Saints v Hull KR - Preview

 Despite all the negativity I feel towards it right now there is still a game to write about. Saints return to their own patch to host Hull KR on Friday night (September 11, kick-off 6.00pm).

Kristian Woolf’s side spent five days at the top of the league but have since been overtaken by Catalans Dragons despite the fact neither side has played since Saints walloped Huddersfield Giants 54-6 last Friday night (September 4). Fearful of not completing the season in the age of Covid the game’s authorities lost their nerve and made a pre-emptive move. They decided to determine league position with points percentage, a mathematical equation that makes the government’s algorithm for exam results look rational, well thought through and totally impartial. 

But it is what is and we must press on. Woolf has made two changes to the 21-man party on duty for the Giants game. Captain James Roby returns after he was forced to sit out last week due to concussion protocols, while Zeb Taia has recovered sufficiently from the groin injury he picked up when Saints met Rovers less than a fortnight ago. The men to miss out are Lewis Dodd who is still unavailable after being forced to isolate as a result of test and trace protocols, and young back up hooker Josh Eaves. 

Theo Fages left the Rovers game early after hyper-extending his knee. He subsequently missed out last week despite making the initial squad. He features again and could be set for a return. If he doesn’t make it we may see Jack Welsby given another chance to partner Jonny Lomax in the halves. The pair were excellent against Simon Wololford’s side and there should be no worries about pairing them up again.

Tommy Makinson serves the third of his five game ban for that now infamous incident involving Liam Watts of Castleford, while Mark Percival is still not fit enough to return. Woolf hinted that Percival has a chance for next week’s Challenge Cup clash with Warrington but for now Josh Simm may get another opportunity with Matty Costello filling in again on the wing. Simm made a promising first Super League start and will be particularly interesting to see how he goes if Taia is fit enough to be restored to the left hand second row berth. 

Regan Grace thrilled us again with two sensational tries last week while on the other side Kevin Naiqama should play inside Costello. The Fijian was an injury doubt earlier in the week and if there is any uncertainty about him James Bentley could be moved from the second row to slot in at centre. Lachlan Coote has been peerless at fullback, turning in another man-of-the-match, 26-point performance last time out. He is key to everything Saints do in attack and defence. 

With Roby and Taia back there could be significant changes to the pack. Aaron Smith may feel he did enough last week to get the start but this is James Roby we are talking about. It largely depends on how fit Roby is and how Woolf wants to use him. Both Roby and Smith will play their part. Taia’s selection at second row ought to be a no-brainer, but then what do you do elsewhere? 

Does Morgan Knowles - who filled in for Taia last week - revert to loose forward and allow James Graham to play as a more conventional prop? That would likely push Matty Lees back to the bench after a solid performance last week but if we are picking only on form then Kyle Amor gets the start after he led all Saints forwards in metres made in that win over the Giants. The only thing that everybody can definitely agree on is that Alex Walmsley should start.  Beyond those mentioned Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Jack Ashworth, Joe Batchelor and Dominique Peyroux are also in the mix.

Rovers come in off the back of a stunning 34-18 win over Wigan a week ago. The Robins achieved it despite making several changes to the line-up which had pushed Saints close for large parts of their last meeting. Tony Smith has tinkered less this week, with the only change to his 21-man selection seeing Mitch Garbutt included at the expense of Jamie Ellis. The latter ran the show in the first half against Saints before fading as the champions took control. Yet he was replaced for the Wigan game by Jordan Abdull who turned in an even better performance. 

Abdull really brought the best out of the previously unheralded Jez Litten, Elliot Minchella, hat-trick man Greg Minikin and the already excellent Kane Linnett.  All have served notice that they present a major threat to Saints if they do not improve on the performance they offered two weeks ago. But the big question has to be where is Smith’s big scrum-half manufacturing factory and who will they throw in off the production line this week?

In the pack Rovers are somewhat more convincingly putmatched but Dean Hadley, Matt Parcell, Harvey Livett and George Lawler and Weller Hauraki offer a mix of youth and experience and will revel in Rovers’ newly cavalier style of play. All things being equal they should come up short against a Saints side that looks a class above the rest of Super League irrespective of contrived points systems. 

Perhaps we have seen this week that things are not equal. Far from it. Rovers have a puncher’s chance in this one whereas before they last faced Saints you would have given them no chance. I still expect Saints to win but I am considerably more nervous than I can remember feeling ahead of a home game with Rovers in a long time. 

Well, I would be if I didn’t care just that little bit less this week. Saints by 18.

Squads;

St Helens:

1. Lachlan Coote 3. Kevin Naiqama 5. Regan Grace 6. Jonny Lomax 7. Theo Fages 8. Alex Walmsley 9. James Roby 11. Zeb Taia 12, Dom Peyroux 13. LMS 14. Morgan Knowles 15. Matty Lees 16. Kyle Amor 17. Jack Ashworth 19. Aaron Smith 20. James Bentley 21. Matty Costello 22. Jack Welsby 23. Joe Batchelor 26. Josh Simm 32. James Graham.

Hull KR;

3. Shaun Kenny Dowall 4. Kane Linnett 5. Greg Minikin 7. Jordan Abdull 9. Matt Parcell 11. Weller Hauraki 12. Harvey Livett 13. Dean Hadley 14. Mitch Garbutt 15. George Lawler 16. Daniel Murray 18. Jez Litten 19. Will Dagger Lewis 20. Mikey Lewis 23. Ethan Ryan 24. Joe Keyes 25. Matty Gee 26. Will Maher 27. Elliot Minchella 28. Matty Storton 32. Nathaniel Peteru

Referee: Jack Smith

Mashing A Big Casio While The Public Switches Off

When plans were drawn up for the restart of the 2020 Super League season I got annoyed with the nay-sayers. I couldn’t understand the negativity. At that stage we had gone four long months without rugby league, trying to entertain ourselves with Joe Wicks videos and re-runs of sporting events from a time when you could watch for the price of a TV licence. I didn’t want to hear about how the rebooted season wouldn’t finish, or how it would be rendered meaningless should it reach its conclusion. Could we not just get on with it and enjoy it for what it was, I asked? No asterisks, just let it play out. 

Less than six weeks after the restart I regret to report that even my enthusiasm is waning. My patience tested to its limit by the machinations of a league run like a sixth form 5-a-side tournament. Failure to introduce sufficiently stringent restrictions has led to several mini outbreaks of the modern scourge that is Covid-19. That in turn has led to at least one fixture being swapped and/or postponed every weekend since members of Hull FC returned positive tests following their 54-18 defeat to Salford Red Devils on August 9.  But the real kicker - the real straw that left the camel looking for a back surgeon - was today’s announcement (September 9) that Super League positions and therefore playoff places will now be decided on ...(checks notes...) points percentage.

Mashing the keypad of their Casio calculator, the RFL have come to the conclusion that Catalans Dragons now head the Super League table going into this weekend’s round of games. The Dragons have 10 points from just seven games played which the game’s very own Rachel Rileys have decreed gives them the edge over Saints with their piffling 14 points from 10 outings. But fear not, fellow Saints, because in order to swipe the League Leaders Shield from under our noses the Dragons and the rest of our top flight rivals have been set the devilishly tricky task of managing to complete 15 games in 2020 while still maintaining that higher points percentage. Whatever the Hell that is.

See, that is the other problem with this solution. It is not simple. No longer will you be able to take a quick scan of the league table before the Thursday night kick-offs and be able to ascertain instantly what the implications are of a win or a loss for one side or the other. You’ll need to be Rachel Riley too, though you will at least reserve the right to disagree with her on Jeremy Corbyn if you like. But get set for an evening in front of Hull-Wakefield with your Casio in your hand rather than a bottle of something cold. And there’s no use hoping that one of Barry or Terry will explain it to you as we go. O’Connor has already reported severe headaches following the news.

There was very probably every need for a contingency plan given the government’s mixed messaging about where we are with Covid-19. From Monday (September 14) you can’t gather in households in groups of more than six but at the same time you must get on a busy train with a group of anti-mask strangers otherwise Costa Coffee will die.  Kevin Sinfield was murmuring about the need to prepare for the worst last week, stringing together a halfway coherent sentence about alternate arrangements should teams be unable to fulfil their scheduled 20 fixtures before November. But in announcing it now they have sent out a very loud and clear message that they have all but given up hope of completing the season as planned. 

So tell me why any of us should continue to care? Why should we continue to watch? Many won’t, and the chances of attracting new fans to a sport in which the team that wins the most points may not top the table are greatly reduced also. It would have been far more sensible to continue to try to complete the fixtures and then introduce a mechanism such as this (but probably not this) if and when we reach the point where curtailment is unavoidable. A bit like they managed to do in the infinitely more intelligently run EFL Leagues One and Two in football. Rocket scientists are over qualified for working this shit out.

As it is there is nothing to stop Catalans or potentially any other side from reaching the 15-game threshold with a healthy enough points percentage that they can afford to cite Covid issues for the last five rounds and have their players rest up for the knockout games. I’m not suggesting that Steve McNamara - rugby league’s Alan Partridge and a man who let us not forget wants to increase interchanges just at the moment that we have introduced measures to make the game faster and more watchable - would pull such a stunt. But the fact that he is now operating in a system open to such abuse is startling. At least it would be if not for the fact that this is rugby league.

So if you were a nay-sayer, or like me you have just become one after one shit show too many, rest assured that I am no longer annoyed at you. Instead I just sit sadly alongside you, tolerating this absolute bollocks and hoping that we will soon wake up on a bright spring day in a time not ravaged by Covid so that we can once again look forward to a rugby league season.

Huddersfield Giants 6 Saints 54 - Review

In a season that just seems to get stranger it was a pleasant surprise to see Saints turn in a ruthless display in this 54-6 win over the Giants.

This week’s disruption started early. A couple of days before the game it was announced that one Saints player had tested positive for Covid-19 and that two further players would be required to isolate for a period in line with test and trace protocols. It was revealed that none of the players affected had featured in the previous week’s 32-18 success over Hull KR, but still there were six players named in Kristian Woolf’s 21-man squad for the Giants game who fit that description. In the event it turned out that Lewis Dodd was one of those affected and so was denied the opportunity to make a first team debut in place of the injured Theo Fages.

With neither Fages nor Dodd available there was an opportunity in the halves for Jack Welsby. He operated at stand-off in a move which saw Jonny Lomax switch to a more dominant halfback role on the occasion of his 30th birthday. Welsby had stood in for the suspended Tommy Makinson against Rovers so this week the right wing berth went to Matty Costello. That allowed Josh Simm to come in at centre for only his second Super League appearance. 

The absence of Zeb Taia through injury saw Morgan Knowles fill in at second row. While the Cumbrian never lets anybody down a wider role is perhaps not his best position. Simm’s opportunities to shine were limited as a consequence, yet there were signs when he was involved that the young centre could cut it at this level. He managed 120 metres on 16 carries along with four tackle busts and a clean break. He was desperately unfortunate not to cap a promising performance with a try when he was called back by referee Liam Moore who had adjudged the pass from Knowles to be forward. 

The new halfback combination flourished also, albeit that we must remember that this was a Giants side ravaged by injury. Coach Simon Woolford claimed that he only had 16 fit players for this one, though 17th man Kenny Edwards did make an entrance late in proceedings. The adage that you can only beat what is put in front of you holds true here.  Welsby and Lomax can look back on fine individual performances. Both had a pair of try assists and Welsby showed that he has a short kicking game when the need arose. Last tackle options have been inconsistent at best with Fages in the seven position so it is perhaps beneficial to have another player who can contribute in that area. 

Not that this was a day when Saints had to rely on attacking kicks. Woolf unleashed the kind of offload game that we saw demolish Leeds Rhinos last month. Saints had 13 offloads in total, seven of which were the work of either Alex Walmsley or James Graham. One of Walmsley’s better efforts led to an early try for Aaron Smith. The young hooker was another player enjoying extended game time because of injuries to others as James Roby missed out due to concussion protocols. Smith looked comfortable for the most part, adding an assist and six runs from dummy half to his try while doing his fair share of defensive work to the tune of 36 tackles, nine of which came from marker. Only back rower James Bentley bettered this tackle count among Saints, though the fact that five Giants made more tells a story about who won the battle for possession.

If there is a criticism of Saints’ style it is still that they often lack width. This was particularly evident in this game as it was against the Rhinos. Yet this is largely due to the level of dominance they had in the forwards in both games. Walmsley is all but unplayable when he comes back for a spell late in games against tiring opposition. It is often just not necessary to go wide when Saints are ploughing straight through the middle of a defence. 

If it is not Walmsley that gets you it is often Graham, though in this game Saints biggest metre-maker in the pack was a resurgent Kyle Amor. He had 167 metres on 16 carries, while Walmsley, Graham, Bentley and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook all topped the 100-metre mark. The latter had a mad minute which typified everything about him. First he allowed Owen Trout to steal the ball from him and go 30 metres to score Huddersfield’s only try before the Londoner steamed on to Bentley’s pass to go over for a try and instantly pay off his debt.

Perhaps the only member of Saints pack who did not quite grab the opportunity presented to him was Jack Ashworth. He had a comparatively underwhelming 60 metres on 7 carries and was fortunate to escape disciplinary action after his part in a dangerous throw a few minutes before half time.

Despite the directness of Saints under Woolf it is comforting to know that when the ball goes into wide positions the ammunition is there to take advantage. We didn’t see much of Regan Grace but what we did witness from the Welshman was spectacular.  Midway through the first half he pounced on Tom Holmes’ errant pass and streaked away to score. There was nobody else in the frame, such is Grace’s devastating speed. Half an hour or so later he was at it again, put clear by Lomax’s immaculate cut-out ball before stepping inside the Giants fullback Louis Senior without even seeming to break stride. Those two runs represented a large chunk of Grace’s 233 metres on the day. His pace and the sheer power of the front row are a combination that is currently going a long way to making Saints look like the class of the Super League field.

If there is a selection problem for Woolf to consider despite all the absences then it is probably one of those that coaches call ‘nice’ problems. When Taia returns to action it might not be a given that Knowles will revert to his customary loose forward role, at least not from the start. The strategy of employing Graham as an extra prop at 13 is currently very successful. There is little lost at the conventional prop position when Matty Lees can come in and rip off 99 metres on 14 carries and contribute 25 tackles on defence. Far from being disjointed and - in modern parlance - clunky, Saints looked like a team with more quality than Woolf knows what to do with at times. We may see Knowles and Graham sharing lock duties though you’d still expect the former to play big minutes even if he doesn’t always start. He’s not flash, but he gives the side too many of the little, often unseen things to be spending too long on the bench.

The strangeness continues this week with another meeting with Hull KR just 12 days after Saints last saw off Tony Smith’s side. Since then the Robins have had a morale boosting win over Wigan but they may find that Saints have also stepped up a couple of gears in that time. All eyes will be on whether Dodd gets the chance that Woolf has suggested he will, and which would have been his were it not for the very unusual circumstances in which the 2020 season is being played out. 

It is a season which now sees Saints climb to the top of the Super League table in the wake of this impressive win. If it is looking ominous for the rest now, just wait until Woolf gets his first team back on the field.

Saints v Huddersfield Giants - Preview

 We start with a caveat. Following news today that one member of the Saints playing staff has tested positive for Covid-19 and two more have to isolate due to test and trace protocols, some of what I am about to speculate on may be even further from reality than usual. 

We know that none of the three players affected were involved in last week’s 32-18 win over Hull KR. But that doesn’t mean they would not have been involved in tonight’s game with the Huddersfield Giants at Headingley (September 4, kick-off 6.00pm). 

There are six players named in Kristian Woolf’s 21-man squad for this one who fit the description of having not been in the 17 last week. They include the two latest call-ups Joe Batchelor and Josh Eaves who have been drafted in to replace Zeb Taia and James Roby respectively. Taia left the Rovers game in the first half with a groin injury while Roby is ruled out after suffering a head knock a few minutes before the end. So any time you see the names of Batchelor and Eaves as well as those of Morgan Knowles, Jack Ashworth, Josh Simm and Lewis Dodd in the rest of this piece remember that at the time of writing it is entirely possible that they are among the trio who we won’t be seeing in action.

Now that’s out of the way we can take the wildest of stabs at what Saints’ line-up might look like. The fitness or otherwise of Theo Fages is another variable that will have a major influence on Woolf’s selection. The French halfback left the field after half an hour last week after appearing to hyper-extend his knee. Woolf was upbeat about the prospect of Fages recovering in time to face Simon Woolford’s side but there is still a good argument for handing Dodd a debut. One of those two will likely play alongside Jonny Lomax in the halves, or Woolf may even choose to switch Lachlan Coote from his regular fullback role. Lomax celebrates his 30th birthday today and with so much uncertainty around him will be an even bigger key to Saints’ ambitions.

With Tommy Makinson serving the second of a five-game suspension Jack Welsby will likely retain his place on the right wing outside centre Kevin Naiqama. Welsby scored two tries against Tony Smith’s side in his first appearance since the restart. He is also an option at fullback - should Coote be moved around - or in the halves. There are lots of possibilities in the backs for Saints though it seems likely that Naiqama, Regan Grace and Matty Costello will continue in their preferred positions.

Two and two often make five so it would be easy to assume that we won’t see Knowles return. The Cumbrian missed the Rovers game through illness and was replaced at loose forward by James Graham. If Knowles is fit and available he plays and Graham reverts to a more orthodox prop forward role. If not then Graham stays at 13 and Matty Lees gets another start in the front row alongside Alex Walmsley. Eaves may make the bench given that Roby is out but it would be a major surprise if anyone other than Aaron Smith is given the starting role at hooker. In the second row Dominique Peyroux’s return to fitness is timely with Taia unavailable and James Bentley has been in impressive form also.

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Kyle Amor will no doubt hold on to their bench spots and with Eaves also in the mix there could be competition for one remaining bench spot. Ashworth and Batchelor will both have hopes to secure that place but complications elsewhere could see it occupied by Dodd, Lees, Fages or even Simm. 

Team selection might be a little more straightforward for Woolford and the Giants if suggestions that they only had 16 fit players as late in the week as Wednesday are to be believed.  Darnell McIntosh, Michael Lawrence, Aidan Sezer, Kenny Edwards and Jake Wardle have all been named in Woolford’s 21-man squad despite all having doubts about their fitness. Sezer is perhaps the most significant of these. If he could make it on to the field it would be a major boost to a Giants side already without Lee Gaskell, Ash Golding, Ukuma Ta’ai and Adam Walne through injury and Suaia Matagi through suspension.  

As well as their injury woes the Giants have had to deal with speculation about Woolford’s future this week. In expressing his desire to stay Woolford was nevertheless quoted by one newspaper as saying that an extension to his contract ‘probably won’t happen’. He has been linked with a job as an assistant at Penrith Panthers in the NRL. 

This unwelcome distraction could have negative consequences on a physically depleted squad but equally it could galvanise them. They still possess quality in the likes of England international Jermaine McGillvary and prop forward Matty English in particular. If they can get the likes of Sezer, McIntosh and Wardle fit in time they have a shot at repeating the 12-10 success over Saints that they enjoyed just before lockdown on March 6. They have not won since the restart but have been close, suffering one-point defeats to both Leeds and Warrington before a disappointing 31-12 loss to Hull FC last time out. 

With uncertainty surrounding the make-up of both sides it is difficult to say how well they will go. Yet you would probably back a Saints side with absentees against a Giants side short of its full strength. Woolf’s side also have the incentive of knowing that a win will take them to the top of the Super League table after Wigan’s hilarious chasing by bottom club Hull KR on Thursday night (September 3). With that in mind and with their greater depth I’m expecting Saints to come out on top. Saints by 18.

Squads;

St Helens;

1. Lachlan Coote 3. Kevin Naiqama 5. Regan Grace 6. Jonny Lomax  7. Theo Fages  8. Alex Walmsley 12 Dom Peyroux 13. LMS 14. Morgan Knowles 15. Matty Lees 16. Kyle Amor 17. Jack Ashworth 19. Aaron Smith 20. James Bentley 21. Matty Costello 22. Jack Welsby 23. Joe Batchelor 24. Josh Eaves.  26. Josh Simm 27 Lewis Dodd 32. James Graham.

Huddersfield Giants:

2. Jermaine McGillvary 3. Jake Wardle 4. Jordan Turner 5. Darnell McIntosh 7. Aidan Sezer 8. James Gavet 9. Adam O'Brien 11. Kenny Edwards 12. Joe Wardle 13. Michael Lawrence 14. Matty English 15. Oliver Wilson 21. Leroy Cudjoe 22. Tom Holmes 23. Oliver Russell 24. Louis Senior 26. Sam Hewitt 27. Sam Wood 30. Reiss Butterworth 32. Owen Trout 33. Dominic Young

Referee:  Liam Moore

Hull KR 18 Saints 32 - Review

It was another week when free-flowing rugby proved elusive as Saints stuttered towards this 32-18 victory over Rovers. 

If the best we can say about it is that it was a win and two more competition points there was plenty of mitigation. As a performance parts of this were about as convincing as Jude Law’s turn in Anglo-Australian soap fiasco Families. Yet Kristian Woolf’s side were never going to be at full throttle given that they started without all of Tommy Makinson, Mark Percival and Morgan Knowles and lost more key players along the way.

Knowles’ late withdrawal was due to the fact that he was ‘crook’ according to Woolf. If you’re up on your Australianisms you’ll know that that suggests he was unwell. Speculation that Knowles began to feel queasy right after agreeing to be coached by Shaun Wane at international level is unconfirmed. But it meant that his place at loose forward was occupied by James Graham with Matty Lees coming into the starting front row alongside Alex Walmsley and James Roby. The latter did not last long in that department, moving into the halves when Theo Fages had his day ended by a hyperextension of his knee after only half an hour.

Fages now looks likely to recover in time to face Huddersfield Giants on Friday (September 4) but his injury has nevertheless opened up the debate about Lewis Dodd’s immediate first team prospects. Woolf spent some time during the build up to this one talking Dodd up, declaring that he expects the young half to take to Super League very quickly once he gets the opportunity. Irrespective of Fages’ fitness the time for that chance may have come. Is it time for Woolf to back up his verbal show of faith in Dodd with actions?

If there is any doubt about Fages then it should be. Roby did a sterling job in an emergency. The highlight was an absolutely magisterial pass across the face of the Rovers defence and straight on to the chest of Jack Welsby for his second try in his first game since the restart. Yet to move the captain to the halves from the start against Simon Woolford’s side would have been a wasted opportunity. As it turns out he is ruled out with a head knock sustained late in the game. 

But the most convincing argument for Dodd’s inclusion - whether this week or in the weeks to come - is Dodd himself. If he does have the kind of potential that Woolf and a growing number of fans believe he has then he should be given the chance to prove it. It is not as if Fages has been lighting it up at the halfback position in any case. His involvement in the attacking scheme is fleeting compared with that of many great sevens and his last tackle options have been an area in need of improvement for some time.

Back to Hull KR. In a close first half Saints’ main problem - apart from the loss of Fages and Zeb Taia which led to some challenging positional reshuffling - was a lack of ruthlessness. They were not clinical enough with the chances they did create. Welsby could have had more than the one first half try he did manage had it not been for errant final passes by Lachlan Coote and Kevin Naiqama with the Rovers defence busted. Saints paid for that profligacy too, hardly touching the ball for 15 minutes before half-time as Rovers’ unheralded halfback and one-time Saint Jamie Ellis ran the show. It was a spell that yielded two tries as between them Regan Grace and Matty Costello failed to stop first Adam Quinlan and then Ethan Ryan from scoring. 

For the first Grace inexplicably opted to stay out on Ryan when it was clear both that Costello needed help with Quinlan and that Ryan was too close to the touchline to receive a pass in any case. For the second the Welshman flapped at a high ball but it is fair to suggest that he was not offered the greatest protection by Costello on his inside. In many ways Saints were fortunate that Rovers did not have the nous to persist with a line of attack on that edge. After shutting out their opponents in their last two games suddenly Saints had shipped two tries in three minutes against the league’s bottom side. When you have Welsby on the wing, Costello and James Bentley at centre and Roby in the halves there is certainly mitigation. But there is also an argument that says lads, it’s Hull KR. A Hull KR that were playing just their second game since the restart and who had not seen action since losing to Warrington on August 8.

Watching this unfold, what we didn’t know that we know now is that due to what turned out to be a false positive Covid test for a Saints staff member the entire coaching staff - including Woolf - had been self isolating and had played no part in any of the training sessions leading up to the game. The only communication they’d had with the players was through 2020 must-have gizmo Zoom. From that standpoint their second half performance in particular is an achievement worthy of our praise. Ellis became less of a factor as it wore on, Coote and Naiqama produced one of the prettiest examples of pass-timing and line-running you are likely to see in this or any other season, while Smith proved he can sniff out a try as he scooted over from dummy half.

And there was that Roby pass to Welsby, which had followed on from one of the more positive moments of the first half when Jonny Lomax looped a sublime delivery into Welsby’s path for his first score. Alex Walmsley - who had opened the scoring after five minutes with a typically unstoppable run complete with side-step - returned late in the game to help Saints wrest back control. He ended the day with 132 metres on 16 carries with bench men Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Kyle Amor also breaking the 100 metre barrier for the red vee.

It’s a result that leaves Saints nicely poised in second place, two points behind temporary leaders Wigan. If you have been watching the Tour De France think of Wigan as a middling journeyman rider who has broken away for his shot at the glory of winning a stage. Yet he won’t win the overall race and he knows it. In fact, it’s almost an inevitability that the peloton will reel him in before he even wins the stage. September 30 is fast approaching and if Saints find their very best form that night then a midnight kick-off will not save the Cannonball Kids.

Saints did what they had to in trying circumstances here and after a pretty horrific first 40 minutes. They will probably need to be that resilient again this weekend against the Giants with Makinson and Percival still out and Taia rated extremely doubtful by Woolf because of the short turnaround. But they are able to replace the soon to be departing back rower with Dominique Peyroux who came back into the fold for this one, and should have Knowles back also. That kind of depth is ominous for the rest. It must inspire great admiration from Huddersfield who showed in defeat to Hull FC how reliant they are on Aidan Sezer and Lee Gaskell.

The continued disruption in the Saints squad might not mean a return to the dazzling form we saw against Leeds a few weeks ago, but after a shaky start before lockdown there are signs now that Woolf’s men are becoming a consistent winning machine once more.

Saints v Hull KR - Preview

In spite of its seeming inability to apply workable Covid protocols Super League stumbles on into Round 10 this week as Saints face Hull KR at Warrington’s Haliwell Jones Stadium on Sunday (August 30, kick-off 1.00pm).

League matters took a break last week as the one surviving Challenge Cup sixth round tie was played out between Catalans Dragons and Wakefield Trinity. A single game was still enough to conjure up another coronavirus hot mess, with several members of the Dragons’ travelling party testing positive in the days that followed. That has led to the postponement of the French side’s clash with Wigan which was scheduled for this Saturday (August 29) and what would have been Steve McNamara’s side’s first game on French soil against Leeds Rhinos on September 7. Not the first time that Leeds will have had a trip to France thwarted by the unseen enemy in this utterly berserk 2020 season.

Castleford had thought that they could put their feet up for another week having been originally scheduled to play against cash-strapped, chaotic crisis club Toronto Wolfpack. However, with the Warriors in need of an opponent the powers that be pulled their by now weekly magic trick and inserted a Tigers side they found lying around the house into the path of Adrian Lam and his side for this weekend. 

Wakefield, while without a few players who need to isolate and having stood David Fifita down, are nevertheless still required to attend on Sunday to fulfil their fixture with the Wolves. Fifita is out after refusing to wear his GPS tracker which is used for monitoring the amount of contact between players. That information is pretty fundamental to keeping the game safe and ensuring that it can still go ahead. Trinity didn’t really have anywhere else to go on the matter. They’re good like that, Trinity. So long as nobody asks them to kneel.

Back to our main focus which, predictably in a blog called That Saints Blog You Quite Like, is the upcoming assignment against Rovers. The Bobbins Robins haven’t played since they went down swinging 40-10 against Warrington at Leeds on August 8. Since then, chairman Neil Hudgell has decided that he has had enough and will stand down at the end of the season. Whenever that is. Hudgell is an often controversial figure, an owner who is not averse to flapping his gums in anger if he thinks his poor, long suffering, comatose giant of a club is being put upon. Still, as Saints fans we live in a house made of the glass for which the town is renowned on the subject of mouthy owners so let’s not sling too much mud. 

Let’s hope to see the slinging of some rugby balls instead. To that end coach Kristian Woolf has made three changes to the 21-man party that he selected for the 10-0 win over Castleford last time out. Tommy Makinson serves the first of a five-game ban for his inappropriate grab on Liam Watts. Given that it could have been as many as eight Makinson might count himself fortunate. He’ll have to take his medicine and we will all hope that the incident is remembered as one of those inexplicable one-offs. Like that time Lama Tasi made a break.

Matty Costello comes back into the squad but he is perhaps more likely to replace Mark Percival at centre than to operate on the wing in place of Makinson. Casting some doubt on that is the call-up handed to Josh Simm, a centre with the reserves of some reputed potential. We could see Jack Welsby come on to the wing for his first appearance since the restart, while on the opposite flank Regan Grace is in line for his 100th appearance for Saints since making his debut against Wigan on Good Friday in 2017. Kevin Naiqama is the other regular member of Saints three-quarter line set for a start.

Woolf spoke fairly glowingly of Lewis Dodd earlier this week when he was quizzed on the subject of younger players stepping in for absent stars. The coach was adamant that the young halfback will take to Super League quickly once he gets his chance. There is a growing belief among many that the Rovers game is the perfect opportunity to blood Dodd, so will this be his moment? The established pairing of Jonny Lomax and Theo Fages have mostly excelled in the last couple of years but were on the missing persons list against the Tigers. Dodd’s inclusion would give what should be a routine win over a struggling side another dimension. It would also re-introduce Lomax and in particular Fages to the concept of competition for places which in truth they have not had since the departure of Danny Richardson to the Tigers.

Woolf’s third and final squad change sees Dominic Peyroux return to the fold. The back-rower has been out with a combination of illness and injury in recent weeks but returns here in place of Joe Batchelor. Whether Peyroux will start depends largely on what Woolf chooses to do with James Bentley. The former Bradford man replaced Percival at centre against the Tigers but that was something of an emergency measure. I’d like to see Bentley keep his place in the second row alongside Zeb Taia with international turncoat and all around nuisance Morgan Knowles at loose forward. 

Such a move could see Peyroux hit the interchange bench alongside Matty Lees, while Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Kyle Amor, Aaron Smith, Jack Ashworth and maybe even Dodd could all compete to be introduced from the bench. Woolf had some interesting thoughts on the proposed increase of interchanges back to 10 from eight when asked this week. He made the very reasonable point that there have been rule changes introduced to increase fatigue and open the game up, so why negate the effect they have had on the spectacle by going back to 10 interchanges?

Whoever is selected for the 17 among this band of handy-looking replacements will hope to get game time behind an ageing but still spectacular front row of Alex Walmsley, James Roby and James Graham.

Hull KR have been hit with the news that one of their main weapons is out. Nobody has scored more than Ben Crooks’ eight tries in Super League in 2020 but he faces a six-week lay-off with a calf problem. Former Tigers centre Greg Minikin returns as a result, and coach Tony Smith will also have prop Robbie Mulhern available again. Smith has been open about how the suspension of relegation for 2020 will influence his side’s style of play and allow him to assess his squad over the longer term. We saw evidence of that when the former Leeds and Warrington boss fielded 11 out of contract players in the defeat to the Wolves. 

It was clear also that Smith had instructed them to play with a bit of width and keep the ball alive as much as possible. That approach will be a marked contrast from what we saw from Castleford in Saints last outing, when Daryl Powell’s side kept risk to a minimum and tried to slug it out. Saints seem better equipped to face a team playing more expansively and could pile on the points if they hit top gear. Yet Rovers will look to the likes of Ryan Brierley, Shaun Kenny-Dowall, Weller Hauraki, Kane Linnett and former Saint Adam Quinlan to cause problems of their own. If the Warrington weather co-operates expect a very different game from the Castleford win, and one in which Saints should have too much for Super League’s bottom club. 

Saints by 24.

Squads;

St Helens;

1. Lachlan Coote 3. Kevin Naiqama 5. Regan Grace 6. Jonny Lomax 7. Theo Fages 8. Alex Walmsley 9, James Roby 11. Zeb Taia 12, Dom Peyroux 13. LMS 14. Morgan Knowles 15. Matty Lees 16. Kyle Amor 17. Jack Ashworth 19. Aaron Smith 20. James Bentley 21. Matty Costello 22. Jack Welsby 26, Josh Simm 27. Lewis Dodd 32. James Graham.

Hull KR;

1. Adam Quinlan 3. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 4. Kane Linnett 5. Greg Minikin 7. Jordan Abdull 8. Robbie Mulhern 9. Matt Parcell 11. Weller Hauraki 13. Dean Hadley 14. Mitch Garbutt 15. George Lawler 16. Daniel Murray 19. Will Dagger 23. Ethan Ryan 25. Matty Gee 26. Will Maher 27. Elliot Minchella 28. Matthew Storton 30. Jamie Ellis 31. Ryan Brierley 32. Nathaniel Peteru

Referee: Scott Mikalauskas

 

Saints 10 Castleford Tigers 0 - Review

To begin, a revelation. Saints 10-0 win was not a particularly enjoyable experience from where I was sitting. 

I have read a lot in the hours since the final hooter about how exciting it was, what a great spectacle we had witnessed. Tough, uncompromising, ‘proper’ rugby league. I’m not buying it. From the point of view of a Saints fan (or a Cas fan) it was certainly tense. There was drama, but it was more Boardwalk Empire than 24. Slow burning, uneventful story-telling in which the characters involved were the story rather than the high octane kind in which something scarcely believable happens every third scene and major characters are routinely killed off. As Saints and Cas hammered away at each other throughout a quite literally pointless first 40 minutes the only people at risk of being killed off were casual, neutral sports viewers who might have tuned in and wondered why we all speak so highly of this game of ours.

Let’s be clear that it is difficult to criticise Castleford for their approach. The fearful pasting they took against Catalans Dragons a week ago coupled with Saints’ imperious dismissal of Leeds Rhinos meant that Daryl Powell’s side came into this one with no expectation on them. Most people had predicted a comfortable Saints victory. Castleford’s only hope of being competitive was to play exactly the kind of game we saw. Tight, risk averse, physical. The onus was on Saints to open the game up and so turn it into the type of match that would have suited their situation. It made no sense for Castleford to try to take Saints on in an expansive, open contest just as it did not make sense for teams at the bottom end of the Premier League to try to open up against Arsenal in the days of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires, as much as Arsene Wenger would try to shame them into doing so.  In my view Castleford were canny and succeeded in bringing us down to their level for the most part. 

Saints have now played three games since the restart and conceded only one try and just six points. That is quite staggering and something for which they have rightly been praised. Yet taking this game in isolation I didn’t feel that either side threw enough at the other’s defence to justify the glowing tributes. Yes there was commitment, courage and great powers of defensive concentration on show but at the same time it is an awful lot easier to defend for 80 minutes when all that is coming at you is one pass off the ruck. We have touched on the reasons why Castleford might approach their task this way but what’s our excuse?

Disruption is one possible mitigating factor. Mark Percival returned to the starting line-up after missing the Rhinos game with a tight hamstring. If restoring him to the side was any sort of gamble it did not pay off. In making a half break and putting Lachlan Coote through a gap he suffered a recurrence of the problem and eventually left the scene inside the opening 20 minutes. Coote dropped the pass by the way. It was that sort of day. A day on which despite a conservative approach Saints made 20 handling errors, almost double their average per game coming in. It all led to a reshuffle which saw James Bentley move into Percival’s left centre berth and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook enter the fray somewhat earlier than planned to fill the gap left by Bentley. 

Incidentally we need to talk about Bentley. When we posted the 13pro-am podcast Man Of The Match poll he was not among our shortlisted four. Inevitably there were calls for him not only to be in the four but to be the winner. This was echoed throughout social media among many fans. It is going to be unpopular so I stress that this is my view and not necessarily that of the others involved with 13pro-am (more than one of the others had him in their four so he was considered) but I really don’t get it. 

Bentley’s move to centre was one of the principal reasons why we became so straitjacketed and conservative in attack. He’s a fine player and all of the attributes he is lauded for - toughness, aggression, work-rate - all ring true. But these attributes do not stop people screaming about John Bateman when he is wrongly selected to play centre for England. Instead we line up to point out that Bateman will never be a centre as long as he has a hole in his arse. Similarly, Bentley will have far, far better days when he plays in the second row or as a loose forward. 

Like all of his team-mates the former Bradford Bulls man did his job in defence. He made 30 tackles - which was only bettered by five other Saints players - and only missed two. Yet with the ball in hand be did not make a break and  never looked likely to with only two tackle busts. We can’t glean much from his error or offload count with just one in each column. He was solid and showed his versatility again but I cannot see how he was Man Of The Match.

Another reason for our lack of creativity may lie in our halfback combination. Jonny Lomax has been peerless for two or three years and is probably allowed a day off. I’m more concerned with Theo Fages. He emerged as a hero in scoring the only try of the game, backing up Alex Walmsley’s break to seal the win three minutes from the end. Support play has never been a problem for the Frenchman and 34 tackles with only three misses show what a fine defender he has always been. But is that what we want from our halfback? For my money - and it was particularly evident here - he does not get his hands on the ball enough and does not dictate play. He’s second in command to Lomax at best and maybe third when you factor in Coote. Yet we do still go to him for last tackle options where it must be said there is room for improvement. If you are going to play conservatively or if the opposition is good enough to stop your main attacking threats you need a half that can make the right choice on the last play. I’m not sure he is that man.

Fages’ predecessor in the halfback role at Saints is of course Danny Richardson, now of Castleford. Richardson was put under great pressure by Saints at all times rendering his kicking game fairly ineffective. The flaws that persuaded Justin Holbrook to make Fages the man at the start of 2019 despite Richardson’s Dream Team year of 2018 remain. The Widnesian does not run at the line enough and his defence is still suspect. He missed four tackles in this one which doesn’t sound like a lot until you consider that he only made 11 and that one of the misses was on Fages on his way to scoring the crucial try. There is plenty to like about Richardson’s game but if you are looking for physical toughness and defensive stability then Fages is your man in a straight choice between those two. Whether either is good enough to play halfback for Saints is another issue entirely.

Incredibly we have reached this point without even the merest hint of Tommy Makinson’s ill-advised grab at the most personal parts of Liam Watts’ anatomy. Watts was returning to the Castleford side after injuring his arm with a saw, and suffered yet more unexpected pain when literally having his chain pulled by the England winger. What was going through Makinson’s mind and how much intent there was only he will truly know. Makinson has a fairly flawless disciplinary record which may help him if he tries to defend the Grade F charge that has been made against him and which carries a possible eight game ban. Makinson would be described by most as not that sort of player. But even if you are ‘not that sort of player’ as soon as you grab an opponent by the balls in anything but a metaphorical sense you immediately become ‘that sort of player’. Makinson can expect a fairly lengthy spell on the sidelines and will have to take his medicine. I cannot understand such an action and it would be recklessly myopic to try to defend it. 

So what do we do for a winger for the meeting with Hull KR in a fortnight? Not so long ago the loss of a great player like Makinson could be fairly well covered by Adam Swift. He wasn’t as good in defence, made more errors and was not as reliable returning kicks or starting sets but his try record for Saints compared favourably. But Swift is now in Hull, leaving Kristian Woolf looking for a winger and very possibly a centre should Percival not recover in time. Matty Costello filled in well for Percival against Leeds and could be recalled while we may see Jack Welsby for the first time since before lockdown. He and Costello are arguably interchangeable at centre and wing and Kevin Naiqama has NRL experience in both positions also. At a push maybe Coote or Lomax could switch to centre, with Welsby or Naiqama featuring at fullback against Rovers. There are options. In any case, despite all of my frustrations with Sunday’s performance I’m confident that Saints will beat Tony Smith’s side even if Woolf calls me and asks if I have any centre or wing experience.

If I’d played on the wing in this dreary, pretend classic against the Tigers there’s half a chance you wouldn’t have noticed.  How’s that for a revelation...?

St Helens v Castleford Tigers - Preview

A midweek fixture change means that Castleford Tigers - and not Wakefield Trinity - are the visitors to St Helens for Sunday’s BetFred Super League Round 9 clash (August 16, kick-off 4.15pm).

On Tuesday of this week it emerged that several members of the Hull FC squad and coaching staff had tested positive for Covid-19 following their 54-18 defeat by the Salford Red Devils. That has forced the majority of staff from both those clubs into self-isolation and meant that Hull’s planned meeting with Castleford and Salford’s clash with Catalans Dragons could not go ahead. To minimise the disruption to an already cluttered calendar a quick fixture reshuffle was necessary. It’s not an ideal situation but with all teams playing at a single venue each week and no fans to inconvenience the late alteration made sense. The game’s authorities must now figure out how to avoid a repeat of events at Hull FC. A bullet has been dodged, but as the season wears on fixture changes will become less feasible.

But we do have a game, for which Saints boss Kristian Woolf has made just one change to the 21-man party which travelled to Leeds and emerged with a 48-0 win over the Rhinos a week ago. Jack Ashworth comes in for Dominique Peyroux, who has still not quite recovered from the muscular problem that has forced him to miss the first two games since the restart. Mark Percival was a late withdrawal before last week’s pounding of the Rhinos due to a tight hamstring but is deemed fit enough for inclusion. Matty Costello was drafted into the starting 13 from outside the initial 21-man squad but is left out of this week’s selection. Should he be required he can be drafted in again with the rule which sees teams lose an interchange for that kind Warrington Wolfery suspended for 2020. 

Morgan Knowles is also included despite leaving the Leeds game relatively early with a head knock. He should play at loose forward behind a second row of Zeb Taia and James Bentley, the latter having used the two games since the restart to really establish himself as a genuine threat to Peyroux’s place once the former Gold Coast Titan and New Zealand Warrior regains full fitness. 

The front row is where the victory over Leeds was really engineered, and again looks formidable with Alex Walmsley and James Graham at prop and James Roby at hooker. Roby will be making his 500th appearance as a professional, having turned out a mammoth 456 times for Saints, 36 times for England and 7 times for Great Britain. It’s a monumental achievement. As a Saints fan you have to pinch yourself to think that we have been blessed with another legend of the sport in the dummy half role so soon after the retirement of Kieron Cunningham. Somebody is getting something very right in the Saints youth development set-up. Roby now skippers the side, leading them to Grand Final success at the end of 2019. He’s a little less dynamic than in his youth but he remains one of Saints most important players and a key influence on the next generation of players breaking into the first team in recent years.

Ashworth will hope to push Kyle Amor, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Joe Batchelor for two available bench spots alongside Matty Lees and back-up nine Aaron Smith.

If the forwards laid the groundwork for the Leeds performance the backs - and one in particular - added all of the decoration. Regan Grace scored a phenomenal hat-trick. Two length of the field tries came either side of a classic modern winger’s diving finish at the left corner. Grace had not scored before lockdown nor in the restart opener against the Dragons but was unstoppable against Richard Agar’s bewildered side. A more cynical writer than I might link his brilliance to Percival’s absence, but if the pair are both firing it will be a long day for the Tigers’ right edge defence. On the other side Tommy Makinson plays outside Kevin Naiqama, with Lachlan Coote at fullback. Coote’s tally of a try and two assists against Leeds was impressive if slightly overshadowed by the endeavours of Grace.

It is all knitted together by the established halfback pairing of Jonny Lomax and Theo Fages. Both took a bit of a back seat last weekend as others shone, though Fages did get on the scoresheet following Walmsley’s ridiculous break and perfectly timed pass. There will be times when the pair will be called upon to control tighter games than we have had to endure so far since the restart and both remain vital. Lewis Dodd awaits his opportunity behind them.

Castleford won’t relish having to face Saints instead of that planned meeting with a Hull FC side coming off the back of a whopping defeat to Salford. The Tigers have problems of their own having been crushed 40-14 by Catalans last week and might have benefitted from a gentler assignment. Still, you have to play everyone at some point so coach Daryl Powell may prefer to focus on the positives. Namely, former Warrington and Salford man Gareth O’Brien could make his debut in the Tigers’ problem fullback position after joining the club from the wreckage of Toronto. In addition, star forward Liam Watts could also return after an arm injury caused by some less than textbook home improvements involving a saw. DIY may not be his thing but Watts is a prop of genuine quality, and one that will be needed if Cas have any hope of containing Saints’ monstrous front three. 

Behind Watts Nathan Massey, Jesse Sene-Lefao, Mike McMeeken and Adam Milner have all shown in the past that they can mix it with the league’s best while at hooker Paul McShane will relish the battle with Roby. 

Peter Mata’utia is out due to his ill-advised dangerous throw on Samisoni Langi in the Dragons defeat so Sosaia Feki could feature having been named in the 21 for the first time this season following his move from Cronulla Sharks. Ex-Saint Michael Shenton had a mixed day last time out, scoring two early tries against the Dragons before finding out exactly what all the fuss is about with Israel Folau. Shenton is a consistently high performer and will see a clash with his old club as the perfect opportunity to bounce back and show what he can do.  In the halves Jake Trueman and former Saint Danny Richardson have bags of potential and could develop into a partnership that is the envy of everyone across the league.

For now though Saints must start heavy favourites. They were irresistible last week while Cas, for all their individual quality and potential, looked decidedly ragged after a good start against Steve McNamara’s side. If Saints get on top early the Tigers could end up the team most affected on the field by the Covid outbreak at Hull. Saints by 20.

Squads;

St Helens;

1. Lachlan Coote 2. Tommy Makinson 3. Kevin Naiqama 4. Mark Percival 5. Regan Grace 6. Jonny Lomax 7. Theo Fages 8. Alex Walmsley 9. James Roby 11. Zeb Taia 13. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook 14. Morgan Knowles 15. Matty Lees 16. Kyle Amor 17. Jack Ashworth 19. Aaron Smith 20. James Bentley 22. Jack Welsby 23. Joe Batchelor 27. Lewis Dodd 32. James Graham

Castleford Tigers; 

2. Derrell Olpherts 4. Michael Shenton 5. Sosaia Feki 6. Jake Trueman 7. Danny Richardson 8. Liam Watts 9. Paul McShane 10. Grant Millington 11. Oliver Holmes 12. Mike McMeeken 13. Adam Milner 14. Nathan Massey 15. Jesse Sene-Lefao 16. George Griffin 17. Alex Foster 20. Junior Moors 21. James Clare 22. Jacques O’Neill 24. Tyla Hepi 26. Calum Turner 34. Gareth O’Brien

Referee: James Child