The threat of five Super League defeats on the bounce hangs over Saints when they visit Leigh Leopards on Friday night (July 26, kick-off 8.00pm).
Saints Head Coach Paul Wellens has really started to attract some negative attention from sections of the fan base. Defeats at Salford, at home to Castleford, at Wigan and then when Warrington visited last week have left many wondering where the next win is coming from. Saints have slumped from second to fourth in the Super League table and could conceivably fall out of the top six if they can’t shift their direction of travel soon.
The club has yet to announce it but there have been strong suggestions that former academy graduate turned bright young thing of NRL coaching Lee Briers is heading back to his home town for 2025. Not to take over the top job but to assist Wellens. Because it worked so well the last time a maverick former Saints halfback teamed up with a locally born modern great of the game.
The difference might be that Briers has been gaining valuable experience as an assistant coach in places other than his boyhood club’s training pitch.. After being released by Warrington he put a peg on his nose and joined Wigan. Latterly he has been working on developing the talent at Brisbane Broncos while earning quite the reputation for himself. What could possibly go wrong?
While we’re on rumours it has also been suggested that Broncos fullback or stand-off Tristan Sailor will be arriving with Briers. The 26 year-old is the son of dual-code wing legend Wendell Sailor. Although that hasn’t helped him get into the Broncos team ahead of Reece Walsh or Ezra Mam. Still if he does end up in the red vee he should at least add some much needed pace and guile to a back line which has gone way past stagnant and was last seen taking a left off the corner of pedestrian and clueless.
Injuries have played a part in that so to have Tommy Makinson back in contention is a very welcome boost. The winger injured his foot in the opening moments of Saints’ last win - a 52-6 success at London Broncos all the way back on June 16. It was obvious he would be missed but failing to win any of the four games since then is still surprising and not a little alarming. If he is fit he should start. The omission of Ritson from the 21 would seem to suggest that Makinson is ready to go.
If that is the case what will Wellens do with the rest of the back line? Konrad Hurrell is out for the season with a neck injury and - according to the rumour groomers - possibly more permanently. Jonny Vaughan may well keep his place or else Wellens will turn back to Ben Davies at centre. Mark Percival and Waqa Blake are regulars on the left edge.
There’s another selection decision for Wellens regarding his old fullback role. Naming Lewis Dodd on the bench last week allowed him to withdraw Harry Robertson and switch Jack Welsby back to the number one role. That left Dodd to reestablish his halfback partnership with Jonny Lomax. But it’s not like the attack improved much after that. It still struggled haplessly to break down Warrington’s 12 men. It wouldn’t be totally outlandish to start Robertson again at the expense of either Dodd or Lomax even if the youngster didn’t have the impact against Sam Burgess’ side as he had done at Wigan.
Meanwhile Matt Whitley hasn’t played since Saints received a 40-20 hiding at Hull KR in early May. The ex-Widnes and Catalans man is back in the squad and will hopefully arm Wellens with more options. Sione Mata’utia, Joe Batchelor and Morgan Knowles are all still absent but Whitley could either partner Curtis Sironen in the second row from the start or else be added to a bench which Wellens has had difficulty using in recent weeks. In defeat at Wigan last week two interchange players remained inactive while this week Jon Bennison was the unfortunate soul who failed to detach his derrière from the pine.
George Delaney was a late withdrawal from the team which faced Warrington but is named again this week. He will hopefully be fit enough to partner Matty Lees in the front row or else strengthen the bench if Wellens opts to start Agnatius Paasi. Whitley’s inclusion could allow James Bell to revert to loose forward at times which in turn will free up Moses Mbye to spell Daryl Clark at hooker. If fit Sironen remains the only certainty in the second row while Sam Royle will be hopeful that his recent run of game time will continue.
Leigh’s second season back in the top flight hasn’t seen quite the level of success as their first. After winning promotion in 2022 the Leopards claimed a playoff spot and ended a 52-year wait for a Challenge Cup win in 2023. This time around they were knocked out of the cup in the quarter-finals by Hull KR - who they had beaten at Wembley a year previously - and they face a real struggle to make the top six and extend their season.
They currently sit eighth, seven points off Salford Red Devils who occupy that sixth and final playoff spot. Adrian Lam’s side do have a game in hand on most other sides but that is against champions and league leaders Wigan. They already have nine losses from their 17 games and are fast running out of opportunities. If you had offered the Leigh fans eighth place at the start of 2023 they would have eagerly accepted. But expectations have risen at the LSV after the events of last season. This campaign has been a slight disappointment so far.
Lam has a strong squad to pick from. Matt Davis misses out but Ricky Leutele is free to play having only been fined by the Match Review Panel (MRP) for a late hit during last week’s 36-6 win over London Broncos. Matt Moylan missed that game but is in contention once more. He could partner Lam’s son Lachlan in the halves which would allow Gareth O’Brien to revert to fullback. Lachlan Lam has been linked with a move to Saints to replace Dodd for next year but is also linked to a Hull FC side in the midst of a Chelsea-esque recruitment drive in which team chemistry is an afterthought at best. It could come down to pound signs.
Lachlan Lam isn’t the Leigh player with the greatest ex-Wiganer for a parent. That honour goes to Umyla Hanley, son of Ellery who some still regard as the greatest Englishman to ever play the game. He was a decent coach too, leading Saints to their first Grand Final win in 1999 when they beat Bradford Bulls. He then departed in the grand style, amid a fog of controversy. Hanley junior doesn’t quite have the clout for that but he is forging a decent Super League career for himself after struggling to make an impact at Wigan. The Warriors coach for part of that spell was…Adrian Lam.
With O’Brien at fullback another of Leigh’s posse of ex-Wiganers Zak Hardaker could move back into the centres from where Hanley operated against London. Hanley would then be left to fight it out with Darnell McIntosh for a wing spot opposite yet another ex-Warrior in Josh Charnley. He is still chasing Ryan Hall’s newly set record for Super League tries having scored 240 since his debut in 2010. That’s despite a two-year spell in rugby union. He is only nine behind the still active Hall but should at least overtake second placed Danny McGuire’s mark of 247.
Tom Amone was a revelation last season and leads the pack. Robbie Mulhern will likely be the other starting prop with Owen Trout coming off the bench. Edwin Ipape is another who missed the London win but should return to alternate at nine with marmite ex-Leeds and Warrington man Brad Dwyer. Kai O’Donnell is one of the top back rowers around the league while Frankie Halton is a skilled if less consistent performer. At loose forward pantomime villain John Asiata remains for now before joining Richie Myler’s group of scattergun acquisitions at Hull FC next season.
Asiata’s notoriety is down to his reckless assaults on Paasi and Alex Walmsley during last season’s Challenge Cup semi-final. Paasi has only recently returned to action after being hit by the head first Asiata missile while it can be argued that Walmsley has not been the same since. Age may also have something to do with that but it can’t help when a brick outhouse of a man like Asiata hurls himself head first at your knees.
That semi-final was one of three meetings between the two in all competitions last season. Saints’ only win was a thrilling 22-12 home triumph in September. They went down 20-12 at Leigh in March despite dominating territorially before that epic, controversial semi-final at Warrington which the Leopards won 12-10. There has been one meeting so far in 2024 with Saints’ miserly defence helping them to a 12-4 win at home in March. Makinson was a try scorer in that one along with Welsby.
Leigh’s presence in Super League has been sporadic since the competition’s inception in 1996. That is a factor in Saints having not won against them away from home since April 2021. On that occasion Welsby again crossed for a try along with Lachlan Coote, Kevin Naiqama and Mata’utia in another 22-12 success. Ah, when we had pace and flair. Naiqama is another who has been linked with Saints recently following the injury to Hurrell but this appears to be the result of the panic merchants shitting the bed because Saints haven’t confirmed any signings for 2025. All in good time I’m sure. I’m not sure. I hope.
Given Leigh’s drop in form this year and the absolute state of Saints right now this is a tough one to predict. Despite the possible returns of Makinson and Whitley it remains hard to see how the rot stops for Wellens. Saints were a million miles away from acceptable last week and should produce a response, but their record in Leigh is patchy at best.
Squads;
Saints;
- Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Waqa Blake, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 9. Daryl Clark, 10. Matty Lees, 14. Moses Mbye, 15. James Bell, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Matt Whitley, 20. George Delaney, 21. Ben Davies, 22. Sam Royle, 30. Jonny Vaughan, 31. Noah Stephens, 32. Leon Cowen, 33. Harry Robertson.
Leigh Leopards;
- Gareth O’Brien 3. Zak Hardaker 4. Ricky Leutele 5. Josh Charnley 6. Matt Moylan 7. Lachlan Lam 8. Tom Amone 9. Edwin Ipape 10. Robbie Mulhern 11. Kai O’Donnell 12. Jack Hughes 13. John Asiata 14. Dan Norman 16. Frankie Halton 17. Owen Trout 24. Umyla Hanley 25. Tom Nisbet 30. Louis Brogan 33. Brad Dwyer 34. Darnell McIntosh 35. Aaron Pene
Referee: Aaron Moore
Video Referee: Chris Kendall
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