St Helens ‘channel emotions’ and as ‘breathtaking’ star inspires victory

There's never a dull moment when Saints and Leeds Rhinos lock horns - and Friday night's War of the Roses at the Totally Wicked Stadium fell into that category.

It couldn't by any stretch of the imagination be described as a classic encounter due to the number of errors coughed-up by both teams which in a strange way added to the excitement of the occasion and with the lead changing hands several times, the destiny of the two points was in the melting pot until the final hooter sounded.

The defending champions will have been more than pleased by the way they reacted to successive defeats against the Catalans Dragons and Leigh Leopards - silencing the doom and gloom merchants who have in recent weeks been forecasting their demise.

I am not saying they will finish top of the table by the end of the regular season but a qualifying place in the play-offs is in their own hands in a topsy-turvy competition which continues to produce unpredictable and head-scratching results.

No one could confidently forecast the outcome of Friday's match but in the end Paul Wellens' boys crossed the winning line despite having a plethora of senior players marked absent - some of whom are unlikely to pick up a rugby ball again until next year.

How many other clubs could cope with this kind of problem? Few, if any, but St Helens are an exception to the rule and showed against the Loiners that it would be foolish to write them off at this moment in time.

Aussie Will Hopoate, who has been beset with injuries since joining the club in 2020, is starting to make-up for lost time and earned the man of the match accolade after an authoritative display, scoring the opening try and helping set-up a couple of others.

But it was full back Jack Welsby's flashes of brilliance which caught the eye, plundering two second-half tries.

"One of Jack's tries was absolutely breathtaking," enthused Wellens.

"There's only him and maybe Wigan's BevAn French and Jai Field in the competition who could score tries like that. Fans come to games to see tries like that."

The boss added: " It has been a challenging time for us as a club following a disappointing week but we had a choice on where to channel our emotions and I am so lucky we have a group of individuals who are honest and want to go out and perform.

" Our squad is fairly deep and what we have is a lot of lads who aren't getting regular opportunities but we saw tonight that they gave everything."

Saints: Jack Welsby, Tommy Makinson, Konrad Hurrell, Will Hopoate, Tee Ritson, Jonny Lomax, Lewis Dodd, Matty Lees, James Roby, George Delaney, Sam Royle, James Bell, Morgan Knowles.

Interchanges: Moses Mbye, Dan Norman, Lewis Baxter, Ben Davies.

18th man: Wes Bruines.

Tries: Will Hopoate (3), Tee Ritson (40), Jack Welsby (44, 66).

Conversions: Tommy Makinson (1/3), Lewis Dodd (1/1).

Penalties: Tommy Makinson (1/1).

Leeds : Richie Myler, David Fusitu’a, Rhyse Martin, Nene Macdonald, Ash Handley, Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, Mikolaj Oledzki, Jarrod O’Connor, Sam Walters, James Bentley, James McDonnell, Cameron Smith.

Interchanges: Corey Johnson, Sam Lisone, Tom Holroyd, Justin Sangare.

18th man: Luis Roberts.

Tries: Rhyse Martin (23), Sam Walters (28), Nene Macdonald (64).

Conversions: Rhyse Martin (3/3).

HT: 12-12.

FT: 22-18.

Attendance: 12,108.