The struggle continued for Saints as they suffered a shock 34-32 defeat in a wild one at York.
Despite an ever increasing injury list this was not expected. The Knights had won just six of their previous 20 games in their debut Super League season. Meanwhile Saints had every incentive, with Leigh's 20-8 defeat at home to Wigan on Friday having opened up a door to the top six.
Instead Saints now sit two points off the sixth placed Leopards with an inferior points difference. The two will meet at Leigh on September 4. But the more immediate concern for Saints based on the performance at York is where their next win is coming from. The proud record of having never missed a playoff series in the Super League era is all but gone. It seems like more than four years ago that Saints were winning a fourth consecutive Grand Final.
Since then the squad hasn't been replenished adequately. There has been a failure to acknowledge the speed at which some of those involved in those Grand Final triumphs have declined. Nobody can go on forever. We're left with too many players still in key roles who are demonstrably past their peak. Consequently the squad lacks pace, dynamism and has too few players operating in their physical prime.
So we need a rebuild. That was true before York. Before Toulouse. Those defeats just brought it into sharper focus. But in a rebuild it is just as important to identify those who you definitely want to have as part of the future as those you want to ship out.
First and probably most obvious, Jack Welsby. He's a senior player now. Captaincy material. Having benefited from the guidance of others as a youngster to the extent that he had won everything in the game by the age of 22, he now shoulders a lot more of the responsibility. But he must do this and not forget to also remain brilliant.
Harry Robertson is becoming equally important. Since his switch to the stand-off position from centre there has been a noticeable difference in Saints' attacking threat. They look like scoring much more often now. There were many games in which Robertson was marooned at centre with Tristan Sailor or Jonny Lomax partnering Jackson Hastings in the halves when it felt like Saints could have played all day and scarcely threatened the line. Robertson's positional switch has been transformative.
Robertson is still only 20, and heads a crop of youngsters who may not be world class finished articles now but who absolutely need to be persevered with. Jake Davies has been outstanding at second row and can also fill in at centre. Owen Dagnall is fearless in terms of the way he goes about creating opportunities for himself and others. The ACL injury he picked up on that awful day when Toulouse came to town is one of the more damaging injury problems that Saints have right now.
Jacob Douglas has had fewer flashy moments but has shown enough to demonstrate that he could prove invaluable in a side that has for too long lacked pace. Currently much of that commodity has been provided by Sailor. The ex-Brisbane man has also proven himself extremely versatile. He has played in a number of positions as successive head coaches have struggled to identify the preferred spine of the team. Whether it's wing, centre, fullback or stand-off Sailor has something to offer in all of them. Whether that justifies the recent deal he signed to keep him at the club until the end of 2029 is arguable. But he's pulling his weight at the moment.
Fan opinion is a little bit split over George Whitby. There are those who think that he should be handed the keys to the castle now as starting halfback. But there are also those yet to be convinced. There are lessons to be learned in recent history when it comes to anointing talented halves as the real deal here and now. Remember when Danny Richardson was a Super League Dream Team selection? He was then ousted because Lewis Dodd was thought to be even better. Now there's Whitby.
He's shown some great signs in the 20 first team appearances he has made, but not enough to end debate about how far he can go. It was not a crazy idea to bring in a more senior half for a year to help Whitby develop. Whether Jackson Hastings was the right choice for that role is questionable. Without ever being terrible Hastings hasn't lit the place up either.
Many were puzzled when he inherited the captaincy when Matty Lees got injured. Rumours of off-field rifts and attitudinal flaws have followed him around wherever he's been and tongues are again wagging. He only has a one year deal so perhaps 2027 is the time to really see what Whitby is made of.
Decisions around the pack are arguably more complicated. Lees has been sorely missed from a defensive standpoint. Having him back for one more year before his moe to PNG Chiefs will be a boost. But by 2028 both he and Alex Walmsley - stalwarts of all the late 2010s/early 2020s triumphs - will be gone. At 36 and on current form Walmsley's deal to the end of 2027 looks a year too long. His discipline and handling are declining and his recent extended absence in concussion protocols is a worrying development. If he can find his best then one more year is a no brainer. But can he? You would have to question it. On the plus side he is still averaging 122 metres per game. Saints have nobody else as capable of getting them down the other end of the field.
A lack of depth added to the small print on their contracts might save one or two forwards from being moved on. George Delaney exacted great excitement when he emerged in 2022 (see Richardson, Dodd and Whitby). But now perceived wisdom is that Delaney - out for the rest of 2026 with a dislocated shoulder - doesn't have the build to make an impact at prop. Some hedge that he could be converted to a back rower. That looks more doable as a project given that he's 22 and has two more years on his contract. Discarding him now would be complex and would give an already threadbare department another problem to solve.
Injuries are also complicating the situation around Noah Stephens. The scouse prop evokes memories of a former Saints great fitting that description. But again we need to tread carefully. Stephens has the potential to dominate but isn't there yet. His current injury is a particularly complex one so patience is going to be required if we are to see him progress as we hope. But at 21 and with a deal in place until the end of 2028 he's another who has to have time invested in him. The rewards could be great.
So we have seen those who are essential and who remain worthy of more time. But in a team performing this poorly there are inevitably a corps of players whose exit is - if not immediately essential - then certainly beneficial sooner rather than later. The trouble is that many of them have contracts for 2027 and beyond and may not be all that keen to leave.
Exhibit A and B here are Joe Shorrocks and Lewis Murphy. Both were given new three-year deals midway through this car crash of a season. Generally to widespread indignation. Shorrocks was never going to replace Morgan Knowles at loose forward but has not even managed to come close. Meanwhile Murphy - while talented - is too often a bag of nerves prone to costly errors. The try he scored at Wigan recently was celebrated with nothing more than an apology for an earlier gaffe. That contrast kind of sums him up.
There have already been reports of Saints making attempts to move Murphy on despite his deal running until the end of 2029. Which is a wild admission from the club that they got it wrong when his stay was extended. Will they be willing to do the same with Shorrocks? Try that too many times and it may start to look like you're not entirely sure what you're doing.
If the Saints hierarchy can untangle all of that they have an important date in their diary looming, and decisions to make on whether to wait for it or get out ahead of it. As things currently stand the end of the 2027 season will see a clutch of players out of contract. They include centres Mark Percival and Nene Macdonald, utility back Deon Cross, underwhelming forwards David Klemmer, Shane Wright and Jake Burns. It's also when the one senior hooker - Daryl Clark - is up for renewal. Ordinarily that would be an easy decision but any offer he receives has to take into account that he will be almost 35 when his current deal expires.
Jacob Host has started to contribute after a broken leg derailed his first season with the club. But will he want to extend his time here after his contract expires? He'll be 31 by then. Curtis Sironen also has that 2027 expiry date but will he still be here? He's struggled with injuries in the last two seasons in particular. He's only played 12 times this year. He's just turned 33. Matt Whitley has two more years and - if he can stay fit - is probably going to survive any cull.
I save the most difficult - but in some ways the most straightforward - decisions for last. Jonny Lomax made his Saints debut 17 years ago. He has increasingly become a bit part player whose every injury seems more horrific than the last. He latterly reinvented himself as an interchange hooker - a position Saints require desperately. But time has surely caught up with him now that he will be out of contract at the end of the current season. It seems an obvious time to say thanks for the memories. He's a classy individual who has won everything with Saints and has no more to prove.
Jake Wingfield is less decorated. He's also someone whose repeated injuries have blocked his full potential. But even then he's never struck me as an irreplaceable presence. His current deal apparently relies on appearance targets being met to trigger an extension and unfortunately he was ruled out for the season back in April. He's still only 25 but looks likely to be asked to rebuild his career elsewhere.
Many of the same issues surround Mark Percival. You won't see a full season out of the 32 year-old but he does have a deal for next year. That came after a bizarre scenario in which it was alleged that a contract was offered and then withdrawn. Or lost of you believe one particular ex-Saint and TV pundit. The deal was eventually done, since when Percival has played seven times. Years of being used as the battering ram early in sets have taken their toll on Percival. Ideally I would do a deal to let him go now but there is merit in the argument that he's worth another year.
Can the same be said of Macdonald. The ex-Salford centre seems to play one game then miss three since joining Saints at the start of this campaign. When he has played his impact hasn't quite been as envisaged. A lack of genuine strike at centre and Robertson's recent move away from the position may add up to Macdonald sticking around.
As much as we howl about how everyone involved in the Toulouse and York debacles should never be allowed near a shirt again the reality of the situation is more nuanced. There are a dozen or so players whom you can make an argument for living without. But rugby league history rarely brings instant success to clubs who make so many changes so quickly. Some patience from us and more than a little pragmatism from the as yet unidentified new head coach are probably required.
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