We might find out a bit more about the title credentials of table-topping Saints this week as they host Catalans Dragons on Friday night (May 31, kick-off 8.00pm).
Saints have shot to the top of the table with back-to-back wins in which they scored a combined total of 100 points in seeing off Castleford Tigers and Leeds Rhinos. Wigan and Warrington are breathing down their necks but face each other this week in a pre-Challenge Cup final phoney war. That presents Saints with a chance to pull away from one of those two by making a statement and beating another genuine contender in Steve McNamara’s Dragons.
The French side sit fifth in the table coming into this one, though only points difference keeps them behind fourth-placed Hull KR. Both are only two points behind the leading three teams in what is still a tight and congested top five. Yet the 2023 Grand Finalists are in the midst of something of a blip having lost three of their last four league outings against Leigh, Wigan and Warrington. The only win they managed during that run was a 26-0 success over the Rhinos. And nobody writes home about beating the current Leeds outfit.
Head Coach Paul Wellens already had injury worries going into the Leeds game and he was presented with two more by the end of it. Jake Wingfield, Matt Whitley, Alex Walmsley and Morgan Knowles were all absent and will be for some time. They were joined on the injured list by Joe Batchelor and Jonny Lomax. Batchelor sustained ankle ligament damage after he was the victim of a hip drop from Leeds youngster Luis Roberts while Lomax’s fractured hand looked more accidental. But it is no less significant for that.
Wellens has already said that Jack Welsby will stand in for Lomax as skipper but it remains unlikely that he will cover for him at stand-off. Wellens seems to like the way Moses Mbye has operated in the halves when called upon this year and so we should probably expect him to feature there alongside Lewis Dodd. That would leave Welsby to continue at fullback. The other option would be to bring Jon Bennison in and push Welsby up alongside Dodd. But Wellens appears to have lost faith in Bennison since dragging him off early in the win over Huddersfield Giants in mid-April.
The number of times we will see Tommy Makinson in the red vee (actually, we are playing in black this week despite being at home) is now limited. Enjoy him while you can as he lines up on the right wing opposite Waqa Blake with Mark Percival and Konrad Hurrell at the centre positions.
In the absence of Walmsley the pack is led by Matty Lees. He has had Sione Mata’utia for company in the front row until now but with both Whitley and Batchelor out of contention the former Newcastle Knight may be needed further towards the back of the pack. Curtis Sironen’s form is a reason to be cheerful so expect the second row to be formed by him and one other, with Sam Royle also in contention should Wellens feel that Mata’utia is still needed at prop. George Delaney and youngster Noah Stephens offer youthful impact in the front row also while Agnatius Paasi is again named in the 21 despite not quite making it into the match day 17 which faced Leeds last time out. With Mbye possibly pressed into service elsewhere Wellens may hope to get the full 80 minutes out of Daryl Clark at hooker. Jake Burns plays nine but this would be a heck of a fixture to throw him into for a competitive debut.
With Knowles out James Bell is the obvious choice at loose forward. It’s almost certain that there will be some youth on the bench besides Stephens with Burns, loose forward Leon Cowen and Johnny Vaughan all in the initial selection.
McNamara has problems of his own on the injury front. He has been forced into four changes to his 21. Arthur Romano, Mike McMeeken, Paul Seguier and Alrix Da Costa are all out. In come winger Fouad Yaha, loose forwards Loan Castano and Yacine Ben Abdeslem as well as centre Guillermo Aispuro - Bichet.
Matthieu Laguerre looks the likely replacement for Romano at centre where he should be partnered by former Sydney Rooster Matt Ikuvalu. Yaha will hope to challenge for a wing spot but although both are set to leave the club at the end of the season he will find it difficult to budge one of the two Toms - Davies or Johnstone. Since the retirement of Sam Tomkins Arthur Mourgue has established himself at fullback.
Jordan Abdull hasn’t yet proved himself to be the quality signing he was thought to be when he joined on loan from Hull KR. He’s nevertheless in line to start in the midfield ideas department. The explosive Jayden Nikorima might partner him if Theo Fages is asked to stand in for Da Costa at hooker. Fages split fan opinion during his five years at Saints but he did manage to win two Super League Grand Finals and a Challenge Cup after arriving from Salford. A short spell at Huddersfield followed before he headed back home to France.
The veteran Julien Bousquet will be charged with taking it to the Saints pack. He could be joined by former Wigan man Romain Navarrete. Tariq Sims should feature in the back row while we could see a clash within the Sironen family if Curtis’ brother Bayley is also included. Ben Garcia is a highly influential figure who can play anywhere in the pack but is most likely to feature at loose forward.
The sides have met once already this season. Saints went down 14-8 in Perpignan in April. Tries from Makinson and Welsby weren’t enough for Saints as three Mourgue goals proved the difference after tries from Ikuvalu and McMeeken.
It was a fairly similar story in the meeting prior to that. No Saints fan will need reminding of Tomkins’ last-gasp moment of inspiration which allowed the Dragons to progress to Old Trafford in October at Saints’ expense. That followed two league clashes, both of which were won by the French side. They triumphed 24-12 in Perpignan in April of 2023 and then edged Saints 14-12 on their own patch in July of that year. Saints’ last victory over the Dragons came in April of 2022 when tries from Welsby, Percival, Dodd, Batchelor, Knowles and Dan Norman together with six Makinson goals sealed a 36-20 success at the Stade Brutus Gilbert.
The Dragons are only 18 years old as a Super League entity which is perhaps not long enough to have faced Saints in too many really high stakes games. The 2021 Super League Grand Final stands out. Saints prevailed 12-10 on that occasion thanks largely to a couple of Kevin Naiqama scores.
Probably the most important win in this fixture for the Dragons over those 18 years was their 35-16 Challenge Cup semi-final triumph at Bolton in August 2018. It’s a game remembered by most Saints fans as the one where Ben Barba stopped being Ben Barba and started to be…well…a different sort of Ben Barba. For Dragons fans it was a crucial step on the way to winning the cup as they beat Warrington 20-14 at Wembley.
That success led to a League Leaders Shield in 2021 but the big prize of the Super League title itself has so far eluded them. As much as Saints will want to make a statement this is also an opportunity for McNamara’s men to demonstrate that they too will be in the shake-up come September and October.
With so many key forwards missing it’s a golden opportunity for the Dragons to get the win. Saints are strong at home but not infallible as Salford Red Devils and Warrington have already shown in 2024. This is a tough one to call and there might not be more than a converted try in it. Saints by 6.
Squads;
Saints;
1.Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Waqa Blake, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Jon Bennison, 7. Lewis Dodd, 9. Daryl Clark, 10. Matty Lees, 11. Sione Mata’utia, 14. Moses Mbye, 15. James Bell, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 20. George Delaney, 21. Ben Davies, 22. Sam Royle, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Jake Burns, 30. Jonny Vaughan, 31. Noah Stephens, 32. Leon Cowen.
Catalans Dragons;
1. Arthur Mourgue 2. Tom Davies 4. Matthieu Laguerre 5. Fouad Yaha 6. Jayden Nikorima 7. Théo Fages 10. Julian Bousquet 11. Tariq Sims 13. Benjamin Gracia 15. Bayley Sironen 16. Romain Navarrete 17. César Rouge 20. Chris Satae 21. Matt Ikuvalu 23. Jordan Dezaria 24. Tom Johnstone 25. Loan Castano 27. Jordan Abdull 28. Franck Maria 30. Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet 32. Yacine Ben Abdeslem
Referee: Aaron Moore
Video Referee: Jack Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment