St Helens head coach Paul Wellens has admitted that his side are “under pressure” after a fourth straight loss in Super League, this time losing a huge four-pointer against 12-man Warrington Wolves.
Warrington saw James Harrison sent off after just 20 minutes when he went high on St Helens’ prop Noah Stephens, Harrison’s shoulder making contact with Stephens’ head in what referee Chris Kendall called a “high-force” incident.
Prior to that red card, Warrington had been on top and had already raced into a 12-0 lead with tries from Matty Ashton and Matt Dufty but as Paul Wellens would explain, it was a send off that “galvanised” Warrington.
Saints did get back into the game, pulling it back to 12-10 through Agnatius Paasi and Sam Royle but Wire would get home with scores from second-rowers Adam Holroyd and Matty Nicholson to secure a famous 24-10 win that cemented their status as Super League challengers.
For St Helens though it has led to some serious questions with the club now four points behind Warrington and potentially set to be eight points Wigan Warriors should the champions win tomorrow.
Post-game, Paul Wellens spoke to Sky Sports to reflect on another under-par performance.
St Helens should have won claims Paul Wellens
Credit: Imago Images
The first question that the St Helens boss was asked was a simple one, ‘Should you have won?’, something that Wellens answered honestly before admitting that the pressure is piling on.
Wellens told the Sky cameras: “I mean yes, given the fact that we had a numerical advantage for so long, we just didn’t handle that period well enough, particularly when they went down to 11. There were a number of opportunities there that we could have taken, didn’t quite take them.
“We are under pressure at the moment, there’s no getting away from that. I thought that told in some of our attacking play which was a bit anxious and a bit tense at times, particularly when they went down to 12 and 11 men.”
Given that the defeat marked the fourth in a row and was by far the largest margin of those four defeats, the St Helens boss was asked about any red flags that had been on display.
“I’m not sure that there are massive red flags in terms of effort and energy. We just didn’t handle a few situations right in attack. ,
“I could watch the game back and think something different tomorrow, so I’m a bit conscious not to say too much at this moment in time because I might be making a fool of myself.”
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Saints players hurting explains Wellens
Credit: Imago Images
The poor run of for has certainly been a result of the club’s injury crisis with tonight being another example of how much certain players are being asked to do to cover for their fallen teammates.
Prop forward Matty Lees put in a Herculean performance and was incredibly unfortunate to come out on the losing side with Wellens confirming that he and all the club’s players were hurting.
He explained: “The playing group are hurting and all that and I know that they care. We’re all immensely disappointed not to get a result tonight but we’re doing it tough and we have to stick together through this period.
“We’re all competitors and they don’t like losing. I’m the same. So yeah, we’re naturally going to be disappointed. As you can tell the supporters are too, so that’s the standards we have at this club, very high standards where if you dip below them there’s a bit of unrest. I’ve been around that for a long, long time so I know exactly what it’s like.”
