Time for a break from Super League concerns as Saints host Warrington Wolves in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals on Sunday afternoon (April 14, kick-off 4.30pm).
Paul Wellens’ side suffered a second league defeat of the season last time out, going down 14-8 in Perpignan to Catalans Dragons. It was a result which left the 10-time Super League champions fifth in the table after seven rounds, yet only points difference separates them from the second placed Wolves. The pair are only two points behind the Dragons at the top, with Wigan and Hull KR also in that group just one win behind the French outfit.
It will be Wembley and not Old Trafford on minds this weekend. Wellens has made just one change to the 21-man squad which was on duty last week. Waqa Blake turned out for the reserves last weekend after what might be most euphemistically described as some disciplinary issues.
The former Parramatta Eel is in contention again for this one. His return could be timely with Mark Percival missing out again. The centre has required extra consultation following a head injury suffered in the Good Friday victory over Wigan Warriors. This has meant that he has not been able to return after the 11 day period which is now the minimum following a failed head injury assessment.
Also out is forward Jake Wingfield. He has come off the bench in all eight of Saints’ matches in league and cup so far in 2024 but is ruled out of this one with a shoulder problem. Matty Lees serves the second of his two-match suspension picked up in the derby, suggesting that Alex Walmsley and George Delaney will again be the starting props.
Walmsley is celebrating a new two-year deal with the club which should ensure he remains a Saint until the end of the end of the 2026 season. By that time he will be 36 years old and will have spent 13 years in the red vee after arriving from Batley Bulldogs.
Daryl Clark is included despite suffering a rib injury in France while in the back row Matt Whitley, James Batchelor, Curtis Sironen, Morgan Knowles and James Bell are all in contention. If Blake is selected then it could allow Sione Mata’utia to revert to a role in the front row off the bench. Otherwise, expect the former Newcastle Knight to remain in the backs alongside Konrad Hurrell and wing pair Tommy Makinson and Jon Bennison.
The creative department should remain intact, with fullback Jack Welsby trying to find the weaknesses in the defence alongside halfback pairing Jonny Lomax and Lewis Dodd.
The Wolves have made a solid start to 2024 under new Head Coach Sam Burgess. Like Saints they have suffered only two defeats from their opening seven Super League matches. Both of those reverses have been inflicted by Steve McNamara’s Dragons. The league leaders won 16-10 in Perpignan in the season opener in mid February and then went to the Halliwell Jones in Round six at the end of March and emerged with a 32–24 win.
It’s another promising start, yet no Wire fan will need reminding that they made an even stronger beginning to 2023 and still ended the campaign potless. Add to that the fact that their record at St Helens in the Super League era – whichever venue you care to look at – is pretty dismal and the task looks challenging. This is a serious test of their credentials, and those of their rookie coach. Although a superstar player for many years, Burgess has it all to prove as a Head Coach having been appointed to the role following a stint as an assistant at South Sydney Rabbitohs.
He can welcome back Joe Philbin to his 21-man selection after the 29 year-old missed last week’s 34-8 win over Leeds Rhinos due to concussion protocols. However, pack talisman Paul Vaughan is out suspended. That’s a worry for Burgess given where the strength of the Saints team undoubtedly lies. In his six appearances so far in 2024 Vaughan averages close to 140 metres per game. That after making more metres in his debut season in Super League in 2023 than anyone except Leigh’s Tom Amone and the Dragons winger Tom Johnstone. That’s not the sort of player you want to be without when you’re going up against Walmsley et al.
In Vaughn’s absence James Harrison and Jordy Crowther did a fine job against Rohan Smith’s side but this Saints pack is a different proposition from the one currently operating at Leeds. At hooker the battle between Saints’ former Wolves stalwart Clark and his erstwhile apprentice Danny Walker looks a fascinating one. Walker had started to edge Clark to the interchange bench in the latter part of his Wire career but since his switch to Saints the 2014 Man Of Steel has shown that he is still among the league’s best in the role.
The backups will play a key role too. Former Wigan Grand Final winner Sam Powell is now Walker’s deputy while Moses Mbye is fairly well established as the Saints alternative since replacing Joey Lussick at the club late last season. The week has also seen Warrington allow Brad Dwyer to make his loan move to Leigh permanent. The former Leeds Rhino never made a single appearance after rejoining Wire following a spell at Hull FC. Which if nothing else suggests that Burgess the coach is a man who knows what he wants (and what he doesn’t want) and is ruthless enough to avoid wasting time when it comes to the pursuit of it.
Zane Musgrove is another forward missing for Burgess. Behind the front three Matty Nicholson, Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Ben Currie are handy enough but again you’d question whether there is the depth that is available to Wellens.
If there are reasons to be wary as a Saints fan then the extra pace in the visitors’ back line might be the thing that keeps you awake at night. Matt Dufty might be a figure of fun following Bennison’s now legendary dummy on his way to the try line during Saints’ 28-6 win when the Wolves visited in the league last April, but if the fullback finds himself in anything resembling space in attack you might as well shut the gate and tick the scoreboard over by four. There is nobody in this current Saints outfit capable of catching the ex St George-Illawarra man.
Meanwhile the name of Matty Ashton has popped up consistently on social media during the discussions about which Wire players would make it into a combined Warrington-Saints line-up. He may not be the all round winger that Makinson is but his pace is something which Wellens’ back line is sorely lacking. Theirs is another one-on-one duel that could be worth the admission price. Even if you are a season ticket holder reluctant to fork out the extra dough for cup tickets.
Along with Ashton and Dufty - who unsurprisingly didn’t make it into too many combined team selections ahead of Welsby - Wire have further speed that could trouble Saints in the shape of Josh Thewlis and Connor Wrench while if selected Toby King and Stefan Ratchford bring a wealth of experience.
Ratchford also brings goal-kicking expertise. The former Salford man has made 19 of 21 attempts so far this term. If Wire can keep it close that could be crucial given that between four different goal-kickers so far in 2024 Saints have managed to miss the target on 12 occasions from 29 attempts. Only Hull KR have spurned more two-point opportunities than that so far this season.
Burgess may have a decision to make in the halves where George Williams dominates. He has been assisted by youngster Leon Hayes in recent weeks with Josh Drinkwater having not featured since the 30-8 win over Castleford at the start of March. The former Catalans Dragon is back in contention, leaving Burgess to decide whether to go with his experience for a game of this magnitude or else trust 20 year-old Hayes to continue. In fairness his form has been a highlight of recent Warrington displays. One of Hayes or Drinkwater could find a place on the bench alongside Powell and maybe props Joe Bullock and Adam Holroyd. If that were to happen it would probably be at the expense of 19 year-old forward Max Wood.
That 28-6 success was one of four meetings between the sides in 2023 including the playoffs. Saints came out on top in all four, finally bringing the curtain down on another frustrating, underwhelming campaign for Warrington with a 16-8 playoff win at the end of September.
The story has been slightly different in the cup in recent times. The 2019 final at Wembley jumps out as a particularly nasty nip of a memory. Clark was a try scorer in primrose and blue that day as he helped the Wolves pull off a shock 18-4 win against a Saints side about to embark on unprecedented Super League dominance with four Grand Final wins in a row.
The Wolves also ended Saints’ cup hopes a year later, winning 20-18 at Salford’s AJ Bell Stadium at the last eight stage when Covid closed the doors to fans and saw liberal use of neutral grounds as a consequence. Saints’ last Challenge Cup success over Wire was back in 2008 when two tries from Willie Talau and further efforts from Ade Gardner, Francis Meli, Lee Gilmour, Chris Flannery and Paul Clough saw Daniel Anderson’s side win a wild one 40-34 en route to a third successive cup victory.
The Burgess factor makes Wire something closer to an unknown quantity even if many of the players on both sides will be familiar with each other. Whether the influence of the new coach will be enough to change around their fortunes in the town of St Helens is questionable. There remains the feeling that Wire will find a way to lose to their old local rivals who - despite so far failing to solve their attacking riddles - are still the benchmark when it comes to defence. Saints by 8.
Squads;
St Helens;
1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Waqa Blake, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. Daryl Clark, 11. Sione Mata’utia, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Moses Mbye, 15. James Bell, 16. Curtis Sironen, 19. Matt Whitley, 20. George Delaney, 21. Ben Davies, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Jake Burns, 25. Tee Ritson, 31. Noah Stephens.
Warrington Wolves;
1. Matt Dufty 2. Josh Thewlis 3. Toby King 4. Stefan Ratchford 5. Matty Ashton 6. George Williams 7. Josh Drinkwater 8. James Harrison 9. Danny Walker 11. Ben Currie 12. Lachlan Fitzgibbon 13. Matty Nicholson 15. Joe Philbin 17. Jordy Crowther 18. Leon Hayes, 19. Joe Bullock 20. Connor Wrench 28. Adam Holroyd 29. Tom Whitehead 32. Sam Powell 34. Max Wood
Referee: Jack Smith
Video Referee: James Vella
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