Saints 10 Leigh 28 - Did You Expect Anything Else?

The Same, Only Worse

Saints lived down to expectations in a 28-10 loss to the Leopards at Leigh Sports Village.  It’s a result which guarantees they will finish fifth and will travel away from home in the first week of the playoffs.  It is looking more likely than not that Paul Wellens’ side will have to return to the scene of this – their latest crime against rugby league.

The 10 points Saints managed is the most they have registered since the 16 they cobbled together in a narrow win over Hull FC on August 22.  Since then, in games against Hull KR, Wigan and now Leigh they have scored a total of 22 points.  Just over seven per outing. Like any TV show that starts with the word ‘celebrity’, It’s been a hard watch.

Deepening the listlessness is the fact that Saints’ points all arrived while Leopards hooker Edwin Ipape was in the sin bin. When Adrian Lam’s side had a full complement of 13 on the field Saints reverted to type, looking lost in attack.    

Confused…? Wellens is…

Wellens made another confused attempt to shuffle his ailing pack.  With Morgan Knowles still out he dispensed with the idea of Jack Welsby at loose forward. The honour instead went to Joe Batchelor.  Welsby partnered Moses Mbye in the halves leaving captain Jonny Lomax on the bench.  Tristan Sailor continued at fullback leaving room on the wing for Deon Cross. 

George Delaney’s return from suspension saw Wellens move Curtis Sironen back to his starting second row role alongside Matt Whitley.  With Lomax on the bench Jake Burns missed out leaving Mbye as the stand-in hooker behind Daryl Clark.

Former Leigh coach – now Salford boss Paul Rowley – suggested that Wellens doesn’t know his best team.  This selection seemed to serve as further evidence of that.  At this point – and with only one more game left before the playoff series starts – it looks like Wellens is throwing as much mud at the wall as he can find and hoping that some of it sticks.  Maybe  he’s throwing something a little smellier than mud.

Pack Knack

Already without Knowles, it didn’t help when Alex Walmsley left proceedings in the first half.  The giant prop failed a head injury assessment and didn’t return.  He will also miss the visit of Castleford as the regular season ends this weekend.  If the Knowles situation is anything to go by, Walmsley could be out for longer. 

Without him there is very little go forward.  Matty Lees is revered by the fans but is rarely a factor in the unglamorous world of metre making.  Aganatius Paasi’s stats from this one were an eye watering three carries for six metres.  And this guy has a new deal for 2026.  What are Saints spending that money on? Even if he is a cheap option compared with bringing in a new face from outside that doesn’t justify it.  I’ve never understood the argument that if you can’t afford what you want then go out and buy something cheap that you absolutely don’t want.  Try it on your spouse’s next birthday and see what happens.

Stats are not the be all and end all but they matter.  They tell a story.  Paasi’s stats are Jackanory.  In today’s grinding, go-through-the-process energy battle once you lose field position life becomes more awkward than Sailor under a high ball.  

Walmsley may be getting on a bit but he is indispensable in his role. Paasi’s display – and many of his others this year before this one – highlight that even further.  It may be that he has never been the same player since the horrible knee injury inflicted on him by John Asiata in the 2023 Challenge Cup semi-final against the Leopards.  But you can’t keep a player around because his bad performances aren’t really his fault.  That sort of sentiment will hold you back.

Am Dram

Another underwhelming performance was hardly illuminated by the antics of Kyle Feldt.  The Australian has started to attract criticism for his often languid style.  A spot of play-acting – diving in football parlance – hasn’t done anything to endear him to his critics.  Finding his space cut down on the right flank during one of Saints’ rare threatening attacks, the ex-North Queensland Cowboy stepped inside a Leigh defender who reactively threw out an arm. 

There seemed to be very little contact on Feldt who nevertheless hit the deck holding his face like Rivaldo starring in an adaptation of Platoon at his local amateur dramatics club.  It was an embarrassment.  Many rugby league fans are ex-football followers disillusioned by the round ball game’s tolerance of players feigning injury.  League is a sport which prides itself on the toughness and honesty of its players.  Even Mikey Lewis.  We can’t have this sort of shenanigans. 

Hopefully Wellens will have a stern word behind closed doors but his public reaction was arguably just as cringe-inducing as the dive itself.  He blurted out something about a hip flex injury that Feldt has been managing which he allegedly aggravated when he stepped inside.  Would that be why he then went down clutching his face?  A mortifying episode all round for which Feldt was handed a green card.  Perhaps ironically the brainchild of former Saints boss Kristian Woolf, the green card requires any player requiring treatment which holds up play to leave the scene for a two-minute period.  Feldt sheepishly got to his feet and departed for his spell in the blush box. 

Brief Resistance

Ipape ended up popping off for a little longer.  High contact with Clark saw him sin-binned towards the end of the first half.   During that period Saints briefly flickered into life.  Tries from a fully recovered Feldt and Harry Robertson reduced the arrears to just two points at 12-10 early in the second half.  Then Ipape returned and normal service was resumed. 

Slow service from dummy half, a total absence of halfbacks capable of taking on the line and the obligatory unhelpful kicking game prevented Wellens’ side from getting close to scoring again.  Meanwhile at the other end Jack Hughes, Ipape and Owen Trout breached Saints’ normally miserly defence to complete a 28-10 win.  

Defence - An Off Day Or A Sign Of Weariness?

Despite their shortcomings Saints had not conceded more than 20 points in a game since the end of May. This was the night that even defensive excellence gave way, consequently failing to keep Saints in the fight.  We hadn’t seen that in the defeats by Hull KR or Wigan.  Which might be a cause for even further concern.  It’s one thing to believe that you only have the faintest hope of winning.  It is quite another to go into a playoff game fearing that you might get blown out.  For now we can cling to the hope that it was an off night for Saints defensively.

A Bitch Called Hope

If you were uber positive about things – or you were a beleaguered CEO looking for solace – you could spin Saints’ fifth place finish as an improvement on last year’s sixth placed effort. That led to a playoff exit in week one but not before Saints turned in an uncharacteristically stirring performance in losing to Warrington by a single point. 

There is still a chance they will raise their game for the knockout stuff.  But that is kind of the problem. As much as it would be great to win at Old Trafford it just doesn’t seem possible despite the opportunities afforded by playoff formats. Hope is slaughtering us. It feels like a season which needs to be put out of its misery.      

All Leigh have to do is win at home to Huddersfield Giants to secure third place and a home tie with either Wakefield or Hull FC.  Most likely the former after they shocked Hull KR at the weekend.  In that scenario Saints would go to Headingley, where they have fared rather better this term.  

They knocked Brad Arthur’s side out of the Challenge Cup there and claimed an unlikely 6-0 win in their league visit in July.  At this point a trip to Leeds seems to represent a more winnable assignment than a visit to the LSV.  When they are good, Leeds are really good.  But the Rhinos are still capable of throwing in a terrible performance here and there.  They lost at home to a poor Catalans side in their most recent outing. There’s that hope again.

Coaching Conundrum

It seems implausible that there will be a change in the coaching position at Saints before the end of the season. The upturn in fortunes brought about by Justin Holbrook’s arrival in 2017 was aided by making the decision to sack Keiron Cunningham much earlier in that season.  A change now would likely leave either Lee Briers or Eamonn O’Caroll in interim charge while a suitable replacement is found.  

Yet it feels like a matter of time for Wellens now, unless he can produce a miracle in the playoffs.  League position may have improved by one place since 2024 but the tactics and the level of entertainment on offer haven’t moved a jot.  

Dead Rubbers And Dad Uncle Dancing

The Cas game is a dead rubber and a no win situation for Wellens.  If Saints cruise past the Tigers – which seems likely despite everything – it will hardly cause a ripple.  Saints have been beating the bottom six sides comfortably all year.  Except Warrington somehow.  The Red Vee have become too good for the bottom six sides but not good enough to beat any of the sides above them.  

It’s another chance to give experience to Whitby or try Robertson at six.  But it won’t happen.  Mbye is the immovable object at halfback until Clark needs a rest, at which point we get Lomax trying to conjure up another magic trick while his body disintegrates before our eyes.  

The opportunity to rest players may still come into Wellens’ thinking.  Welsby has only recently returned from injury and probably still needs the game time but someone like Mark Percival or even Clark might benefit from a week off.  

Delaney won’t feature having picked up another suspension, his second in the space of three weeks.  Impressive from a certain point of view.  Resting players could affect rhythm but at this point Saints have all the rhythm of your uncle Les at your wedding party.  There isn’t an awful lot to lose when it comes to form and continuity.  If one or two are left out Saints will still beat Castleford at home.  If they don’t the ‘outside noise’ will be deafening, but it won’t matter one iota in terms of league position or playoff prospects.  

Drifting

Saints aren’t exactly charging into the playoffs.  They’re barely even walking.  There’s a distinct limp about their gait. Three straight losses against what we would consider title contenders have led to more naval gazing and an understandable loss of faith from the support.   Wellens is under pressure if not in the short term then surely for next season.  He seems incapable of turning it around especially when you consider how little help he is receiving with recruitment.   This isn’t a team heading for Old Trafford. Not now the cricket season is drawing to a close at any rate.  

It’s a team drifting toward another early elimination and in need of a rebuild.