Have you seen the Super League table lately?
If you're brave enough to take a glance you will see that Saints now sit sixth following Thursday's damaging 18-6 loss to Warrington. It was a third defeat in a row for Paul Rowley's men and a fourth in five in all competitions. And it was entirely predictable. It is not hyperbole to suggest that a playoff place is not guaranteed come September.
Rowley has stated that the 17 players involved here were the only players that were available. That's very interesting as most of us thought Kyle Feldt had been dropped when Owen Dagnall and Tristan Sailor were named on the flanks. That feeling is further enhanced by a social media clip doing the rounds in which Feldt seems to suggest that he never wanted to come to St Helens and had to be more than gently persuaded. All this comes amid rumours that Saints have decided to cut their losses and end the Australian winger’s deal early. There is further talk of Feldt’s agent sounding out Australian clubs to complete a deal by the June 30 deadline. All of which is a possible explanation for his omission which doesn’t quite fit Rowley’s assertion that these 17 where the only fit 17. If Feldt has played his last game for the club it is hardly a tragedy, but his try scoring record of 33 tries in 29 appearances represents a ratio which stands alongside anyone’s.
Sailor's continued wide berth allowed Jack Welsby another run at
fullback but with Harry Robertson and Nene Macdonald out Matt Whitley was moved
to centre. Though that did afford Jake Davies the starting second row role that
many fans have been calling for.
Excitingly - maybe - there was a debut for Daniel Suluka-Fifita. Matty
Lees and Jake Wingfield are out for the season and Noah Stephens is still being
held back after concussion issues, so the pack badly needs someone other than
Alex Walmsley and hooker Daryl Clark who can flip field position. One game is a
small sample, but Suluka-Fifita fulfilled his brief on the night. He picked up 103 metres on 13 carries which
is a more than decent return. If we had
another prop aside from he and Walmsley managing that on a regular basis then
perhaps we wouldn’t be having such problems with field position which in turn
put pressure on the defence. David
Klemmer arrived with a big reputation but is currently averaging only just over
73 metres per game. George Delaney
manages only just over 58. It is perhaps
unfair to place the onus on Suluka-Fifita to shoulder this burden alongside
Walsmley but his performance offered something of a life raft.
It was a boost to see Davies restored to the starting lineup. He is a
pacier, more dynamic presence than Whitley in the back row but has often been
deprived of even a bench spot in favour of the underwhelming one hit wonder
Shane Wright. Indeed it was Wright who was bamboozled by Euan Irwin's step
which saw the young Warrington half slice over for the game's decisive score. Not that Wright was the only one standing
around doing not much of anything at crucial times. Josh Smith’s try came about from an attacking
kick by Saints which everybody allowed to bounce. It did so kindly for Smith who danced away
from the bewildered Saints chase to race 70 metres for the score. Joe Shorrocks’ pursuit was a particular
nadir, putting in the big steps until half way and then deciding to give up in
the manner of a rabbit not powered by Duracell in the old 1980s adverts.
Overall - despite injuries to Lees, Stephens, Robertson, Wingfield and
Macdonald as well as Jacob Host and Lewis Murphy - the selection and the
performance said something foreboding about the squad depth. Feldt and his
issues aside, this was less 'next cab off the rank' and more 'who do we have
left?' And who we had left wasn't close to being good enough on the night. And
that's been a pattern in recent weeks.
If Rowley was truly going with what he had available then his plans
would have been further damaged by a serious injury to Lomax just 15 minutes
in. The veteran had been named in the halves alongside George Whitby but was
soon being helped from the field with what was later described as a fractured
jaw requiring surgery. As he left the field he could be seen with both
hands to his face as if he was holding something in place. It was quite
horrific, especially given the list of injuries he has had to face in the 17
years since his debut. Now 36 and in the final year of his contract it's got to
be questionable whether we will ever see him on the field again. Many -
including this writer - would not select him now even at full fitness. Yet his
388 appearances during which he has won four Super League Grand Finals, a
Challenge Cup and a World Club Challenge mark him out as one of the greats of
the summer era.
His exit
hastened Sailor's return to the six role with Deon Cross coming in on the wing.
The fact that we had a three-quarter on the bench seems to support Rowley's
claim that we were otherwise out of troops, Feldt notwithstanding. The
disruption was minimal on the face of it. Yet this was another day when Saints
could not find a way across the try line after the break. Having raised this in
my Leeds piece last week I was hoping not to have to address it again. But when
you add this game to those against Toulouse, Wakefield, Wigan, Huddersfield and
the Rhinos in recent weeks it can't be ignored. How Rowley fixes it is
something I don't have an adequate answer to. But it would seem to prove that a
fatigued Saints attack is among the poorest attacks in the league. Which for a
club like Saints is unacceptable.
The
loss of Lomax so early only underlined these issues, but the problems run
deeper than just personnel. A pertinent question might be why we are becoming so fatigued so
often? Has there been a change of training
methods with the new regime with less emphasis on fitness? Is there an argument that a more gentle training
regime would be justified in the face of what has been an injury crisis
throughout the first half of the season?
Or would that make things worse, leaving us even more under prepared? Rowley
needs to come up with the solutions because at the moment we are too easy to
dominate when our physicality drops later in proceedings.
It doesn’t seem
that long ago that Saints were sat top of the league, but I think most of us
felt then that we were in a false position.
The hope is that our slide to sixth is a similarly misleading trend and
that our chances of making the playoffs are not in serious jeopardy. But I wouldn’t be too confident about that at
this moment in time. Don’t think it couldn’t be us. The fact that we are the only club never to
have missed a playoff series in the summer era tells you that it can and does
happen to the best of them. It is quite
possible that 2026 could be the year that Saints slip out of the Grand Final
conversation before the knockout football even starts.
The next two
games are must win, not only to halt the slide but also because they are against
opponents that we are expected to beat.
Huddersfield have been woeful all year with just two wins while Bradford
have regressed to the lower reaches of the table after a bright start. Wins in these two could make the playoff
picture look a lot more rosy for Rowley.
Defeat in either would heighten the negativity and arguably confirm a
crisis is under way.
And then you really
wouldn’t want to look at a league table.
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