The blunt Saints attack was exposed again as they went down 16-14 to Wigan at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Paul Rowley's side had plenty of possession and territory. What some call 'good ball'. But they weren't able to do enough with it. They crossed for only two tries, one from Jack Welsby and another from Jake Davies. More often than not they lacked ideas when close to the Wigan line. They made it easy for a defence which is only ranked seventh in Super League this year by points conceded. It's just not good enough.
This attacking impotence is not a new thing. Saints have scored only 69 tries this season. That's an average of just over four a game. Five Super League sides have scored more and another - Leigh Leopards - can match it. This is not the kind of problem that we expect to have. We might not always win but it has been rare that we have carried so little threat. Until the last few seasons that is. That's not all on Rowley, but he's not improving the situation as yet.
There were factors at play in this one which made fluency more difficult. Despite the fan revisionism of late Jack Welsby is our most creative player. To have him spend two separate periods in the sin bin is not helpful. The second of those looked harsh.
Referee Chris Kendall had just warned both sets of players after the latest in a series of flashpoints involving most players on both sides. The game had started that way when straight from the kickoff David Klemmer needlessly pushed Brad O'Neill in the back. This time Welsby just happened to be the next player goaded by uber grub O'Neill who walked with the Saints man.
Welsby's first yellow card was for delaying the restart by throwing the ball into the crowd after it had gone dead from his kick. That Jai Field had picked up another one and seemed ready to restart doesn't change the fact that a rule was broken. Welsby needs to be smarter there. It was costly as Adam Keighran crossed for Wigan's first try while Welsby was off the field. Jack Farrimond had half of Liverpool to run into before handing on to Keighran as Saints' defensive organisation collapsed. These are things that decide big matches.
Welsby wasn't the only one deserving of a yellow card during the battle. How Farrimond escaped one for a shoulder to the head of Jackson Hastings is something only Kendall and video referee Liam Moore will know. Whether there is anything in it or not Moore's Wigan connection will always start innuendo whenever he makes a boneheaded call in the Warriors' favour. It continues to baffle me that the game's authorities don't take him out of these huge games involving his home town.
The decision to ignore Jake Wardle's blatant elbow to the face of Owen Dagnall was worse. It looked fully intentional. Even if you dispute that, the lack of regard for Dagnall's safety is surely a greater boil on the backside of the game than Welsby's gentle lob of the ball into the stand earlier. So too Oli Partington's hit on Dagnall as the Saints winger fielded a high ball in his own territory. That escaped punishment completely despite obvious head contact, intentional or not.
As did similar contact on Daryl Clark which saw the Saints hooker leave the field. No penalty was awarded which not only caught me out but also Rowley who was seen signalling to Hastings to take the two points. Wigan scored through Field in the next set. That's potentially an eight-point swing, though it is also true that just because you feel wronged by a decision doesn't mean you have to fail to defend the next set so spectacularly.
Whoever was officiating might have been slightly perplexed by the interchange chaos that befell Saints late in the game. Both George Delaney and Alex Walmsley failed head injury assessments, while Clark had a facial injury. The injury situation was so desperate that when Saints' final free HIA substitution became a permanent one there wasn't an interchange available. That meant that Saints had to withdraw a player and finish the game with 12 men.
To Saints' credit this didn't quite finish them off. As the hooter sounded Harry Robertson won a penalty after he was obstructed by Partington - funny how the same names keep coming up in relation to cherry and white housery - while following his own desperation dribble. Partington's lobotomy offered Saints one last chance to take it to extra time with a shot at goal but Hastings' effort never threatened the uprights.
There are some fans starting to question Rowley after just over half a season in the job. That's not really to my taste. I think coaches need time, especially those coming into the kind of recruitment mess that has been made in recent years. But you can understand the fan frustration. Injuries explain only part of the issue. Previously I have wanged on about how our lack of go forward limits how expansive we can be. But that was not a problem here.
There were plenty of opportunities but the play was too slow, with nobody seemingly capable of drawing a defender out of position. When we made long range breaks through Welsby and Nene Macdonald the lack of support was glaring. Like the rest of the team just wasn't fast enough to catch up. There remains a palpable lack of pace in this side.
Which is not terribly convenient when you're trying to push for a playoff place. I need not remind my fellow Saints - or anyone else who follows rugby league for that matter since we mention it enough - that Saints have never missed a playoff series in the Super League era. We are the only club who can say that. Yet this loss - notwithstanding the punch to the ego that derby defeat brings - leaves us in the sixth and final playoff spot. An improving Leigh Leopards side are breathing down our necks, just two points behind.
You wouldn't want to be the coach for whom a missed playoff series occurs on your watch. Upcoming home games against the French duo of Toulouse and Catalans Dragons are matches that Rowley dare not lose. Leigh face basket cases Castleford and Hull FC in that period. If Adrian Lam's side win those we could - even with wins in the next two - travel to Wigan on July 24 in real danger of falling outside the six.
Let's be clear this wasn't just a loss against Wigan. That may stir the emotions but I would suggest not quite as much as the prospect of spending the weeks leading up to the Grand Final at home watching others fight it out. If the attack doesn't improve you still don't see where a win against a fellow playoff contender is coming from. After Wigan we still face Leigh, Leeds and Hull KR before the end of the regular season.
To be blunt. We must somehow find a way to stop being...er...blunt.
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