Defeat wasn’t a particularly surprising development as Saints went down 24-14 to Wigan at the Brick Community Stadium on Good Friday (April 18).
It’s a result that leaves Paul Wellens’ side fifth in the Super League table with just six points now separating the top nine sides going into this weekend’s fixtures. Wigan’s victory sees them stay second, two points behind leaders Hull KR.
Mark Percival returned for Saints having missed the previous week’s win over Wakefield due to concussion protocols. Yet as one starting centre came back another missed out as Harry Robertson started what could be a six-week absence with a quad injury. Daryl Clark came back in on the bench in place of James Bell who is facing a similar period on the sidelines as Robertson because of a foot injury.
We were told last week that Jonny Lomax could have played against Trinity but that Wellens had long since earmarked the game for an opportunity for George Whitby. That hinted that maybe the more experienced Lomax would come back in on derby day but he did not. It looks quite clearly a selection decision but will we see it continue? Whitby has certainly improved the kicking game since being drafted into the first team and you wonder if Wellens has finally decided to move on from his veteran former teammate in favour of the younger man.
Wigan were still without Adam Keighran so Zach Eckersley continued at centre. Patrick Mago had been due to take a place on the interchange bench but was a late withdrawal. Tom Forber was the man to step in. Otherwise it was as you were for Matty Peet’s side with Sam Walters earning another start at prop while some bloke called Thompson who we no longer talk about nursed a calf problem.
So, where to start? Errors. And lots of them. It took around five minutes for them to arrive as the sides went set for set initially. Yet ultimately Saints’ inability to hold on to the ball pretty much cost them any chance they had of bringing home the bragging rights. Wellens’ men committed 12 handling bloopers, significantly up on their average of 8.5 per game coming in.
Alex Walmsley suffered more than most and it was his drop from a Moses Mbye pass which led to Saints being caught offside and gifting Harry Smith the two points to get the scoring started.
Walmsley was also involved in a botch-up which cost Saints their first opportunity to cross for a try. He had made a typically rampaging break from half way but after he freed an arm and attempted to dish the ball inside Mbye could not hang on. To add insult to the hurty spot the ball then ricocheted into Whitby who was stood in front of Mbye and therefore offside.
It seemed unthinkable a short time ago but there is now some justification for a debate about Walmsley. He’s still fifth among all metre makers in Super League in 2025 and none of the four above him are forwards. Yet some are questioning whether the man who turned 35 less than a fortnight ago is the right man for what they hope is a more exciting, expansive future under the tutelage of Lee Briers.
On this showing he is maybe not, but he still did more than any other Saint to get his side down the field as he racked up another 130 metres. Only winger Liam Marshall bettered that for Wigan. Father Time dictates that Saints’ future is one without the ex-Batley man. How to manage that transition is one of the more perplexing riddles that Wellens has to solve. If he is in charge for long enough to make the call. Walmsley is contracted to the end of the 2026 season and probably deserves to go out on his own terms. But will that sort of sentiment slow down what is looking like a very much needed rebuild?
The big prop wasn’t the only one coming up with errors. Though they were managing to hold on to the ball a bit more successfully than Saints the home side were not immune to a bit of slapstick. First Jai Field butchered a Whitby bomb deep in his own half. Soon after, Kruise Leeming failed to pick a ball up from the base of a scrum in his own territory. Wigan were offside in the ensuing set to allow Whitby to tie the scores at 2-2.
The first sniff of a try was Wigan’s. Smith received the ball and stepped inside Joe Batchelor before holding off two tacklers to reach over and score. However, referee Chris Kendall thought he might have seen an obstruction by Tyler Dupree who had run through the defensive line initially but somehow become marooned on the Saints try line. Kendall’s suspicions weren’t enough to stop him handing it up to video referee Liam Rush as a try. The latter thought otherwise and chalked it off. Whether he meant it or not Dupree had made clear contact with George Delaney as the Saints youngster tried to get over to help bring down Smith.
The reprieve lasted all of three minutes. An otherwise becalmed Bevan French sent a clever kick arrowing in towards the Saints posts where Field was on hand to react first and dot it down under the posts. The conversion was a simple one for Smith who - despite being a backup goal-kicker to Keighran - has taken advantage of the absence of the former Catalans Dragon and is now fourth on Super League’s goal-scoring list in 2025. His latest effort gave Wigan an 8-2 lead.
Five minutes later Saints were in a 10-point hole. Given the state of things, and Wellens’ oft stated belief and philosophy that 18 points should be enough to win any game I can’t have been the only one feeling pessimistic about the prospects of a try-laden comeback. Old fears resurfaced when Smith’s left to right lob was competed for by French, Eckersley and Percival. Another review showed that French had been the one to get a hand to it before it fell kindly for Abbas Miski to touch down. French’s touch went backwards so Kendall’s initial call of a try was confirmed. Smith was off target from the right hand touchline but Wigan led 12-2.
Discipline has been a recurring problem for Saints this year and it was again when Mbye was sat down for 10 minutes just before halftime. The makeshift hooker charged into a tackle on Eckersley trying to force an error and a late first half possession in an attacking area. However in doing so he hit the Wigan man directly to the head with a shoulder. Commentator Dave Woods’ assertion that it wouldn’t even have been a penalty in years gone by seemed fanciful. Yet it is fair to suggest that it has only produced yellow since the crackdown on head contact in the face of legal threats from old pros. In the modern climate Mbye had to go.
At the break Wellens was faced with the task of instilling belief in a side 10 points and one player down at the home of a bitter rival who also just happen to have won the Super League title in each of the last two seasons. I mean, who else would you want for the job, right?
Mercifully the numerical disadvantage disappeared early in the second half. Walters had been a royal pain in the proverbial throughout the first half, steadfastly refusing to leave the field for a breather despite playing in the front row. He was forced to depart a few minutes into the second half when he caught Jon Bennison high. Another which may have been overlooked years ago but is an automatic spell in the bin these days.
As if Saints don’t have enough injury problems with Robertson, Bell and Kyle Feldt all currently sidelined they then lost Joe Batchelor. It has since been confirmed that the back rower has a hamstring problem which will keep him out for a couple of months. Bound for Hull in 2026 the ex-York man’s Saints career is in danger of reaching an underwhelming end. Whether it is down to injuries and in particular his hamstrings he has not hit the heights attained by his peak 2022 self over the last couple of campaigns. In the present it meant that Matt Whitley would shift back into his more familiar second row position with Dayon Sambou introduced from the bench into the three-quarter line.
Desperation was starting to set in, characterised by a wild offload leading to another try for Field which seemingly put the tin hat on things. Agnatius Paasi turned in the tackle and scooped the ball out aiming to connect with Morgan Knowles. He could only find Miski. On the next play Smith’s short ball bewildered the Saints defence as the Wigan fullback strolled over for his second try of the afternoon. There was no way Smith was missing the extras from in front of the posts. If a 10-point deficit inspired a degree of pessimism then a 16-point hole might as well have been the Sarlacc from Return Of The Jedi.
There followed a five minute period in which Saints were the side with the numerical advantage. Mbye returned a couple of minutes after Field’s second try with Walters still sidelined. That also prompted Wellens to throw Walmsley back into the action but it didn’t take a whole lot of effort for Wigan to hold on until Walters was back on the field too. The lack of opportunities created in that spell was extremely telling.
With that Wellens went to another plan. One which many will argue should have been implemented much sooner. Clark was unleashed from the bench. The timing of it could have been down to the procrastination of the Head Coach but it could also be an indication that the former Castleford and Warrington man was not fit enough to play for any longer than the final 25 minutes. He has been bothered by a hip injury in recent weeks.
There will be those who will argue that selecting a fully fit if inexperienced Jake Burns would have been preferable to going with a half fit Clark but in many ways there is no right answer to this one. Leave Clark out and have Burns in relief of Mbye and the criticism would be that you have to pick your best players over young players when facing the best teams in the hottest atmospheres. Whenever there is a result like this we can all be wise after the event.
As it happens Clark was very close to offering hope to the cause. In a rare moment of ingenuity from Saints Whitby dummied the Warriors defensive line into oblivion, surging through the gap he had created. With Clark pushing up in support on his inside the young half delayed a fraction too long and the pass drifted forward. There was nobody to stop Clark from crossing but play had already been pulled back.
Still there was what seemed a slight raging against the dying of the light as Lewis Murphy got over just moments later. A set restart had Saints in very healthy field position where Tristan Sailor hit the winger for a spectacular dive in at the corner. It had to be verified once more but Rush gave it the all clear. A sensational, nerveless effort from the touchline from Whitby reduced the arrears to 10 once more with still around a quarter of an hour to play.
Incredibly Saints weren’t quite finished there. No doubt on a mission to make up for the error which had led to Field’s second score Paasi was next to get over. He took the ball from dummy half and crashed through both Field and Leeming to register his eighth try in Saints colours and his first since February. The extras were simple for a kicker of Whitby’s quality and somehow - from somewhere - Saints were within four at 18-14.
Yet the red vee had one last, fatal cock-up in them. Returning the ball from deep inside his own half and with only two minutes on the clock Sailor allowed it to squirm from his grasp under pressure from French. It was quickly scooped up by Eckersley who shifted it to Miski to put an end to feint but raising hopes of a comeback. It was reviewed to check for a knock on by French in the tackle but Rush saw it as a loose carry.
I’m not sure if this episode was just fresh in the minds of fans as they took to social media post game to get their spleens vented but Sailor absorbed much of the flying flak. It’s only a week since there was nods of approval all round for his switch to fullback to allow Jack Welsby to operate alongside Whitby. Now the natives are restless once more, demanding further change. There are certainly flaws in Sailor’s game and as mistakes go this one was a whopper which could not have been more poorly timed. But before the amnesia becomes permanent let me remind you that he was brought in to address the chronic lack of pace which characterised much of the 2024 campaign. He hasn’t solved that problem by himself but he’s done his bit. I’m Sailor in, despite everything. I suppose the debate is how you use him and Welsby to get the best out of both.
We have touched on how an arguably fading Walmsley nevertheless led the way for his side in metres made with his 130. Welsby added 125, Sailor 107 and Knowles 104 but it was another quiet day on the ground gaining front for Matty Lees with just 67 off 11 carries. As Walmsley comes to the end of the line surely Lees has to step up a gear or two in this department.
Lees did a shift defensively, his 38 tackles second only to Knowles’ 40 among the visiting team. Sironen made 36 and Mbye 31.
There were surprisingly few statistical standouts on the other side with ball in hand. Marshall’s 142 was the best on either side while Miski added 112 to his two tries. Walters was the only Wigan forward over 100 with his 105.
Walters capped a fine performance by leading all tacklers with 44, while Kaide Ellis managed 39 and Liam Farrell 38. Wigan’s overall error count of eight tells a story too. They were more composed and clinical in attack and equally if not more monstrous than Saints in defence.
As if we haven’t seen enough of them recently it’s Warrington next for Saints. Around 24 hours after you read this the pair will meet for a third time in six weeks. Despite their recent run of wins over Saints the Wolves have their own problems. Defeat to Leigh at the weekend saw them slump to ninth in the table. In what is essentially a nine horse race for six playoff spots that’s a dismal effort eight games in by Sam Burgess’ troops. Adding to their angst is the loss of George Williams who will be sidelined for a couple of months with an ankle problem. Yet in Matt Dufty and Matty Ashton in particular there are still plenty of threats in primrose and blue.
A fourth defeat in nine Super League games would do nothing to secure Wellens’ position. Some might say it’s a must win for the former fullback. Others would argue that it’s a season of transition with a chance to get more experience into excellent youngsters such as Robertson when he recovers and Whitby. Many have been calling for Noah Stephens to be included more also, while George Delaney is also still developing.
That’s the long term view. But this is Saints. We always need to win now. Which is…awkward.
Wigan; Field, Miski, Eckersley, Wardle, Marshall, French, Smith, Byrne, Leeming, Walters, Nsemba, Farrell, Ellis. Interchanges: O’Neill, Forber, Dupree, Hill
Saints; Sailor, Bennison, Whitley, Percival, Murphy, Welsby, Whitby, Walmsley, Mbye, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Knowles. Interchanges: Paasi, Delaney, Clark, Sambou
Referee: Chris Kendall
Video Referee: Liam Rush
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