Thursday 25 January 2018

Super League 2018 Preview - St Helens

Cautious optimism. Drudgery. Despair. Cautious optimism. Disappointment. Wild joy. The cruellest despair since Roy Haggerty forgot that he had been dropping goals at every opportunity in 1987 and so neglected to attempt one with Saints trailing Halifax by a single point at Wembley.

That was a brief summary of the events of the 2017 Super League season from the point of view of a Saints fan. Before it began we were all cautiously optimistic that Keiron Cunningham would have learned the lessons of the snooze-fest that was 2016, and that he would not be merely happy with another top four finish and a semi-final exit. He’d endured some bad luck in the semi-final that year when Warrington Wolves failed to score a single fair try against his side yet still managed to progress to the Grand Final at our expense. But for the most part Cunningham was failing. The rugby was boring and we weren’t even winning.



Then came the drudgery. Learning precisely nothing from 2016 Cunningham continued on his not so merry path as he attempted to lead Saints into the promised land on the back of five drives, a kick and building bloody pressure. By April there was despair as a 14-0 half-time lead at home to Huddersfield was blown as the Giants, themselves absolutely no great shakes at the time, came back to secure the 14-14 draw that sealed Cunningham’s exit.

An interim period ensued during which Jamahl Lolesi, Sean Long and Derek Traynor handled first team affairs until the appointment of Justin Holbrook in early May. Not many of us had heard of the former Sydney Roosters halfback but he had coached the junior Kangaroos with some distinction and since he promised never to be Keiron Cunningham, cautious optimism returned. Under Holbrook Saints went on a run of 11 wins from 17 games across the regular season and the Super 8s which was good enough to secure a semi-final spot thanks largely to the outright mediocrity of the competition. However, Holbrook had tweaked a few things to instil a visible improvement in his side and with the stunning capture of Ben Barba from French rugby union there was a sense of positivity around the stadium with the silly name once more.


When Luke Gale and Adam Milner crossed to give Castleford the lead in the semi-final at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle (on the subject of stadia with silly names….) there was disappointment, but a feeling that we had done remarkably well to even be at that stage of proceedings. The talk in April before the departure of Cunningham had been of whether we would even make it into the top eight, or whether we would follow the example of Leeds in 2016 and end up mixing it with Fev. And Fax again, although this time Haggerty wouldn’t be around. In the event, while Saints soared up the table it was Warrington who suffered that fate. And in their year aswell. Hilarious.

And so to wild joy. Ryan Morgan crossed in the dying minutes of the semi-final to put Saints in the lead at 22-20 after Tommy Makinson and Mark Percival had also crossed. Crucially the England centre couldn’t add the extras on to any of those scores. It would cost them as this bizarre rollercoaster of a season took another putrid downturn. That it was Morgan who gave away the penalty which allowed Gale to land the two points which sent game into extra-time is somewhat ironic. He went from hero to zero faster than OJ Simpson as he instinctively blocked the run of Michael Shenton as the pair turned to chase a Castleford grubber close to the Saints line. Cruel despair. The extra-time seemed a formality after that downer, and there was an inevitability about Gale’s winning golden point drop-goal. At the end of it all we could reflect on how far we had come since the darkness of the early part of the season, amid the trauma of realising that our statued hero wasn’t much of a coach and had to go, ending a 24-year-association with the club. When Gale’s kick sailed over all that was left was to look forward to a new era under Holbrook.

That era starts in earnest next week when Saints face Castleford in Round 1 of the 2018 season, a rematch of that gripping, stomach-churning semi-final. Holbrook has been unable to strengthen the squad significantly owing to some interesting decisions on contract extensions before his arrival at the club, but he has managed to add Bradford Bulls back rower James Bentley to his staff. He has already made an impression with a hat-trick in Saints’ 64-6 pre-season friendly win over Sheffield Eagles just last weekend, while Barba has had a full pre-season to get back the fitness and sharpness that was just starting to appear in the last couple of his five appearances of last season following his 12-game ban for a positive cocaine test.

Out of the door have gone Greg Richards who reunites with Cunningham at Leigh Centurions, Matty Fleming who has joined London Broncos and the much maligned Tommy Lee who will be taking two steps too many at dummy half for Hull KR this term. The policy of little change in personnel and just keeping things ticking along has led many to believe that Saints could be a serious contender for the League Leaders Shield and the Grand Final in 2018 and there certainly should be no excuse if the team lacks cohesion. They know each other well enough by now.

One conundrum that Holbrook still needs to solve is that of who will make up the regular halfback partnership. Danny Richardson had a breakthrough year in 2017 but wasn’t always consistent while last year’s major signing Matty Smith spent much of the year proving that his doubters know exactly what they are talking about with his own brand of uninspiring catch and pass. Theo Fages and Jonny Lomax complicate things further in that area, with all the signs pointing to a starting role at six for the latter. That will mean a straight choice between Fages, Richardson and Smith for the halfback role with one of them perhaps earning a spot on the bench and the other finding something else to do on a Friday night. Or more likely another club.


In the pack James Roby gives you eight out of ten every week and that consistency has been recognised with the award of the captaincy to the England hooker. He takes over from Jon Wilkin who, Holbrook says, will play less minutes in 2018 as Bentley, Morgan Knowles and even Dominique Peyroux offer competition for his place. Alex Walmsley is still the major threat in the front row amid suggestions that 2018 will be his last season for Saints before he tries his luck in the NRL. If that is the case it is important that Luke Thompson continues the great progress he made towards the end of 2017 when he was often Saints’ best prop. Kyle Amor, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and Zeb Taia all remain but they also fall into the category of players who may need to be replaced sooner rather than later.

Following that opening skirmish with the Tigers on February 2 Saints have an early season visit to Perpignan in Round 2 before they travel to Huddersfield on February 23 following the Wold Club Challenge break. Salford come to town following that in Round 4 before a visit to a new look Warrington side under new head coach Steve Price. This being Super League and this being Saints, all of those opening five fixtures are entirely winnable and entirely losable. If losable is indeed a word.

Refreshingly Holbrook has talked of the importance of a top two finish which brings with it the comforts of a home semi-final at playoff time. That’s in stark contrast to the noises coming out of the club when Cunningham was in situ, when we were constantly reminded of how difficult the league is and how finishing somewhere above Trafford Borough would be an achievement. If top two is the aim, and a realistic aim, then a top four spot should be the minimum expectation for a side that went so close to another Grand Final in 2017.

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