Joy or relief? You might have experienced a bit of both as Saints got their Super League 2026 show on the road with a 20-18 win over Leigh Leopards.
After the disappointment of defeat at Warrington in last week's opener there was a fair degree of anxiety coming into this one. Saints failed to beat Leigh throughout 2025 so a bounce back was far from a given. But a mixture of grit, skill and determination got Paul Rowley's men over the line.
Rowley had a surprise for us when it came to team selection. Harry Robertson has now made 37 appearances for Saints. Of the previous 36 only one saw him starting on the bench. That was a 34-4 defeat at Hull KR in May last year. Despite the absence of Jack Welsby with a dislocated shoulder Robertson was relegated to the interchanges again, with Jonny Lomax restored to a starting role in the halves.
We thought we'd seen the end of Lomax as a 6 or a 7. As great as his career has been the last couple of seasons have shown that he's no longer the man for the job. The injuries and the ageing process have blunted his abilities in that role. I can't have been the only one feeling nervous about how he would go in partnership with Jackson Hastings.
As it turned out fate intervened. Less than five minutes were on the clock when the veteran suffered an arm injury and left the scene. It has since been confirmed that he has fractured his arm. That could reduce selection options going forward but in this moment it's hard to argue that it didn't help.
Robertson got an early introduction, taking over from Tristan Sailor at fullback while the ex-Brisbane Bronco moved alongside Hastings. It's unknowable, but there was a lot of chatter on the bridge heading back into town after the game about how we wouldn't have won had that tactical adjustment not been forced.
I thought so myself. But my belief was more about the introduction of Robertson than the exit of Lomax. The latter was missed and will be if he is out long term. But he'll be missed in his late career role as an alternative hooker and for his huge experience. Not for the pace and guile needed in the creative positions.
The introduction of Robertson provided pace and guile and a fearlessness that this side craves in the post-Paul Wellens era. If we want to achieve something we have to take risks. Live closer to the edge. Lomax's selection felt safe and uninspiring. And we have seen those things fail us often enough. Much more than Lomax, Robertson signals threat to opposition defences. It forces them to recalibrate.
In what was always a tense, close battle on the scoreboard some risk aversion frustratingly remained. Throughout the 2025 season Saints were rightly criticised for a poor kicking game. Poor is being kind. It was shambolic at times. In this one Rowley chose to partly address this problem by not allowing any attacking kicks close to the try line. Instead, with a narrow lead during a fraught last 20 minutes Saints continually ran on the last tackle. This turned the ball over close to the Leopards' line and asked them to go 95-100 metres against this still formidable Saints defence.
It's defensible because it got the result. But one of the big reasons for the enthusiasm around the appointment of Rowley was the promise of entertaining rugby. This was Wattoball. And there's a reason Watto isn't currently coaching in Super League. My hope is that it was an emergency measure for the situation and doesn't become the norm. It shows either a lack of intent on last tackle plays - which are key - or a lack of faith in the players to execute the skill.
Injuries weren't finished biting Saints who ended up toughing this one out with only one or two fit interchange players. Along with Lomax centre Nene McDonald was out of the rotation with a muscle injury. Anecdotally, someone suggested to me that he was fit enough to go through warm up on the sideline exercise bike but he did not participate in the second half.
With Robertson likely now to fill in for Welsby long term we suddenly have a problem at centre. Such was the extent of that problem here that Matt Whitley was again pressed into emergency action in the role. Something else we thought we would no longer have to resort to. But with McDonald out, Deon Cross off for a spell for an HIA and Mark Percival still unavailable our depth has evaporated quickly.
Given the way the middle of the defence collapsed at times during the loss at Warrington it was a pretty special effort to keep it together. Saints badly miss the injured skipper Matty Lees in this department as well as the departed Morgan Knowles. Prominent in the improvement on last week was Joe Shorrocks.
The ex-Wigan and Salford man is proving me more and more wrong with each passing week. And not just for his defence. His passing skills have been central to some of Saints' most coherent attacks. Even if he does resemble Lakeside era Phil Taylor.
He deservedly got over for the decisive second half try. But his 46-tackle defensive effort was key to filling the hole left by Lees. That was the most by any player on either side. Jacob Alick-Wienke had 42 for Leigh while Daryl Clark was Saints' next busiest defender with 40. He may have had an easier workload but for the loss of Lomax.
So it's goodbye to the Leigh hoodoo. Such as it was. Endless column inches - including here - were written about Saints' inability to beat any of Leigh, Wigan or Hull KR last term. Defeat at Warrington only intensified that anxiety. So as much as it is two competition points on the table this win is also psychologically important. It should instil belief that was never really there under Wellens. There's work to do but we can all feel more hopeful that it's a manageable task.
Some aesthetics to report on for the first visit to the newly monikered Brewdog Stadium in 2026. I arrived in the middle of the pre-game lights show. I'm sure many enjoyed it but I'd rather have some music or a recap of the lineups. Especially since I haven't had a mobile signal in the ground since it opened in 2012 and couldn't verify the whispers I was hearing about Robertson's original omission from the starting lineup.
A common and reasonable fan bugbear is the way that repeat sets or 'six agains' have been communicated to the crowd since the rule was introduced during the Covid crisis. Previously there was a buzzer but it was hit and miss to the extent that sometimes the players didn't seem aware. Now there is an over confident sounding bell - no not Mikey Lewis - and a radio jingle style announcement of 'ruck infringement'. It's a start but it's still a bit vague. You still need to be watching on TV and therefore able to hear the ref mic to fully understand why your team are defending what feels like tackle 14.
And staying with sound effects can we please get Kyle Feldt's try scoring music into the nearest bin? Whenever he crosses - as he did in this one - we are subjected to a blast of Rhinestone Cowboy. Presumably this is a reference to his previous club North Queensland. That's misguided at best and plain weird at worst. Please, please stop with this cringe-athon.
Ultimately we probably haven't learned as much about the Rowley philosophy as we would like. It's likely that the difficult circumstances forced him into emergency measures. Full discovery will come when everyone is fit and available. But you would absolutely be forgiven for wondering when that might be.
Saints visit Perpignan next week to take on the Catalans Dragons. Lewis Dodd, Tommy Makinson et al. They haven't greatly impressed in a win over Huddersfield and defeat to Bradford in the opening two rounds. If Saints can apply themselves as they did against Adrian Lam's men they should be well capable of coming home with the points.
No comments:
Post a Comment