Saints 26 Salford Red Devils 12 - Review

A stirring, Saintsy 15-minute spell after half-time ensured Saints got back in the winners enclosure on Saturday afternoon (May 13). Salford have not won against Saints in St Helens in over 40 years and that run continued despite Paul Rowley’s side holding a 12-0 lead at one stage. Saints are still outside the playoff spots in seventh but can rise into the top five should they win their game in hand.

The Team News

Saints Head Coach Paul Wellens was able to call on the services of Curtis Sironen for this one. The Aussie back rower was a late withdrawal from the side that lost in Perpignan last week but started here in place of Sam Royle. 

Konrad Hurrell was out with a neck problem so Ben Davies started at centre. It was the 23 year-old’s first appearance since the 20-12 win over Hull FC in mid-March. Intriguingly, back-up hooker Joey Lussick was left out altogether having initially been named as 18th man. That honour went to Royle who was not required. 

If you were being generous you would say it was bold of Wellens to go with only one recognised hooker in his 17. He found room on the bench instead for utility back Jon Bennison along with forwards Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Jake Wingfield and George Delaney. Perhaps it was always Wellens’ intention to go with history maker James Roby for as long as possible but choosing to go without a specialist understudy qualifies as a risk in the modern game, particularly since Roby’s minutes are generally on a downward trend in what will surely be his final year.

Saints were still without suspension’s Morgan Knowles and the concussed Sione Mata’utia while Wellens resisted any calls he may have read from fans to split up the Jonny Lomax-Lewis Dodd axis at halfback.

Salford came in without Ken Sio who was replaced - with fairly telling consequences as it turned out by Rhys Williams - and centre Tim Lafai for whom Matty Costello deputised.

Game 532

On the subject of hookers and in particular Roby this game was always going to be most memorable for one thing. That being the skipper’s phenomenal achievement in breaking the all-time Saints appearance record. Kel Coslett’s mark of 531 had stood since 1976, a time when Eurovision had not been hijacked by the terminally flamboyant and when it was won by Brotherhood Of Man. 

Coslett’s mark would have survived had Roby gone through with his initial plan to retire at the end of 2022. Once the decision was made to suit (and cape) up again for 2023 it was a matter of when and not if Roby would set a new milestone. It is one that may never be beaten in our lifetimes especially with the concussion protocols and more severe disciplinary penalties which are a feature of the game today. That is perhaps shown in the fact that it has taken Roby 20 seasons since his debut against Widnes in 2004 to set this new standard. Coslett set his record in only 14 years.

Thirty-seven year-old Roby is fully deserving of his place in history, and the guard of honour afforded to him by both teams as he entered the field. He has managed 116 tries for Saints in those 532 appearances, laid on countless more for others and is - in the eyes of many - the greatest number nine to have graced the British game. Regardless of position, he is one of the greatest players of any position in the Super League era. You can argue about the order - and I do - but he deserves his place up there with the likes of Andy Farrell, Paul Sculthorpe, Keiron Cunningham, Jamie Peacock, Kevin Sinfield and Sean Long as the very best we’ve seen in the summer era,

Win or lose this was always Roby’s day. He would doubtless have disputed that with his trademark modesty and humility had we lost, but thankfully we were able to get the win that made his big occasion all the more special.

A Poor Start

Having turned in a pretty disappointing performance in France last week the champions took their time to get out of their slumber. They found themselves 12-0 down after not much more than a quarter of an hour as first Brodie Croft and then Ryan Brierley managed to get over under the sticks at the West end of the ground. Croft was the beneficiary of a scoring pass from King Vuniyayawa. The former Leeds man took a perfectly timed pass from ex-Wigan hoodlum Oliver Partington on the halfway line and raced clear before finding Croft on his left shoulder. It was a routine conversion for a goal-kicker of the caliber of Marc Sneyd.  

That was just four minutes in, and barely 10 minutes later the lead was doubled. The visitors had survived a scare when Tee Ritson went over on the left wing from Davies’ pass, only for replays to show that he had grounded the ball on the touch in-goal line as he tried to execute a spectacular diving finish. Taking full advantage of their reprieve the Red Devils exposed Saints’ currently slightly rickety left edge defence to put Brierley over for their second try. 

The full back took a ball from Andy Ackers before exchanging passes with Kallum Watkins and streaking away. It was slick, but the ease with which it bamboozled Dodd, Sironen and Davies on that left side was fairly alarming. Another easy conversion for Sneyd gave Salford a lead of two converted scores at 12-0.

A Saintsy Response

James Bell’s try before half-time was arguably crucial. There were less than 10 minutes to go to half-time when - with Saints still trailing by those two converted tries to nothing - the ex-Leigh forward took Sironen’s outrageous offload and burrowed over close to the line. It was a bit of a blind gamble by Sironen but that’s exactly the sort of madness I was brought up on in my Saints watching youth. Derek McVey would have thought twice about offering it up for grabs with Saints in such good field position. But it worked, forcing fans of Going Through The Process to hold their tongues. 

That gave Saints a foothold in the game at just 12-6 down at the break. Hopes of getting back into it with a good start to the second half were high. Yet few could have predicted that Wellens’ side would blow Salford away with a devastating 15-minute period of four-try Saintsiness when they came out after the break. 

First to make his mark was Sironen. The opportunity was provided when former Saint Costello lost control of the ball while trying to play it. That gave Saints a chance to spend a full set of six near the Salford line where eventually the dam broke. Roby fed Lomax from dummy half and he came up with a beautifully delayed short ball to Sironen. The former Manly man was unstoppable from short range, notching only his fourth try for the club and his first since a 36-16 win over Toulouse back in September. Makinson couldn’t land the extras but Saints were breathing down Salford necks having cut their advantage to 12-10.

Three minutes later it got better for Wellens’ men. This time their route into a scoring position came from the boot of Dodd. The youngster has been heavily criticised by many in recent weeks and with some justification. In particular his kicking game has come under a lot of scrutiny. His detractors would not have been thrilled when he sent another hopeful punt skywards. The majority of Dodd’s bombs have been plucked out of the air by opposing fullbacks with very little alarm. Not this one. This one had Williams - who was about to take centre stage as Salford’s pantomime villain - summoning the spirit of the Bradford Bulls in the 1996 Challenge Cup final as he failed to make the ground before the ball bounced away from him deep in Salford territory.

Fortunately for Williams, Brierley was on hand to seemingly clean the situation up. Yet Williams wasn’t quite finished. Taking a short pass directly in front of his posts and within spitting distance of his own line, the Welshman took the baffling decision to throw a long, looping ball out towards Burgess on the left wing. Only it was much too high for the ex-Wigan man. All he could do was flap at it as it dropped to the floor behind him and sat up perfectly for Lomax. The Saints stand-off gathered it in stride and just had to fall over the line for his sixth try of the season. He remains Saints’ top try scorer in 2023. Converting this one was routine for Makinson and suddenly Saints were 16-12 in front. It was a lead they would not lose.

It was the England winger who was next to cross, claiming Saints’ third in just 10 second half minutes.  Four minutes after Lomax’s try Walmsley found a very late offload to Will Hopoate. A split second before his ball carrying arm hit the turf the big prop was able to release the ball to the much maligned Tongan. He wasted no time in showing the class that often lies well hidden within using fast, soft hands to give Makinson just enough space to squeeze over in the right hand corner. It was the 31 year-old’s third try of the season and his 172nd in 298 Saints appearances. He capped it with a stunning touchline conversion too as the world champions opened up a 10-point lead at 22-12.

Salford heads were still spinning when Saints completed an incredible quartet of tries in just 13 wild minutes. Again it was Lomax at the centre of things. He came up with a very similar delayed pass to the one which had put Sironen in just after half-time, only this time it was on the right hand edge where Joe Batchelor was on hand to cross. Makinson was off target with the conversion this time but at 26-12 the game was all but beyond the reach of a beleaguered Red Devils outfit. Some of their problems had been self inflicted but Rowley’s side had largely been blown away by a vintage purple patch from Saints. 

After the hot streak the home side cooled down considerably thereafter. Fortunately, Salford couldn’t impose themselves either in what was an error strewn final 25 minutes. The closest the Red Devils came to a revival came with around 20 minutes left when Brierley carved out an opportunity for Burgess only for Makinson to produce a textbook try saver 10 metres out. By the time Deon Cross broke away down the Salford right the jig looked up. It certainly was when the centre somehow managed to allow his pass to a wide open Williams to drift forward. 

The Inevitable Bans

We seem to be talking about discipline and refereeing decisions every week in this column. If you think it’s tiresome I can’t disagree. But it remains relevant. Sironen has been handed a one-match ban for a late hit on Croft half an hour in, while Matty Lees was sent to a tribunal for a high shot on Shane Wright which unfortunately resulted in the Salford forward being helped from the field with an ankle injury. The outcome of that hearing was a two-game ban, meaning that as well as the Challenge Cup tie at Halifax this weekend the Saints prop will also miss the trip to Leeds the following week. 

Taking Sironen’s offence first it may seem that he has been a little unfortunate to find himself sat down again by the Match Review Panel (MRP). The challenge was only a step late. It is arguable that he was already committed before the reigning Man Of Steel released the pass. Yet in the current climate a step late is too late. You may not like the rule but that is a different argument from the one which suggests the MRP got it wrong. The interpretation of what is late and what is not is there to try and prevent players - in particular halfbacks - from taking too many hits. Unnecessary hits. 

Besides, this is not Sironen’s first rodeo. He has sat out several matches through suspension during his relatively short time in Super League. He knows the rules are strict. It is failure to learn on his part and symptomatic of the wider disciplinary funk that Saints have been in throughout 2023 so far. At some point the penny may drop. Until then we should probably get used to planning for the odd game without Sironen.

When Lees was charged with a grade D offence there were fears that he could be sidelined for a sizeable period. Maybe one of Knowles proportions. Yet in only picking up those two games he has perhaps received a punishment that is just about fair. 

His hit on Wright was not the worst you will ever see. The well worn argument has again been made that the Salford man was falling and that as a consequence Lees was always going to find it difficult to avoid making direct contact with the head. The fact that Wright then damaged his ankle as he fell is logically irrelevant. The MRP has moved bafflingly towards a policy of allowing the extent of injury to influence the severity of the punishment. That is a nonsense to my mind. Players often pick up bad injuries where little or no foul play has occurred, just as they sometimes escape serious injury despite being on the end of challenges that would be treated as assault were they to take place on the street.

But. Again we have to look to the current rules and the drive to future proof the game. It no longer matters about intent, players falling or any of that kind of mitigation which would previously have counted in an offender’s favour. It is Lees’ responsibility to avoid hitting Wright in the head, which means not going in recklessly with an arm swinging. And what was he doing honing in on Wright anyway? He had dropped the ball. It was on the ground. Why wasn’t Lees attempting to dive on it rather than trying to banjo a player who no longer had possession? Again - as with Sironen - it is failure to learn and adapt to new interpretations. It has to be just about Wellens’ biggest concern with his side right now. It must be cleaned up otherwise we will continue to suffer through it.

The Stats Bit

Since we’re talking discipline let’s start there. Saints conceded eight penalties in defeat to Catalans Dragons last week so it is to their credit that they managed to cut that figure in half this week. Although that doesn’t take into account set restarts dished out as a result of the somehow still operational ‘six again rule’. I can tell you that Saints were pinged only twice more for ruck interference by referee Chris Kendall. Perhaps that evidence of a slightly more disciplined performance says something about why Saints were on the right end of the scoreline even if it remains obvious that we have to improve discipline.

Salford conceded seven penalties and a further four repeat sets. Ok, so they had no cards issued but they can count themselves extremely fortunate for that. Partington should have been sat down for taking a wild swing at Bell early in the game. He wasn’t even penalised.

On to more positive statistical contributions and a standout effort by Walmsley. The ex-Batley man just keeps on keeping on, churning out 209 metres on 25 carries. Nobody on either side got near that figure but Sironen (112), Hopoate (106) and Ritson (100) all made useful contributions to the go-forward effort. Salford’s best were Brierley and Costello, both of whom racked up 106 metres.

The last 25 minutes felt like an error-fest and it is no surprise to find both sides in double figures in the balls-ups department. Wellens will want to see his side improve on the 10 errors that they came up with but Rowley should be even more concerned with the 15 from his side. Many of those either led directly to Saints tries or else set up position from where the hosts piled on the pressure especially during that manic first 15 minutes of the second half.

You can’t keep Roby out of the stats conversation on his big day. With Lussick out the captain played 75 minutes before leaving the field to a fitting ovation. That was long enough to come up with 27 tackles, a tally matched only by Bell among our number. Salford’s inability to hang on to the ball led to them having to do rather more defensive work. Kallum Watkins was called upon to halt Saints’ progress on 42 occasions while Partington had 36 tackles thanks to Kendall’s leniency. Or his inability to spot a blatant if inaccurate punch. 

That wasn’t the end of the story in terms of Salford’s workload. Tyler Dupree made 34 tackles, Alex Gerrard 32, Vuniyayawa 31 and Sam Stone 30. Andy Ackers probably would have topped 30 also had he not departed early with a knock, having instead to settle for 29.

Next Up

Super League takes a break this week as the top flight teams enter the Challenge Cup at the ludicrously late stage of the last 16. Saints face a trip to Halifax Panthers who currently sit fourth in the Championship. But if you thought - as I did - that Wellens might take the opportunity to rest most of his stars ahead of the next league assignment at Leeds on May 26 then think again. The coach has picked a very strong looking squad. Details will be in my preview probably out tomorrow but what I can tell you is that it is 99% certain to include references to my first ever Wembley Challenge Cup final visit when plain old Halifax edged us by a single point 19-18. Roy Haggerty, Mark Elia, Wilf George and all that.

The headlines are that only Roby is rested while we are of course without the suspended pair of Lees and Sironen. Knowles looks set to return as he will need game time having missed the last five through suspension. Mata’utia is also included having not played since Good Friday due to concussion.

A comfortable win will be expected. But we haven’t really done well with expectation so far in 2023.

Saints: Welsby, Makinson, Hopoate, Davies, Ritson, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Bell. Interchanges: Wingfield, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Bennison, Delaney

Salford Red Devils: Brierley, Williams, Cross, Costello, Burgess, Croft, Sneyd, Dupree, Ackers, Vuniyayawa, Watkins, Stone, Partington. Interchanges: Atkin, Gerrard, Longstaff, Wright

Referee: Chris Kendall

Saints v Salford Red Devils - Preview

Faltering Saints face another big test when they host Salford Red Devils in front of the Channel 4 cameras on Saturday afternoon (May 13, kick-off 1.00pm).

There’s a good deal of angst among the fans following a pretty tame 24-12 defeat at Catalans Dragons last week. It was a loss that left the champions outside the playoff spots in seventh, albeit with a game in hand on those above them. It was a fifth loss in 10 Super League games under new Head Coach Paul Wellens. 

Despite the fact that he has only been in the job for as long as Liz Truss was Prime Minister Wellens has not avoided criticism from some quarters. But then he is just one of a whole range of factors which have been speculated on. Everything from injuries and suspensions to some wretched discipline to the age profile of the squad and Lewis Dodd’s desire to play in the NRL sooner rather than later has been blamed for Saints’ rocky run. It may well be down to a combination of all these things.

But let’s be positive for now. A win would take the world champions above Salford, who currently sit fifth having won seven and lost four of their first eleven outings. Paul Rowley’s side are on a four game winning streak having beaten Leeds Rhinos 22-12 at Headingley in their last outing. 

Prior to that they had edged Catalans 16-14 at home, did just enough to hold off Castleford Tigers 14-6 at the AJ Bell. The run started with another narrow win by a score of 22-20 at Leigh. They are winning the tight games where previous Red Devils incarnations would invariably let those slip. Their last defeat was all the way back on April 2 when they went down 26-16 at home to Huddersfield Giants.

Those injuries and suspensions that the Saints fans are currently lamenting are not getting any easier to deal with this week. Wellens’ 21-man squad is again shorn of Sione Mata’utia and Agnatius Paasi while Morgan Knowles serves the last of his five-match suspension for a hip drop on Mike Cooper in the Easter defeat at Wigan. The recent England international against France counts as one of those five so Knowles will be eligible when Saints go to Halifax in the Challenge Cup next week.

Curtis Sironen is named and should feature. He was a late withdrawal in Perpignan having made the initial 21 selected by Wellens 48 hours before the game. If fit he should slot in at second row alongside Joe Batchelor with James Bell deputising for Knowles behind them at 13. Sam Royle and Jake Wingfield offer further options in that department. 

The front row should have a familiar feel to it now that Alex Walmsley is back. The England prop was a ray of light in the metaphorical gloom in France, making an effective return having missed the previous three and most of a fourth when he came off very early in the Wakefield game  on March 31 with a hamstring problem. He will be joined up front by tackling enthusiast Matty Lees and a potential record breaker in James Roby at hooker. 

There’ll be a change in the centres with Konrad Hurrell not featuring. It is not totally clear at the time of writing whether the Tongan has an injury or has just not been selected. He escaped a ban for swearing at referee Liam Moore during the Dragons game but was issued with a fine by the disciplinary panel. Could this be Wellens making a statement about his side’s miserable standard of discipline so far in 2023? 

Hurrell was sent off in a home loss to Leeds earlier in the season and sin binned for his potty mouthing at Moore. No Super League side has collected more yellow cards than Saints in 2023 so something has to be done to improve discipline. But that something is probably not dropping one of your best offensive weapons. There has also been a suggestion that he might have picked up a head knock and failed an HIA at some point during the week.  

There is still no Mark Percival either so the centre spots may be up for grabs. Will Hopoate looks set to claim one despite the ire of the fans on the matter. The other may go to the returning Ben Davies who made two appearances there in March before suffering an ankle injury in the second of those - a 20-12 win over Hull FC. Wesley Bruines is a centre by trade but is still to make a first team appearance. Will Wellens be brave enough to throw the 22 year-old in for the first time here against a side who are notoriously powerful on the edges? Unlikely. But he could move Tommy Makinson inside from the wing and restore Jon Bennison to the side on the wing.

Bennison was highly unfortunate to miss out against Steve McNamara’s side after a fine performance in the win over Warrington two weeks earlier. Many have called for him to return at fullback to allow Jack Welsby to move into the halves alongside Jonny Lomax. That would mean dropping Dodd. It is almost unanimously agreed that he is falling short of the standard he had set for himself before his injury a year ago. The only thing opinions differ on is the reason for that. Some say it is the injury, others blame Wellens’ conservatism. And then there are those who are convinced that Dodd’s mind is elsewhere after he boldly announced his intention to move to an NRL club when his Saints deal runs out in 2024. Whatever the reason for his dip in form I would be amazed if Wellens sits him in the stand for this one 

Rowley has problems of his own to deal with in his back division. Winger Ken Sio scored 26 tries last season, second only in the Super League try-scoring charts to Wigan’s Bevan French. Yet he won’t be scoring against Saints this week having been ruled out due to some kind of pothole-related tomfoolery at training. Welsh international and poor man’s Mo Salah Rhys Williams will step in opposite former Wigan speedster Joe Burgess. 

Tim Lafai was outstanding in the centres for Salford last term, form he took with him into the World Cup.  Yet a hamstring injury keeps him out and perhaps offers another opportunity to former Saint Matty Costello. The 25 year-old made just 26 appearances for Saints between 2018-20 but has made seven out of a possible 11 for Salford in 2023, picking up a couple of tries on the way. He missed out during the 22-12 win at Leeds last week, replaced by former Warrington man Ellis Longstaff. If Costello is restored to the line-up he may partner another Saints product in the shape of Deon Cross. 

The reigning Steve Prescott Man Of Steel is one of those looking to create scoring opportunities for the three-quarters. Brodie Croft enjoyed ripping up Super League so much last year that he signed a probably unprecedented long-term contract which - in theory at least - keeps him at the AJ Bell until 2030. With Croft, the kicking skills of ex-Castleford and Hull man Marc Sneyd and the pace and skill of Ryan Brierley Salford have a variety of creative options meaning that on their day they can cause a fair degree of havoc. We saw evidence of that at the end of July last year when Rowley’s side took Saints to the proverbial cleaners in a 44-12 rout. 

In the pack Andy Ackers is now an international hooker while prop Tyler Dupree has also had a taste of life within Shaun Wane’s England squad. King Vuniyayawa and Jack Broadbent are also key pieces in the front row while former Wigan grub Oliver Partington is nominally a loose forward for Rowley but is basically an extra prop. In the second row Kallum Watkins excelled last year as Salford ran all the way to the semi-final where they were beaten by Saints. He is joined among the back row options by former Gold Coast Titan Sam Stone with one time North Queensland Cowboy Shane offering support from the bench. 

Whatever the result of this one the day will mostly belong to Roby. If selected - and why wouldn’t he be? - the Saints skipper will set the all time appearance record for Saints. He will have featured in a jaw-dropping 532 games for his home town club since his debut in a 38-20 win over Widnes in March 2004. His current Head Coach was in that side, a relatively fresh-faced 24 year-old himself at the time. Roby’s Saints career has now spanned 20 seasons during which he has collected six Super League titles, four Challenge Cup winners medals and a couple of world club titles. 

It seems unlikely that his new mark will be surpassed, at least not in our lifetimes. There are fewer games now in a smaller top flight than has been the case in years gone by and with concussion protocols and changes to the rules around contact it is far easier these days to find yourself entering a spell on the sidelines. Nevertheless, a tip of the hat too to the previous record holder Kel Coslett, whose mark of 531 appearances was set during a 14-year spell and has stood since his departure to Rochdale in 1976. That’s 47 years ago.

Staying in the past, the last meeting between these two was a fiery and contentious Super League semi-final in September of last year. Saints edged it 19-12 at home and would go on to win that fourth consecutive Grand Final with victory over Leeds. Yet the Red Devils felt hard done by when an obstruction on Lafai by Makinson did not result in a penalty try. Of course, Saints fans argued that their side too were denied one too when Sneyd pulled the arm of Batchelor who might otherwise have touched down. 

The teams also met in the 2019 Grand Final which began Saints’ current run of four in a row. That was a much more comfortable night for Justin Holbrook’s side. Tries from Percival, Knowles and Zeb Taia helped Saints to a 23-6 win over a Red Devils side then coached by current Huddersfield Giants boss Ian Watson and which featured Joey Lussick, who is likely to be on the Saints bench for this one. Roby is one of only five Saints on duty that night who have an opportunity to feature in this one. Makinson, Lomax, Walmsley and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook are the others. With Sio out Salford have no survivors from that squad although Krisnan Inu - who played on the opposite wing to Sio - is now an assistant coach to Rowley.

It is well documented that Salford haven’t won at St Helens since The Two Ronnies’ heyday. They came close last year. A last gasp tackle by Knowles on Chris Atkin following a lung-busting and frankly unlikely chase by the Saints man preserved a 14-10 at the end of April. It could be that close again. I’m not totally confident but like last week - when I was wrong - I’m applying Lawrenson’s law and going for Saints by four.

Squads;

Saints;

1.Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Will Hopoate, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 12. Joe Batchelor, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 16. Curtis Sironen, 18. Jake Wingfield, 19. James Bell, 20. Dan Norman, 21. Ben Davies, 22. Sam Royle, 25. Tee Ritson, 30. George Delaney, 34. Wesley Bruines

Salford Red Devils;

1. Ryan Brierley 3. Kallum Watkins 5. Joe Burgess 6. Brodie Croft 7. Marc Sneyd 8. Jack Ormondroyd 9. Andy Ackers 10. King. Uniyayawa 11. Dixon 12. Stone 13. Oliver Partington 14. Chris Atkin 15. Danny Addy 16. Tyler Dupree 17. Shane Wright 18. Alex Gerrard 20. Ellis Longstaff 22. Rhys Williams 24. Matty Costello 25. Ben Hellewell 28. Deon Cross

Referee: Chris Kendall

Catalans Dragons 24 Saints 12 - Review

One step forward…two steps back.  That’s how it seems to be at the moment for Saints. After the Paul Wellens era began with the glorious World Club Challenge triumph in Penrith it has been a difficult first third of the domestic campaign for the new Head Coach. If we believed we had turned a corner with the stellar home win over Warrington a fortnight ago we were made to think again following a tame and often hapless performance in Perpignan.

The Team News

Only two changes were necessary to the starting line-up which blew away Warrington.  You could make a case that both of those were positive and should have strengthened the side. On paper at least. Alex Walmsley returned from a three-game absence forced upon him by a hamstring injury. He went straight into the starting line-up with Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook reverting to his customary place on the bench. Also back was Tommy Makinson but it was Jon Bennison and not Tee Ritson who made way for the England winger. 

That was tough on Bennison. He has been rock solid in his seven appearances so far this term. He deserved to keep his place just for the joy that was his try against Warrington which he created with a dummy which sent Matt Dufty to Tesco for a loaf. We will revisit that omission later. For now we will tidy up the team news by adding that Jake Wingfield also made the bench. It was his first appearance since the loss at Hull KR. With McCarthy-Scarsbrook already back on the bench seat which has his name carved into it, Wingfield’s return meant that both Lewis Baxter and Wesley Bruines dropped out of the 17.

Is This Now A Crisis? 

I opened my review of the Warrington game by declaring that this was not a crisis after all. You couldn’t help but just feel better about things after a performance like the one against Daryl Powell’s side. Yet here we are - just 18 days on as I write - sitting seventh in the league on the back of losing a 12-point lead for the third time in 10 Super League outings. 

We tell ourselves repeatedly that it doesn’t matter where we are now in early May or what sort of form we are in. That it’s all about how we are going in September when the knockout stuff starts. And that’s all true. But we are seventh. After a third of the season. The jarring reality is that if we continue in this vein then we are at severe risk of missing the playoffs. I need not remind you that Saints have never failed to qualify for the playoffs since they were reintroduced in 1998.

So is this a crisis after all? Maybe. But there are still 17 Super League games to play. Seventeen chances to cut out the errors and the indiscipline which have plagued us early in the season - never more so than in this ultimately shabby display. Last season the Salford Red Devils finished in that sixth and final playoff spot having lost almost as many games as they won. Fourteen wins and 13 losses. It is not going to require a massive improvement for Wellens’ side to sneak into the top six. And if they do who is going to want to play them?

If There Is A Problem, Is It Wellens?

He’s only 10 games in and he’s already a world champion, but still there are questions being asked about Wellens. Admittedly the interrogators are mostly housed on social media but those can often be the loudest voices these days. He’s picking the wrong team. The tactics are wrong. All the hits. Including the classically lazy comparisons with another local lad who became a rugby league legend but ultimately wasn’t up to it as a coach. 

But let’s introduce a bit of perspective. The season - Wellens’ coaching career in fact - is just 10 games old. This is St Helens. Not Chelsea. You don’t call for the king’s head to roll just a few months on from the coronation. Especially not in a system which allows you to lose 13 games out of 27 and still be only three games away from a shot at the title at Old Trafford. Calls for Wellens to go are a show of impatience bordering on the hysterical. He has to be given time. This loss means that we have now won five and lost five of our 10 games to date. If he gets a couple of seasons and we are still losing as many games as we win then perhaps his position should be looked at. Nobody is arguing that this inconsistent, erratic form is acceptable for a club like Saints over the long term. 

Until then I’m very much hashtag Wellens In. When he was appointed Saints signed up to having a Head Coach in his first role with that level of responsibility. He is a rookie learning on the job. In any case I suspect our form isn’t all down to his rawness. Maybe he has been the recipient of a bit of a hospital pass in taking over from the serial winner Kristian Woolf. Maybe - and we may well find this out over the course of the season - this is now a group of players among whom there are too many sliding downwards from their peak. Nobody can stay at the top forever. James Roby and McCarthy-Scarsbrook are both 37 years old. How many other sides have two 37 year-olds in their 17 every single week? 

Six of the 17 on duty in this one are over 30. So is Agnatius Paasi who would doubtless have been in the squad had it not been for injury. It seems highly likely that over the next few seasons a rebuild of the squad will be needed. Fresh blood will be required to complement the brilliant youngsters we have brought through over the recent past. Bennison, Wingfield, Jack Welsby, Matty Lees, George Delaney and - if he stays - Lewis Dodd should provide a strong backbone for the team but maybe the time is coming to build new blocks around them. If a team is allowed to grow old together it can take years to recover from if you are not careful. Ask Leeds Rhinos. 

So the only question that remains is whether Wellens is the man to oversee that rebuild. But those making decisions about his future knew that we had an ageing squad with a limited shelf life when they appointed him. Even if they didn’t envisage the squad starting to run on fumes this year. If they felt that the task of rebuilding was beyond Wellens then they wouldn’t have appointed him. I suspect they have rather more faith in him than those currently jerking their knees on Twitter.

Discipline Is Woeful

Now I know some fans have never seen a capable referee. That everything is a conspiracy because Bloody Chris Kendall is corrupt and/or Ralph Rimmer is bored of Saints winning and is on a mission to stop them. But those of us who reside in the real world know that these are rose tinted, defence mechanism excuses for bad discipline. Believe it or not Saints break the rules sometimes. Behave badly or petulantly sometimes. And - so it seems - never more so than during the opening months of this campaign.

No side in Super League has received more yellow cards in 2023 than Saints. We added another one to the collection here when Konrad Hurrell was invited to go for a rest five minutes before half-time for swearing at referee Liam Moore. Hurrell did so in response to the award of a Dragons penalty when Jonny Lomax was deemed to have arrived late on Adam Keighran. 

There didn’t seem a lot for Hurrell to argue about. Not in the current climate where the degree of force is almost irrelevant. A late tackle is a late tackle these days even if he tickles him. The penalty set up the position from which Ben Garcia and Mitchell Pearce combined to allow debutant Matt Ikavalu to brush off Will Hopoate’s weak tackle to tie the game up at 12-12 at that stage. But it was Hurrell’s petulant stupidity which left Saints shorthanded and made the next play harder to defend.

Before that Saints had absorbed a lot of what Steve McNamara’s side threw at them. The only exception came just before the half hour when Artur Mourgue took Sam Tomkins pass on the half way line and raced away before stepping Welsby and going under the posts. It was a try reminiscent of one scored by Robbie Paul at Wembley in the Challenge Cup final in 1996. Younger readers may not know that Paul hasn’t always been famous for interrupting pre-game warm-ups with awkward on-field interviews. He was once a silky stand-off with explosive pace off the mark. Mourgue is very much in that mould and showed it on this play.

Prior to that Saints were hardly dominant but they had been clinical when they got their chances in attack. They had built a 12-0 lead, firstly when Walmsley took Roby’s pass, beat Julian Bousquet and breezed under the posts. Ten minutes later they doubled the advantage when Welsby took a brilliantly timed ball from a pre-sin bin Hurrell to ease over untouched. Two Makinson conversions seemed to have set Saints on their way. 

Hurrell’s subsequent spell on the sidelines cost Saints eight points either side of half-time. A 12-6 lead when he departed had become a 14-12 deficit when he returned. The other two points came early in the second half after Sam Royle was whistled for escorting a Dragons player off the ball as it hung in the air from the boot of Pearce. It would have been Dragons ball anyway since Welsby dropped it cold. Royle - who is one of the individuals who has received the most criticism in the wake of this defeat - just gave the Dragons the option of an almost guaranteed two points to nudge them ahead. Keighran didn’t waste the chance and the Dragons went in front to stay,

By this time the game was 12 on 12 anyway after former Sydney Roosters forward Siosuia Taukeihao (easy for me to spell) was yellow carded for what Moore described as secondary contact with the head of Welsby. The fullback had just reeled in another enormous Pearce skyscraper before being blasted by Taukeiaho with a challenge that was suspiciously more shoulder than arm wrap and which bounced off Welsby’s body up to his head. Many won’t like it - including Sky fight fan Barrie McDermott who called it legal on commentary -  but Moore was 100% correct with the call. We all know the reasons why this is a sin bin and I can’t fathom why so many continue to rail against it. 

Royle’s indiscretion was one of eight penalties conceded by Saints on the night. That is around 2.5 more than their season average per game.  Overall Wellens’ side have conceded 58 in their nine outings so far. That is just seven fewer than the 65 awarded against the league’s worst offenders Salford. But Paul Rowley’s side have played a game more than Saints. Discipline is a massive, massive issue for Wellens right now. And it’s not Bloody Chris Kendall’s fault. Or Liam Moore’s.

The Kill Shots

Having edged in front the Dragons set about the task of putting the game beyond the champions. They did so with two Tom Davies efforts. His fifth and sixth scores of the season. First he was put in at the right corner by the quick hands of Ikuvalu. A brilliant touchline conversion by Keighran crucially extended the lead to more than a converted try at 20-12. At that point things were starting to look a tad ominous. 

All doubt was removed when another ex-Wigan man in Tomkins lobbed a perfectly weighted kick over the absent left edge defence of Saints to give Davies a simple task. Keighran couldn’t repeat the trick from the touchline but by that stage Saints had long since stalled as an attacking force and never really looked likely to claw back the 24-12 deficit.

The Ongoing Dodd Conundrum

Along with Royle, one of the strongest magnets for criticism in terms of individual performance is Lewis Dodd. It is fair to say that he hasn’t looked the player who lifted Saints attack to a different level before he was injured in the Good Friday derby in 2022. It was 10 months before he saw any further competitive action but since his return he has been a peripheral figure.

The injury is probably not the only mitigating factor in his perceived dip in form. Again some pin the blame on Wellens for allegedly coaching the flair out of him. Making him stick to the processes. Stay in the arm wrestle. Get in the grind. All the things that the modern coach loves but which bring me out in a rash. Besides, the change of coach is a hard sell as an explanation when you consider that Dodd’s previous boss was Woolf. He may be a serial winner but Woolf is a highly conservative coach who has no truck with maverick halfbacks. Get to the kick and then…well…kick is his mantra. 

Dodd’s kicking game has been one of the key areas where he has fallen short this year according to his critics. Certainly in previous games he has veered dangerously into Theo Fages territory. Which means completely forgetting that you are capable of doing something unexpected and creative and just launching it as high as possible and hoping for a jittery fullback to get themselves on the end of it and begin flapping incompetently at it. Yet it may surprise you to learn that Dodd only kicked the ball three times in general play in this one. So if it is not the kicking and not the coaching, what is it with him? Why is he playing like Luke Gale after a night out with Jake Connor?

Well it could be his age. He only turned 21 a few months ago. Not many halfbacks are the finished article at Super League level at his age. The 20 year-old Sean Long who made his debut against Cronulla in 1997 was not the master of his craft that he became in later years. He looked like a pure runner but he developed. Not to compare Dodd to Long - who to my mind is the greatest halfback the Super League era has seen - but the point is that Dodd has time on his side.  Assuming he stays.

Which brings me to the other possible reason that he may be struggling. A few weeks ago he announced that he had signed with an agency specialising in the NRL. He added that it was his intention to leave Saints at the end of 2024 when his contract runs out to sign for an NRL club. He didn’t specify any contenders. Whoever shows interest at the time, you’d assume. Perceived wisdom has it that he won’t attract an NRL club if he continues to play like he has in recent weeks. But I suspect that his decision to announce this intention now means he has already had what HR bods call ‘expressions of interest’ in his services. 

And so he has made himself a target. When fans find out that a player wants away his every mistake, every mis-step is scrutinised to the nth degree. Some have even suggested letting him go early and finding a replacement now. A replacement like Mikey Lewis at Hull KR. He plays with a swagger and a confidence that we once expected of Dodd. As a result he is a joy to watch. Other observers have a less radical solution which is to sit Dodd in the stands for a few games to help focus his mind. I don’t know the young half at all but some players would respond to that sanction with the kind of toy throwing and dummy spitting which would almost certainly lead to an early exit in any case.  

The prospect of removing Dodd throws Bennison back into the conversation. I told you we would revisit his situation. Many are advocating bringing him back in at fullback and moving Welsby into the halves alongside Lomax. There is a narrative forming that Welsby isn’t a fullback after all so moving him solves three problems. The one regarding his fullback play, the one about how to get Bennison back in the team and the one about what to do with Dodd. It might work but I must admit to being sceptical of the idea that Welsby suddenly is not a fullback. Woolf thought he was and that turned out alright.

Roby - A Bad Night Or Something More?

As every rugby league fan worth their sodium knows Saints have been truly blessed in the number nine position over the last 30 years. To have two genuine all time greats follow on from each other and for both to have such longevity is unheard of for any club. In many ways whoever follows next in that line is in an almost impossible situation. They cannot possibly be in the same stratosphere as Roby or Keiron Cunningham. 

 

In turning out for this one Roby equalled Kel Coslett’s all time appearance record for the club which stands at 531. If he takes any part in the home fixture against Salford on Saturday (May 13) he will stand alone as the holder of a milestone which may never be broken. Not in our lifetimes anyway. Yet his performance in France has provoked tentative whispers among the fan base that he is not quite the force that he was. That he may even be becoming a weak link.

For those who missed it earlier in the piece…he’s 37. He should have retired at the end of last year but was eventually persuaded to stay on for one more year. It would not be all that surprising if the 20 seasons of medal-snaffling brilliance that he has given to us are starting to take a toll. Wellens only played him for 55 minutes of this one before throwing Joey Lussick into the fray. That may be a common strategy the rest of the way in 2023. 

Roby was not his usual accurate self in his distribution but it was his defensive work which caused alarm to some. At one point he was barrelled backwards about five metres after attempting to stop one Dragon’s bullocking run. And get this…he missed three tackles. I know. Three. That doesn’t seem like a lot but when you consider the fact that he has only missed nine all season it is evidence either of decline or - more likely perhaps - a bad night at the office. Only…he never used to have those.

Roby is a legend who should be left to retire on his own terms no matter what happens in the rest of 2023. I trust him to know if he is consistently failing to reach the standard required. I can imagine that if he needs to be out of the team then he will be the one to tell Wellens, not the other way around. For now let’s stick with him and just wait until he shows us his worth again. That could be this coming weekend. But if not. - and even if the Red Devils wipe the proverbial floor with us - we should celebrate his brilliant, masterful 532 game Saints career.

I’m sure that this time he will be retiring even if the doubters are wrong and he is peerless for the rest of 2023. If and when he does, how best to fill that now poisoned chalice of the hooking role at Saints? Unlike many I don’t think Lussick is terrible. I just think he’s steady. Like one of about 30 off the peg hookers knocking about in the NRL. Another one of those is a recruitment option for next year. Remember it is possibly the start of the rebuild and number nine will be a priority without Roby unless they start trusting Taylor Pemberton. There have also been links to Daryl Clark of Warrington and even Kruise Leeming who has only just gone to the NRL to join our man Justin Holbrook’s Gold Coast Titans. Leeming is there because he fell out with Leeds Rhinos coach and Ryan Giggs lookalike Rohan Smith. That may or may not be a red flag on Leeming.

In the meantime enjoy Roby while you can. Even if he turns out to be in genuine decline and becomes less relied upon. 

The Stats Bit

Any time he is on the field for Saints Walmsley invariably provides the most go-forward. This game was no exception as he ripped off 132 metres. What is more surprising is that only two other Saints topped the 100-metre mark. They were Lomax (100) and another favourite target of the fans Hopoate (103). This highlights just how much the currently absent forwards are missed. How much more of a platform would have been laid and how much better would Saints have defended after that encouraging first 20 minutes had Morgan Knowles, Sione Mata’utia and Sironen been available? 

The Dragons had similar problems getting the ball downfield. Mourgue was streets ahead of his team-mates (and he even edged Walmsley to be the game leader) with 141. Ex Wigan man Davies came up with 117 to go with his try double while Mike McMeeken had 103. 

Saints’ top tackler was Lees with 32. He leads all Saints over the season with 374. That is still only good enough for 12th overall in Super League. Perhaps that’s a good thing. The more tackles you are having to make the more your opponents must have had possession. Yet if you take into account the one game in hand that Saints have Lees could end up higher. Another 32 tackle effort in that game in hand would place him in the top seven. Joe Batchelor was the only other Saint to top 30 with his 31. Garcia is currently 10th on the Super League list and was the only Catalans player over 30 in this one with a game leading 37.

If we are looking for reasons for this loss in the stats then perhaps the most telling one is the error count. Saints averaged just over nine handling errors per game coming in yet came up with 15 in Perpignan. McNamara’s side made only one fewer with 14 on a night when the ball spent a lot of time on the ground. Yet it was still an absorbing contest right up until that conversion of Davies’ first try which made it a two score game and seemed to knock a significant amount of stuffing out of Saints. The excitement generated before that perhaps shows that you don’t need an error free game to have a quality spectacle. Risky passes and hapless fumbles create drama and I would campaign for them any day over set for set stalemates.

But this current Saints outfit is built differently to many that have gone before it. It lacks the pace and the flair of those vintages. It relies on keeping possession and keeping the ball out of the hands of the opponents in order to control games. Fifteen errors indicate that it demonstrably failed to do that here.

Next Up

Don’t expect things to get any easier for Saints when they welcome Rowley’s Red Devils this weekend. Like Saints, Salford have lacked a bit of consistency this year, winning seven but losing four of their first 11 matches. Yet they come to St Helens on a three-game winning streak. They won well at Leeds on Friday and edged the Dragons at home before the international break. They have also beaten Castleford on that run but yeah…who hasn’t? Andy Last’s side would be just that - last - if it weren’t for the horror show that has been Wakefield Trinity in 2023 so far. Trinity are one of only two sides beaten by Cas so far this term, the other being that benchmark for inconsistency Leeds Rhinos.

Saints can take encouragement from their home form. Just one of the five losses so far has come at home. I know…Leeds fans. No need to write in. In addition to returning to home comforts Saints will hope to have a few more troops back. That will not include Knowles who still has one game to serve of his five-match suspension. The England game counts as one of those apparently. Let’s hope for better news on Sironen who was a late withdrawal in France, The availability of Paasi and Mata’utia would be a most welcome boost too. The timescale for the latter’s return is unclear following the concussion he picked up at Wigan on Good Friday. Yet even if only one or two more come back it will put Saints in a better position to compete up front in a way they didn’t quite seem capable of in Perpignan. 

The Salford visit has turned into a fairly big game. The idea that a meeting of seventh versus fifth has arguably more on it at this juncture than a top of the table clash doesn’t sit well with me but that is where we are. Defeat for Saints will leave them four points behind Rowley’s men and have them looking nervously over their shoulders at the Rhinos and even Huddersfield and Hull, all of whom currently sit just two points behind Wellens’ side. Potentially we have further to fall if we don’t get the win this weekend. 

Should that happen the noise from the terminally impatient will only get louder.

Catalan Dragons:

Mourgue, Davies, Keighran, Ikuvalu, Johnstone, Tomkins, Pearce, Dazaria, Garcia, Bousquet, Whitley, Seguier, McMeeken. Interchanges; Taukeiaho, Navarette, Ma’u, Chan

Saints:

Welsby, Ritson, Hopoate, Hurrell, Makinson, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Royle, Batchelor, Bell. Interchanges: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wingfield, Lussick, Delaney

Referee: Liam Moore

  

Catalans Dragons v Saints - Preview

There’s an Anglo-French clash you can get excited about this weekend when Saints visit Catalans Dragons on Friday night (May 5, kick-off 7.45pm). 

There was a real lack of buzz around last weekend’s England v France international at Warrington. That only added to the feeling that the week long break taken by the professional leagues seemed more like a year at times. It’s hard to get excited about two half-strength sides going at it in the name of international test ‘fuddy’. Even more so when England put up 64 points without reply in both the men’s and women’s fixtures against French sides which - if you didn’t know better - you’d swear were ideologically opposed to improving. This is not what we meant when we all called for more internationals to build on the foundations laid by a great World Cup.

So it’s back to domestic matters then. Well…sort of, give or take the small matter of a channel hop. Saints were superb in their last outing against Warrington Wolves and now face the challenge of the fourth-placed Dragons. Steve McNamara’s side started the season really well with just one defeat in their first seven league outings. Yet they come into this one desperate to halt a run of three successive league defeats having gone down to Warrington, Huddersfield and Salford in the month of April.

Notwithstanding a vintage showing in beating Warrington 28-6 Saints’ overall form can still be best described as patchy, That success came on the back of consecutive losses to Wigan and Hull KR and there have also been defeats to Leeds and Leigh in the first nine league matches under new Head Coach Paul Wellens. It leaves Saints sixth in the table albeit with a game in hand over all the sides above them. Victory in this one will take them above the Dragons into the top five.

Wellens has had to get by without most of his starting pack in recent weeks. He will still be without Sione Mata’utia and Agnatius Paasi through injury plus Morgan Knowles who remains suspended. Yet there are one or two key pieces trickling back into the reckoning. Joe Batchelor made a massive difference against Daryl Powell’s Wire and this week Wellens can welcome back Alex Walmsley into his 21-man squad selection. The big man has not featured since damaging a hamstring in the early moments of a 38-0 drubbing of Wakefield Trinity at the end of March. If he is fit to play it will be a massive boost to Saints’ go-forward. His selection will reunite one of the strongest front rows in Super League alongside James Roby and Matty Lees. 

Batchelor should get another start in the back row alongside another returning regular - Curtis Sironen -  while Knowles’ 13 slot should be filled by the increasingly dependable James Bell. Sam Royle will hope to see more game time after starting the last two. Jake Wingfield is also in contention. Injury has reduced him to just one appearance since mid-March. 

Fullback Jack Welsby is the only Saint in line to back up from the England game. He will operate behind a back division shorn of the services of Mark Percival. He missed the Wire game with a hamstring issue which Wellens says is likely to keep him out for four or five weeks longer. While he is sitting it out Percival will have yet another clear out of his knee. Is nobody else concerned about this? At this point Percival - who is nominally a centre but might as well be a back rower in the current system of play - is basically being held together with sellotape and superglue. His absence will likely mean a barely fathomable sixth consecutive start for his fellow treatment room dweller Will Hopoate alongside form horse Konrad Hurrell. 

Tommy Makinson - who suffers similarly to Percival in wear and tear but has so far proved a little more durable - is named and if fit seems likely to nudge the unfortunate Tee Ritson out of the side. Or Wellens could do what he has not been shy to do already this term and make room for Makinson by canning the excellent, uber-reliable Jon Bennison. In the halves Jonny Lomax is excelling rather than showing any signs of his 32 years or his own career catalogue of injuries. Saints’ leading try-scorer in 2023 with five tries, Lomax will get another opportunity to continue his partnership with the NRL-fancying but frankly out of form Lewis Dodd. 

Expect to find Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Joey Lussick named on the bench with Royle or Sironen (or both) alongside them. Wingfield, Lewis Baxter, Wesley Bruines and the emerging star that is George Delaney will also hope to see action. 

The hosts have only called on 20 players for their initial selection. Among them for the first time will be former Sydney Roosters and Cronulla Sharks threequarter Matt Ikuvalu. He joined the Dragons on an initial deal to the end of the season at the end of April. There is an option to extend into 2024. His addition will be a welcome one with try-scoring number 5 bus Fouad Yaha still out with a shoulder problem. 

Also included is influential halfback Mitchell Pearce. Tellingly, the ex-Rooster and Newcastle Knight missed all three of the Dragons’ recent defeats and last played in the 22-18 win over Castleford Tigers on April 1. In his absence another former Rooster in Adam Keighran has had a run in the halves but he has done so alongside a different partner every week. Sam Tomkins, Arthur Mourgue and - incredibly - England back rower Mike McMeeken have all had a crack. With Tyrone May out Keighran may get his chance alongside Pearce who should bring some much needed ship steadying qualities. 

Or…Keighran may play at hooker given that both Michael McIlorum (suspended, natch) and Alrix Da Costa are ruled out. The Roosters old boys club continues with the presence of Siua Taukeiaho in a ‘middle group’ which also boasts McMeeken, Julian Bousquet, Benjamin Garcia, Manu Ma’u and Matt Whitley. This is a forward group which is capable of giving Saints plenty to think about. Which let’s be honest, is not something every Super League side can say.

If those guys can lay a platform then there is plenty of ammunition for Pearce to use in the backs. Tomkins is not quite what he was but can still turn it on while the wing combination of Toms Davies and Johnstone does more than compensate for the loss of Yaha. If Ikuvalu is to make a debut then it may be at centre where Matthieu Laguerre is out. 

The last meeting between the two ended in defeat for Saints. Tries from Makinson, Mata’utia, Welsby and Ben Davies were not enough to avoid a 20-18 reverse in Perpignan in July. That after Saints had earned a commanding 36-20 win there in early April as Welsby, Percival, Dodd, Batchelor, Knowles and Dan Norman all crossed the stripe. It was the second win for Saints over the Dragons in 2022 after a 28-8 opening night triumph which saw a Makinson double added to by Hurrell, Dodd, Roby and Lussick.

Of course the most famous Saints-Dragons scuffle remains the 2021 Grand Final. Sorry Dragons fans…not the Magic Weekend clash five weeks earlier. Underneath the Old Trafford lights Kristian Woolf’s side earned the third of their four titles in a row with a squeak-inducing 12-10 win. Two Kevin Naiqama tries proved decisive as the Fijiian carried off the Harry Sunderland Trophy in his final game for Saints. At which point he retired, only to play for two more clubs in the shape of the Roosters (they’re everywhere) and now Huddersfield Giants. It’s a retirement which would make the producers of Neighbours blush.

This week the return of Pearce coupled with our erratic form is making me slightly nervous. Yet the inclusion of Walmsley and Sironen added to the majesty of the performance against Warrington gives me great confidence. It could be a close one but in the finest traditions of Mark Lawrenson’s stint as the BBC’s Premier League prediction man I’m backing my own team. Again. Saints by six.

Squads;

Catalans Dragons;

1. Arthur Mourgue 2. Tom Davies 3. Adam Keighran 6. Mitchell Pearce 8. Mike McMeeken 10.Julian Bousquet 11. Matt Whitley 12. Paul Seguier 13. Benjamin Garcia 15. Mickael Goudemand 16. Romain Navarrete 17. César Rouge 18. Tiaki Chan 19. Arthur Romano 21. Matt Ikuvalu 22. Siua Taukeiaho 23. Jordan Dezaria 24. Tom Johnstone 26. Manu Ma’u 29. Sam Tomkins

St Helens;

1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Will Hopoate, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. James Roby, 10. Matty Lees, 12. Joe Batchelor, 14. Joey Lussick, 15. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, 16. Curtis Sironen, 18. Jake Wingfield, 19.Jame Bell, 22. Sam Royle, 23. Konrad Hurrell, 24. Lewis Baxter, 25. Tee Ritson, 30. George Delaney, Wesley Bruines. 

Referee: Liam Moore