A Week Off From Losing And Bad Optics

It’s a couple of weeks since our last engagement. Awkwardly, Saints didn’t reach the men’s Challenge Cup final which gave them at least a week without any prospect of losing again. We’ll see later that they found other ways to irritate the fan base. When Saints are losing nobody does it better when it comes to maddening PR.

As we know all great eras of sporting dominance come to an end. The men’s team have experienced this during their visible decline since the last of their celebrated four in a row. Now it’s the women’s turn to face the same inevitability. Saints had won four Challenge Cups in a row until they marched out at Wembley to face a new and improved Wigan outfit on June 7. 

There has been much sniping about money spent since Wigan’s dominant performance in winning 42-6 to prise Saints fingers from the trophy that was fast becoming their birthright. The Warriors have decided to invest in their women’s team and - on this evidence - have become grimly powerful. There were ex-Saints players in Dennis Betts’ lineup, following the money. 

Yet as much as our fans sneered at them for buying success it could also be argued that they are moving the women’s game on. If every club invested similarly we might have a more even competition but one of greater quality. Of course, the reality is that many clubs can’t or won’t match Wigan’s spending. 

As such the blowouts which fuel the narrative for the naysayers will likely continue. Some one-sided scorelines are indisputably bad for the game. Bad optics as they might have said on Succession. But is that reason enough for Wigan to rein it in and let everyone catch up? Probably not. Blowouts are an issue but so is the creation of a race to the bottom.

Back to the men’s team who weren’t afforded the whole time between the May 30 loss at Hull KR and the June 15 victory at Salford to sit around watching boxsets. Instead they were pressed into some quite outstandingly absurd action with an open training session held at (checks notes…) Church Square. 

Intentions were noble with the event forming part of a campaign to encourage people to let us know what they love about St Helens. All of which reminds me of an interview once given by former Beatle Ringo Starr in which - when asked what he missed about his home city of Liverpool - replied ‘nothing’. Now I work in Liverpool so I get the sentiment but it wasn’t going to go down all that well with the tourist board. 

As for the training session itself the concrete surface and inadequate space took me back to my childhood playing impromptu games of football using a soon to be irate neighbour’s driveway as a set of goalposts. It beat jumpers on Thatto Heath Council school playing field hands down. 

I’m all for Saints getting behind this but can we not think of something which registers a little lower on the cringeometer?  It was only matched by subsequent attempts to flog us a Saints shirt for £200, so priced because it contained the signatures of the players. Oh wait…no…it was only some of the players. The identities of these players was unclear from the associated blurb but it appeared to translate to ‘whichever players happened to be around at the time’. So not only are they asking for £200 for a shirt signed by one of the weakest Saints squads in Super League history but also it was potentially pot luck which players you ended up with. Mike Rush can talk about ‘noise’ but even he might privately accept that this offer - such as it is - is desperate optics…

The only good news comes last. Saints did manage a win at the latest incarnation of Salford Red Devils. Any time you beat a side 46-4 you have to be happy, especially with Jack Welsby, Mark Percival and Lewis Murphy all out injured. Kyle Feldt returned after three months out and scored four tries - matching Tristan Sailor’s achievement against the same opposition on opening night. Joe Batchelor also came back but swiftly left the scene with another injury. Like the Grandpa Simpson gif. Curtis Sironen also picked up a knock while George Whitby will miss this week’s visit from Leeds after failing an HIA. It never rains, does it?

Owen Dagnall made a first start and scored a maiden try. Yet he could have had more had Deon Cross not turned dummying to his winger into performance art. It all leaves Saints somehow still fifth in the table and in the playoff picture. Yet defeat to the Rhinos will leave Wellens’ men six points adrift of the third placed Yorkshire side. Another League Leaders Shield is not on the cards.