Home or away? As Davids Vine and Coleman used to ask of clueless sporting celebrities on one time BBC flagship quiz A Question Of Sport. That was before it was reduced to an embarrassing, gimmick-ridden game show totally devoid of sports questions and even - by the end - actual sports people.
It’s a question also being asked of your newly enthused Saints as they get set to visit Leigh Leopards in the final game of the regular season on Friday night (September 20, kick-off 8.00). Win and Paul Wellens’ men will very likely secure a home playoff in week 1 of the knockout business. Lose and it’s all aboard the Derek Ball for a trip to either Warrington or Hull KR. By the time you read this you may already know whether a win will secure a home tie. It rests on whether Salford - who have made 17 changes to their 21-man squad for Thursday night’s meeting with a Wigan side for whom victory will secure the League Leaders Shield - can beat That Nice Matty Peat’s Warriors. It seems unlikely.
Meanwhile Adrian Lam’s Leopards need a win to be certain of a top six spot. That outcome hadn’t looked all that likely earlier in the season but a run of nine wins from their last 11 league matches has catapulted them back up the table. A victory will ensure that they finish above Saints and probably earn themselves a sudden death trip to Salford.
Even if they lose to Saints the Leopards will still make it in should Leeds see their own playoff dreams turn to Rhino shit with defeat at Hull KR. Our beloved broadcaster - in conjunction with Salford boss Paul Rowley and his selection policy - may have taken all of the drama out of the race for top spot but regardless of Wigan’s result Rovers will still need a win to make sure of a top two finish. That comes with a home semi-final and could be huge for a team’s chances of reaching Old Trafford. Should KR slip up then they will likely be leapfrogged by Warrington who have a chance to bolster their points difference when they host London Broncos at the same time as the games at Leigh and Leeds.
With many of the big guns having returned in last week’s 40-4 home win over Castleford Saints boss Paul Wellens makes just one change to his 21-man squad. Moses Mbye is available again after a one-match ban and comes back in at the expense of Tee Ritson. Tommy Makinson returned from a suspension of his own against the Tigers and with Waqa Blake left out of the match day squad Jon Bennison took advantage of being selected ahead of Ritson by grabbing a hat-trick of tries.
That has almost certainly earned Bennison another run out on that left wing opposite Makinson so it is just a question of whether Wellens wants to recall Blake at centre alongside Mark Percival or else keep faith with the out of position but nonetheless more consistently competent Sione Mata’utia. Jack Welsby is back at fullback with Harry Robertson injured and Lewis Dodd back to partner captain Jonny Lomax in the halves.
Mbye has played a lot of his recent rugby at halfback with Dodd having been absent through injury. It wouldn’t be the first time Wellens has omitted Dodd in favour of using Mbye at halfback but it seems more likely that the former St George-Illawarra Dragon will be one of two pivot nines in the 17 alongside Daryl Clark. Which of them starts will depend on Clark’s fitness having only returned last week and even then only off the bench behind Jake Burns. Either way it looks like being tough on Burns who could miss out after appearing in the last seven and starting the last three.
Completing the starting front row should be veteran and club legend Alex Walmsley and grafting worker bee Matty Lees. Behind them there is competition between youngsters George Delaney and Noah Stephens and Tongan favourite Agnatius Paasi. Curtis Sironen is still missing from what the Australians now annoyingly call the edge forwards so Matt Whitley and Joe Batchelor look certainties especially if Mata’utia plays in the back line. Morgan Knowles is usually Wellens’ preferred starting loose forward with backup provided by James Bell.
Leigh welcome back hooker Edwin Ipape. He was missed in last week’s 24-0 home defeat to Rovers. Expect him to be restored at nine in place of Matt Davis in what could be the only significant change to the lineup.
Matt Moylan did have a blossoming halfback partnership with boss’ son Lachlan Lam but the former Cronulla Shark has also been used at fullback of late. Former Saints loanee Gareth O’Brien fills in any gaps left by Moylan in either position. Darnell McIntosh, Umyla Hanley, Ricky Leutele and Super League try scoring record chaser Josh Charnley should line up in the backs. Zak Hardaker will join Hull FC next season but offers an alternative while he’s still around.
Up front Tom Amone is following Hardaker out of the exit door and - although he hasn’t quite had the impact of a year ago - is still one of the league’s better front rowers. He will be sorely missed when he departs for Canterbury Bulldogs. Robbie Mulhern should start alongside him with Owen Trout and Aaron Pene providing relief.
In the back row the excellent Kai O’Donnell - soon to be of North Queensland Cowboys - will be partnered by either Frankie Halton or Jack Hughes. Like Hardaker and Oliver Holmes loose forward John Asiata will be making the switch to Hull FC at the end of the season. Even further motivation for the man who has cultivated a villainous persona when it comes to St Helens. That stems from the shenanigans in last year’s Challenge Cup semi-final and a similar but thankfully less damaging assault on Mata’utia earlier this season.
That semi-final was the standout classic between the two in recent times although Saints’ 22-12 home win last September was a belter too. In two clashes so far this season Saints won a tight one 12-4 at home in March before a squad in crisis were battered 46-4 on their last visit to the Leigh Sports Village at the end of July. That was a game best forgotten for Saints fans but few of us have quite managed to scrub the image of Blake turning back into the defence with the line open in a quite shambolic defeat. If A Question Of Sport was still running and actually any good they could have certainly used this clip in the What Happened Next Round.
So what will happen next? You have every right to expect a better effort and performance from Saints on this occasion. You might even see some top level Sports Action leading to a Sprint Finish. In a tight one Saints might just do it. Or not. This is a tough fixture even with a much more experienced squad and an almost impossible result to call.
Squads;
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 15. Matt Davis 16. Frankie Halton 17. Owen Trout 20. Ollie Homes 22. Keanan Brand 24. Umyla Hanley 33. Brad Dwyer 34. Darnell McIntosh 35. Aaron Pene.
Saints;
- Jack Welsby 2. Tommy Makinson 3. Waqa Blake 4. Mark Percival 5. Jon Bennison 6. Jonny Lomax 7. Lewis Dodd 8. Alex Walmsley 9. Daryl Clark 10. Matty Lees 11. Sione Mata’utia 12. Joe Batchelor 13. Morgan Knowles 14. Moses Mbye 15. James Bell 17. Agnatius Paasi 19. Matt Whitley 20. George Delaney 21. Ben Davies 24. Jake Burns 31. Noah Stephens
Referee: Liam Moore
Video Referee: Ben Thaler
No comments:
Post a Comment