St Helens

“I want them to…” – Paul Wellens’ demand of ill-disciplined St Helens players

by
Ollie Mitchell
April 17, 2024

After being dumped out of the Challenge Cup, Paul Wellens has sent a message to his St Helens’ players who have now lost consecutive games.

St Helens were beaten 31-8 at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Sunday, and Wellens sent a scathing message following the game: “First of all, I want the players to sting,” he said in his presser which can be seen on SaintsTV.

“I want them for the next couple of days to be hurt by it. If you’re not hurt, you’re at the wrong club. If you’re not hurt, you’re sat in the wrong seat.,” Wellens explained as he demanded a response.

Saints were also defeated against Catalans Dragons last week at Stade Gilbert Brutus in a tense, 14-8 affair, that allowed the Dragons to head to the top of the table in front of the Red Vee.

“Very uncharacteristic” St Helens need to improve

Warrington Wolves celebrate scoring against St Helens.

Credit: Imago Images

Wellens made a point about the side’s discipline, which has been lacking in recent weeks.

“Three weeks in now, we’ve done a similar thing. Obviously, in the Wigan game, they made as many as us, so we kind of cancelled each other out. Certainly in the last two weeks, against Catalans and Warrington, we’ve been by far the least disciplined team with the ball.

“As good as we think we are when we’re at our best, keep asking yourself, do that level of defending, that amount of defending, you’re always going to put yourself under pressure. I was also really disappointed with some of the tries we did concede today, very uncharacteristic.”

It was clear to see his disappointment, as his side now can only achieve success through the Super League.

“It’s extremely disappointing, that’s all I can say. We certainly didn’t come here expecting that today. I expected them to respond to the disappointing result last week and we didn’t quite manage that.

“We’re probably left with a bit of soul-searching and we’ll look at it and try and get better, but ultimately we’re out the cup and that’s a huge disappointment.”

“Out-enthused” – Wellens fumes over Saints’ attitude

Credit: Imago Images

His initial response when asked how he felt about the loss saw understandable disappointment, but he went further and claimed that his St Helens players were “out-enthused”.

Wellens responded: “Yep, very disappointing, Challenge Cup quarter-final and for a team that usually rises to the challenge in big games, I think we got the opposite of that today.”

“Watching the games, some of the things I’m seeing is quite the opposite of what we’ve practised in the week. We need to be smarter in the way we handle certain situations I’ve always out-enthused by our opposition today.

“Being out-enthused at home in a Challenge Cup quarter-final. That doesn’t sit well with me.”

However, as Wellens looked forward to their upcoming fixtures, he hoped for a positive response: “There’s Super League, there’s a competition that we’re desperate to be successful in.

“There’s no point dwelling on things for too long. We have to respond positively and that’s the challenge for us again next week.”