Inside St Helens’ horror 55 hour journey home in great news for Castleford Tigers

Saturday was a great day for St Helens as they won the World Club Challenge in Australia but it has been a struggle since then.

Coach Paul Wellens revealed to BBC Breakfast that it took 53 hours to get home due to complications which is good news for Sunday’s opponents Castleford Tigers:

“Its one thing doing it on the training field but it’s another to do it under such pressure like we did at the weekend. That’s why I hold this group of players in the highest regard because doing it under pressure is what matters in professional sport.”

“It took 53 hours to get home door to door through various complications along the way, but it was made all the more easier to cope with off the back of a win, that’s for sure.”

Now The Sydney Morning Herald has revealed that half a dozen players and staff, including James Roby and Jack Welsby, flew out of Sydney at 6am on Sunday, and did not arrive home until 1am Tuesday as the Saints stars missed a plane and in the end had to take a coach.

The Herald elaborated: “The players went via Bangkok and then Stockholm, where there was plenty of snow and a cancelled flight, only for an eventual plane to take them to London instead of Manchester.

“The group then missed the connecting flight to Manchester, and had to rely on one of their sponsors, Ellisons, to arrange a coach to complete the four-and-a-half hour trip back to St Helens.”

Meanwhile, Saints Chief Mike Rush shed some light on the trip.

“A lot of the boys enjoyed a good drink after the Penrith game, but a long layover in Bangkok meant they could go to a hotel and get some sleep,” Rush told the Herald.

“By the time they arrived in Stockholm they were forced to wait another nine hours. Instead of flying to Manchester, they flew to London where they were not allowed to get on the connecting flight because they had not unloaded all their bags.

“I’m sure a few of them will chase me around the stadium and blame me for the booking. Maybe the Panthers had something to do with it.