A return to the top of the Super League table is on offer to Saints when they visit the Salford Community Stadium to take on the Red Devils on Sunday afternoon (June 23, kick-off 3.00pm).
Paul Wellens’ men have been temporarily leapfrogged by Wigan after the Warriors’ 36-0 win over London Broncos on Friday night (June 21). Yet that wasn’t a big enough margin of victory for Matty Peet’s side to overhaul their points difference deficit to Saints, meaning the red vee will go back to the summit with any win over Paul Rowley’s side.
It’s been a testing time for the Red Devils in what is otherwise turning out to be a promising season. They sit fifth in the table going into this one having won 25-14 at Warrington last time out. That victory was their ninth in 14 league games this term. A win here would leave them just two points behind Saints ahead of next week’s international break.
Yet off the field there is the usual level of uncertainty and turmoil which is so often associated with Salford. Director Of Rugby Ian Blease left the club to take on a similar role at Leeds Rhinos a couple of weeks ago. The subsequent parting of the ways between the Rhinos and Head Coach Rohan Smith led to some predictable but no less troubling speculation linking Rowley with the Headingley hot seat. All of which came after similar gossip around Rowley and Hull FC when Richie Myler took over the Director Of Rugby role at the MKM Stadium earlier in the campaign. Rowley remains in place for now and whether his head has been turned or not the chat is an unhelpful distraction to a team with realistic playoff ambitions.
Wellens was able to name an unchanged 17 for last week’s 52-6 stroll over the Broncos. Yet only a minute into that game he knew he’d have to make a change for this one as Tommy Makinson suffered a foot injury. It will keep him out for four to six weeks of his final season at Saints before he makes the switch to Catalans Dragons. He is replaced in the initial 21-man party by Tee Ritson. His last appearance was in the 40-20 hammering by Hull KR on May 4. Like Ritson, Jon Bennison has struggled similarly for game time having not featured since the 13-12 win over Huddersfield Giants in April. He offers another option to Wellens on the wing.
Opposite whoever gets the nod between those two should be former Parramatta Eels man Waqa Blake with Mark Percival and Konrad Hurrell the centre partnership ahead of fullback Jack Welsby.
Elsewhere injuries are still biting. Alex Walmsley, Matt Whitley and Jake Wingfield are all months away from a return to first team action while Saints are still without Jonny Lomax, Morgan Knowles and Joe Batchelor. Sione Mata’utia should continue to fill in for Batchelor in the second row alongside Curtis Sironen while Knowles’ absence is affording James Bell an extended run as the starting loose forward.
With Mata’utia having moved out of the front row George Delaney is now a likely starter at prop alongside Matty Lees with Daryl Clark at hooker. Noah Stephens and Agnatius Paasi are the bench props, taking a seat at the start most likely alongside back rower Sam Royle and Ben Davies.
Lomax is thought to be in contention for the home game with Castleford which follows the international break. However, for now his place in the halves alongside Lewis Dodd will be taken by Moses Mbye. Having spent much of his Saints career to date as a backup hooker he has shown his versatility in making the switch to the creative department. He scored a try and had two assists against the Broncos last week but it is the much needed variation he has brought to Saints’ kicking game that has been arguably his most important contribution.
As if to emphasise a constant sense that Salford are up against it Rowley is only able to name 20 players in his squad. On closer inspection however that is largely down to his decision to send hooker Amir Bourouh on loan to Barrow to get some playing time. The much travelled Joe Mellor filled the nine role in the win over the Wolves and could be set to do so again.
Ryan Brierley is still not fully fit and so misses out along with stand-off Cade Cust. Another ex-Wigan man looks set to deputise for Brierley at fullback in Chris Hankinson while Chris Atkin is the likely halfback partner to Marc Sneyd in the absence of Cust.
Salford’s speed in the three-quarters is one area where they would seem to hold an advantage. Centres Nene McDonald and Tim Lafai are devastating if they wake up on the right side of the bed and are ably supported by wingers Ethan Ryan and Deon Cross. Rowley will have noted how Hull KR and Warrington were able to get quick ball to their pace men to cause the formidable Saints defence real problems. It’s a concern that if there is a side which has the attributes and the tactical set up to exploit Saints’ weaknesses it is this Red Devils side.
Despite the injuries you would still expect Saints to be more than a match for Salford’s pack. Joining Mellor in the front row should be ex-Wigan and Leeds villain Brad Singleton and ex-North Queensland Cowboy Shane Wright. Backing up that pair could be the veteran Gil Dudson and a man at the other end of the scale in terms of experience in Harvey Wilson.
On the subject of experience few players knocking around Super League at the moment have it to the level of Kallum Watkins. Formerly an explosive centre in Leeds Rhinos’ Grand Final winning sides of 2012, 2015 and 2017 the 33 year-old is now a consistent presence in the Red Devils’ second row. He’s joined there by Sam Stone, a former Newcastle Knight and Gold Coast Titan who agreed a new deal this week which will keep him at the Red Devils until at least 2026. In a side with a heavy ex-Wigan influence Oliver Partington and Joe Shorrocks are both candidates to line up behind Watkins and Stone at loose forward.
The teams have already met once this season. Salford were the first team to beat Saints in 2024 when they won 24-20 in early March. It was the first time they had beaten Saints in the town of St Helens for over 40 years. In truth it owed much to the dismissal of Percival early in the second half but whatever the circumstances it will have given Rowley’s men all the belief they need going into this one.
Saints did win on their last visit to Salford. Tries by Welsby, Makinson and a rare effort from Lees saw them edge it 18-15 having already prevailed 26-14 at home earlier in the year. Still you don’t have to go back too far to find a bad memory of Saints playing in Salford. They were routed 44-12 there in July 2022 in a game which saw Regan Grace suffer the ruptured achilles which would bring an end to his Saints career.
Later that season the sides met in the Super League semi-final. On that occasions Saints made it through to a fourth consecutive Grand Final with a 19-12 success before going on to secure a fourth successive title with victory over Leeds at Old Trafford. That run of titles had started with a Grand Final win over the Red Devils in 2019 when Justin Holbrook’s Saints triumphed 23-6.
Saints fans will be nervous about this one knowing what has happened when faced with similar playing styles in 2024. It hasn’t gone well against sides prepared to get away from the trenches and challenge Saints on the edges. The absence of Makinson will do nothing to assuage those fears.
The good news is that the Saints attack has been improving in recent weeks. The half century against London came on the back of the 60 they rattled past Castleford. You get the feeling Saints will need that attacking form to continue if they are going to see off the very credible threat of a side which continues to surprise regardless of what is going on behind the scenes.
Squads;
Salford Red Devils;
2. Ethan Ryan 3. Nene McDonald 4. Tim Lafai 5. Deon Cross 7. Marc Sneyd 8. Brad Singleton 10. King Vuniyayawa 11. Sam Stone 12. Kallum Watkins 13. Oliver Partington 14. Chris Atkin 15. Shane Wright 16. Joe Shorrocks 22. Kai Morgan 23. Chris Hankinson 24. Joe Mellor 26. Nathan Connell 27. Gil Dudson 28. Harvey Wilson 29. Loghan Lewis
Saints;
1. Jack Welsby, 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, 25. Tee Ritson, 30. Jonny Vaughan, 31. Noah Stephens, 33. Harry Robertson.
Referee: Jack Smith
Video Referee: Chris Kendall
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