There, that’s better. Isn’t it?
After a run of three straight league defeats Saints ended the streak with a dominant 40-0 win over an admittedly out of sorts Catalans Dragons on Thursday night (May 15).
The much needed two points saw Paul Wellens’ side jump up a place from sixth to fifth in the Super League table while the French side are eighth following the weekend’s action. They would have gone above Saints into the playoff places with a win but in truth Steve McNamara’s side never looked like pulling it off. As a consequence of that and on the back of a run of three straight defeats the former Bradford Bulls boss has left his post today (May 20) with immediate effect.
Before the game there was a mix of trepidation and intrigue among many Saints fans. Trepidation at the possibility of a fourth loss in a row and a slide out of the top six but intrigue about Wellens’ team selection. The Saints Head Coach confounded everyone - not least of all Jon Bennison who suffered an early sacrifice as a result - by naming Jonny Lomax on the bench for the previous game against Leeds Rhinos at Newcastle. Would he do it again and face more accusations of muddled thinking from fans and scribes - both professional and amateur - alike?
Those of us wondering if he could fit four playmakers in Lomax, Jack Welsby, Tristan Sailor and George Whitby into his 17 were instead left to digest the ramifications of all four making it into the starting 13. Bennison was completely dispensed with as the club skipper started in the halves alongside Whitby. Sailor was shunted out to the vacant wing spot while Welsby - after a brief spell at stand-off - seems once again to be regarded as the automatic choice at fullback. His best position as Wellens has said.
Given the result and the performance you would have to imagine that Jonny is Back For Good. Clearly Wellens is Sure that it’s sweet love he’s found in his new halfback combination leaving us to Pray that the team will really start to Shine leading to possibly the Greatest Day of our lives at Old Trafford in October. Could It Be Magic? We’ll need a little Patience to find out. Alright, I’ll stop now.
Sailor’s move to the wing is interesting also. His father Wendell was one of the greats of his era in that position but is it really the best use of Tristan’s talents? He has pace off the mark and has shown already this year that he knows where the try line is. The seven four-pointers he has scored is more than any other Saint so far in 2025. But can we really see him fitting into the modern winger’s role - particularly at Saints where wide men tend to be used as battering rams early in the tackle count and deep in their own territory? But was Bennison ever suited to that? Is Lewis Murphy?
I’m fairly certain Sailor didn’t come to Saints to play on the wing so there has to be a question mark over whether he’d be happy playing there in the longer term. However, it could easily become a moot point. Kyle Feldt will be back from injury relatively soon and what happens then? Is there a place for Sailor? Is he a candidate to oust Deon Cross at centre? Cross has made just two appearances for his home town club since joining from Salford Red Devils. And then there’s Harry Robertson to consider when he is fit again. From a situation where he was forced to use Matt Whitley and even Curtis Sironen at centre at one point Wellens could soon have rather more favourable options at his disposal.
The Dragons - who had just five days to prepare following their Challenge Cup semi-final defeat by Hull KR - also needed to find personnel solutions. Already without part time star and part time Sky Sports pundit Sam Tomkins they also lost the services of Benjamin Garcia, Julian Bousquet and Elliot Whitehead for this one. Yet perhaps most notable was the fact that there was no homecoming for Saints great Tommy Makinson. He would have been given a great reception on what would have been his first return to the club her served so well for 14 years but sadly it was not to be. The Dragons could have used him too given the way their performance panned out.
It took Saints less than two minutes to signal their intentions for the evening. Released by Welsby, Sailor made a break down the right before finding the supporting Whitby on his inside for the first of seven Saints tries on the night. It was perhaps a breakout game for the 18 year-old halfback who has done well in previous outings without totally convincing that he is ready to take over the main playmaking responsibilities.
He looked ready in this one, eventually ending with his first Super League hat-trick while also landing six out of seven goals for a personal points haul of 24. It's too early to get carried away especially against what was truly woeful opposition at times but Whitby can certainly gain confidence from the way in which he handled himself. He was involved in most of the good things that Saints did in attack. Some will make the argument that he is helped by having the experience of Lomax alongside him.
Saints' fast start continued. Within five minutes of Whitby's first score they were leading by double figures. Next over was Alex Walmsley, crashing through tackles after receiving Morgan Knowles' flicked inside ball. It was an easy conversion for Whitby and Saints led 12-0.
Perhaps the only real disappointment of the night for Saints came when Whitley was forced off with a head injury. The former Dragon had earlier collided with Nick Cotric as the ex-Canberra winger hunted down a low kick into the Saints in-goal. Soon after, Whitley took another knock when attempting a tackle.
He failed the subsequent head injury assessment and now will not feature in Friday night's trip to Huddersfield Giants (May 23). That will end a run of 24 consecutive appearances for the back rower since returning from injury in a crushing defeat at Leigh last July. He has been an ever present in 2025 featuring at second row, centre and off the bench. Whitley isn't the flashiest player but he has proven himself a valuable, versatile operator. Hopefully he will not be ruled out for any longer and can return in time for the rather more daunting visit to Hull KR on May 30.
Back to this one where Catalans repeatedly scuppered their own efforts to get back into the contest. On no fewer than five occasions they were pinged by referee Liam Moore for playing the ball incorrectly. Two of those were the responsibility of their own young starlet Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet at fullback. The youngster endured a difficult night for perhaps the first time in what has been a very promising spell since he broke into the first team. Yet along with some of his team mates he displayed a total inability to understand the concept of regaining his feet before playing the ball.
In all the Dragons made a whopping 16 errors during the 80 minutes which is just not going to get the job done. McNamara's now former side have committed 123 errors in their 11 league outings so far this term, more than any other side in Super League and at an average of over 11 per game.
By contrast Saints - who had been almost as culpable in each of their recent defeats to Warrington, Wigan and Leeds - showed a marked improvement in their discipline with the ball. Wellens' men came up with only nine errors which - thanks to the bad run previously - is around their season's average. Yet six other sides have made more than Saints' 107 on the season. With out and out pace and flair in short supply among Wellens' squad keeping hold of the ball is absolutely paramount if Saints are going to remain in the playoff conversation. They won't always be pretty, but if Saints can at least start to control the ball better they will at least have a chance of staying in the fight against teams who turn up with more in the arsenal than the Dragons had here.
Just as Saints had started the game briskly they finished the first half with a quick-fire double. A rare successful captain's challenge started the chain of events which led to Cross' try on his home debut. A low kick was placed through towards the Saints line where Welsby covered up but was forced behind his own try line by Mathieu Laguerre. However, Lomax opted to dispute the call and replays showed that the Dragons centre had been offside from the kick. It was only Saints’ second successful challenge from seven attempts so far.
A penalty and a set restart later the ball was shifted left - again with both Whitby and Welsby involved - to Cross who was able to breeze through some soaking wet bog roll defending from Laguerre on the right edge. It wasn't a great couple of minutes for Laguerre but it kind of summed up the French outfit's lethargy overall. Another Whitby conversion was added and the visitors found themselves 18-0 behind.
It got worse for them before halftime as Whitby doubled his try tally. This time it was Percival creating the havoc after Welsby's inside ball. Cruising through the Dragons defence the former England centre found Whitby again who crossed untouched. He converted his own try to send Saints in with an already unassailable looking 24-0 lead.
As poor as they have been in attack at times this season Saints' defence has held up well enough to convince most observers at that point that the Dragons were not going to turn this around. Not even the 376th Sky Sports reference to a certain Catalans comeback win over Saints at a Magic Weekend was going to have any influence on that this time. Saints were a side growing in confidence while their opponents were ragged, leggy, possibly emotionally drained from their Challenge Cup exit and frankly looking a little disinterested.
Next to take advantage of that was Sailor. He'd had little opportunity to get really involved since his early break created Whitby's first try but he was on the end of a slick move to cross for his seventh try of the season. It was Percival again with the assist, flicking the ball right-handed, nonchalantly, to Sailor who walked in at the right corner. The fact that his fifth conversion attempt of the night would be from the right touchline did nothing to faze Whitby who landed it effortlessly to give his side a 30-0 buffer.
Over on the other wing was Murphy. After returning from injury in April the former Wakefield man had not crossed for a try since the Good Friday defeat to Wigan, but was over for his fourth of the season here.
Whitby's only miss of the evening with the boot followed Murphy's spectacular diving finish by the left hand corner flag. It was the kind of finish made famous by the absent Makinson, created by a clever offload from Cross. Despite Whitby's slight blemish with the goal-kicking the hosts now had a 34-0 lead and were strolling to a much needed, morale boosting win. And whisper it, but Murphy's try was one of a few moments of genuine entertainment.
This was more like what Saints fans come to see, notwithstanding the miserable resistance being offered by the opposition. Old cliches about only being able to beat what is put in front of you apply. There were players missing on both sides and yes Saints had a more favourable period to prepare but you have to perform well to be this dominant against a side which - when all is said and done - should be good enough to at least be in the argument about playoff places when the season reaches the sharp end so long as they get the appointment of McNamara’s successor right.
The scoring was capped by the undisputed player of the match, off the back of receiving a slap around the head from former Wigan noggin botherer Romain Navarrete. In the resultant set following the penalty Walmsley created a degree of bedlam in the Dragons defence before a nice looking one-handed scoop of an offload enabled Whitby to walk over to complete his treble.
He booted his 23rd and 24th points of the night straight after and in so doing ensured that Saints had hit the 40 mark for the first time since the opening night farce that was the visit of Salford reserves back in February. Before that Saints had not racked up a score of 40+ since rattling Hull FC 58-0 last April. More than a year ago.
The zero was equally important, and Wellens would have been proud of the way his troops defended some late Catalans attempts to break their duck. They defended repeat sets within their own quarter as if the game hung in the balance. Just as impressive was the way in which Walmsley - a giant of a prop not known for his pace or agility - chased down Laguerre just when it looked as though he might salvage something from the wreckage of his night.
Yet Walmsley dragged him down from behind as if it were the most important tackle of his career. Perhaps there will be those who will argue that it is easier to show good attitude in defence when you are guaranteed winning money and confidence is high, but it would have been even easier to let standards slip. For an example, think back to when Saints took a 26-0 lead at home to Wakefield a month ago but conceded three last quarter tries. They still won 26-14 but you came away from that game with a sense that the desire to be ruthless was still not apparent. It returned here.
Sailor embodied this spirit also when he worked hard to stop Cotric grabbing a late consolation. As the pair chased a low kick into the in-goal the Saints man did enough to ensure that Cotric could only bounce the ball in his attempts to ground it. That was the French side's last chance of any sort of consolation as Saints preserved their defensive shutout.
In his last post-match interview as Dragons boss McNamara chose not to blame anyone else but himself and his players. He admitted that his side were not close to the level required and accused his edge defenders of making 'horrible, horrible decisions'. He also referred to their baffling play-the-ball problems and the only mitigation he could offer was the short turnaround and the difficulty involved in raising your game after the shattering disappointment of a cup semi-final loss.
Dragons fans will remember him fondly for the 2018 Challenge Cup win and the 2021 League Leaders Shield triumph with Grand Final appearances both that year in 2023. Yet in the current campaign he had seemed to go stale and has long been linked with the Leeds Rhinos coaching role if, as expected, Brad Arthur returns to Australia at the end of the year.
As one Head Coach leaves his post another in Wellens might just have bought himself more time. The calls for him to go which grew louder and louder during the losing run have quietened a little even if they won't have been totally silenced by this victory.
The challenge now is to build on it not only in what should be a routine win at Huddersfield this week but also when Saints visit Rovers and then Salford either side of the blank weekend offered by the Challenge Cup final. The next home game is against Leeds on June 20. It seems unlikely that Arthur will make way for McNamara early but it is not impossible that the latter could be coaching back to back games at Saints. If he does he will hope for better next time but following the manner of Saints' meek effort against the Rhinos at Magic Wellens too has every right to expect an improvement. On this evidence he might just get it, particularly if one or two bodies are back fit by then.
While we are on the subject, Saints last home game was five weeks before this one and the next one follows five weeks after it. Whose idea was it to have home games every five weeks? As a season ticket holder - or member as the club pretentiously continues to refer to me - I find that this arrangement takes any sort of rhythm and routine out of the match going experience.
And don't get me started on the car parking experience. It's like the old metaphor about pushing soup uphill with a fork. I was chosen in a ballot for a parking space for this one but still ended up in a non-disabled bay helped only by the fact that it was on the end of a row. That afforded me enough space to get my wheelchair out of the car without receiving a bill for the body work on someone's Range Rover.
I refuse to end on these sour notes, however. I started by pointing out to you how much better this felt so let's hold on to that and look forward to some better times over the next few weeks. Yes I know. Hull KR. But it's a week before the cup final so...you know....?
Saints: Welsby, Sailor, Percival, Cross, Murphy, Lomax, Whitby, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Curtis Sironen, Whitley, Knowles. Interchanges: Paasi, Wingfield, Delaney, Mbye
Catalans Dragons: Aispuro-Bichet, Yaha, Laguerre, Smith, Cotric, Keary, Fages, Satae, Da Costa, Navarrete, Seguier, Bayley Sironen, Partington. Interchanges: Pangai Junior, Sims, Romano, Dezaria
Referee: Liam Moore
Video Referee: Jack Smith