Paul Wellens responds to Paul Rowley rant

We saw some big games on Sunday as Leeds Rhinos and Leigh Leopards met, Hull FC and Wakefield Trinity meeting in the big game in the relegation battle whilst Salford Red Devils and St Helens produced what was the game of the day and maybe the game of the weekend.

The Saints battled back from 15-2 to win 18-15 in a competitive game. The Red Devils performed valiantly and would have been deserving winners but came up short against the Super League and World Champions.

It was another important win for St Helens and Paul Wellens as they chase a fifth consecutive Grand Final win.

Speaking after the game, Wellens said on Saints TV: “I just said to the team after the game, to give a quick synopsis of the game, I thought for 5-10 minutes we were absolutely awful. For the other 25 minutes we were OK, but for the second 40 we were absolutely outstanding.

“So it was very pleasing for me as a coach to see the team to be able to turn that around, because at one point it looked like we were in for a long day.

“I spoke to the team at half-time and said, we’ve got to create a game that we’re comfortable in, and that’s a game where fatigue is part of that game. I thought we did that really well in the second half, kept the ball in play, kept making them tackle and started to create opportunities off the back of that, started to poke our nose through at times and then obviously come back in the game and finish some opportunities off.”

However, the focus was on Paul Rowley as he branded Jack Smith as a “disgrace” after the game and having recently made a similar statement about the John Asiata tackles in the Challenge Cup semi-final, Wellens was asked about Rowley’s comments:

“To be honest, I don’t know what he said. Obviously, I don’t know what his disappointments lie.

“Obviously, that’s his own right to voice his frustrations. Paul is someone I’ve known a long, long time. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a very good coach and he’s done great things since he’s been here.

“I’m not going to comment on what Paul said because I don’t know what he said.”