate. And it’s not like Dodd’s form demands a recall. I’m just saying that rather than solving the problems we had the alternatives we found to dispatch Hull are much of a much compared with what we already had.
The Giants will be arriving on the back of a comeback win over Leeds last time out but are likely to find Saints a somewhat tougher nut to crack. If Head Coach Ian Watson persists with his dream of emulating Saints’ style of play be is likely to find his side run out of town irrespective of the lineup chosen by Wellens.
Handily, there might be a job coming up at Watson’s old club so I hear.
Saints: Bennison, Makinson, Hurrell, Percival, Blake, Welsby, Lomax, Lees, Mbye, Mata’utia, Whitley, Batchelor, Knowles. Interchanges: Bell, Sironen, Delaney, Davies
Hull FC: Moy, McIntosh, Litten, Sutcliffe, Martin, Smith, Charles, Ese’ese, Houghton, Pele, Lane, Scott, Cator. Interchanges: Balmforth, Laidlaw, Gardiner, Jebson
Referee: Tom Grant
Video Referee: Liam Moore
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