St Helens are slowly creeping towards a new era after a spell of dominance over the Betfred Super League.
This dominance started in 2017 when we got a small preview of what could be achieved by the club under Justin Holbrook which them came to be in 2018 as they finished the season with 52 points and the League Leaders’ Shield though they should have won more losing both the Challenge Cup semi-final and Super League semi-final.
But in 2o19, the Saints truly began to dominate winning their first Grand Final in five years and again finishing top. They only just missed out on the treble losing the Challenge Cup Final to Warrington. Saints would go on to win four Grand Finals in a row as well as another League Leaders’ Shield in 2022, a Challenge Cup in 2021 and the World Club Challenge in 2023. But they were unable to send their legendary skipper James Roby out on a high note when they missed out on the Grand Final.
Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook also retired at the end of last year and moving forward you would have to suspect that other St Helens stalwarts will only follow suit moving forward with the likes of Jonny Lomax and Tommy Makinson heading towards the end of their careers.
This means recruitment is key and the Saints have made it clear that they have further plans for recruitment ahead of the 2024 season leaving the number three shirt vacant but for a while there seemed to be limited options available.
This was because one player they had been linked with seemed set to join Wests Tigers in the shape of Justin Olam. However, as per the Daily Telegraph, Olam’s move to Wests has fallen through leaving the centre available.
Thus, the door is wide open for St Helens to make this major signing and complete their squad for the 2024 season.
An alternative signing would be Curtis Scott who is reportedly in talks with a number of Super League clubs after being denied a return to the NRL. There are certainly limited options in Super League at present with most Super League players having signed with new clubs for 2024.
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