Paul Wellens threatens ‘wholesale’ changes as St Helens hammered by Hull KR

Hull KR won their first-ever game at The Totally Wicked Stadium as they beat St Helens on the road for the first time in 11 years leaving Saints head coach Paul Wellens threatening ‘wholesale’ changes to his team.

Hull KR knew that a win would keep their grip on top spot in Super League whilst a win for Saints would distance them from playoff rivals Catalans and the chasing pack.

Unfortunately for St Helens fans, it never looked likely that they would win as Hull KR blitzed them from the opening minute and had the game effectively wrapped up within the first 20.

It was 20-0 by the twenty-minute mark as KR ran rampant and scored eight tries on their way to a 42-6 win that has seen St Helens head coach Paul Wellens slam the performance of senior players.

Wellens stopped short of naming individuals but he criticised the lack of support that debutant George Whitby had and would even threaten major changes to an already heavily-rotated team due to injury.

St Helens’ standards questioned by Paul Wellens

Speaking to Sky Sports immediately after the defeat, Wellens’ assessment was harsh as he questioned the efforts of senior players in supporting debutant Whitby.

He surmised: “Really poor. I mean the first half in particular, the first 15 minutes, really did set the tone for the game.

“Obviously we made a mistake early there which is unfortunate for the young kid because I thought he put his hand up for the rest of the 80 minutes. When you’re a young lad like that making your debut, you need the more experienced players around you to give you a chance and he just didn’t get that today but I love the way he went about his business.”

He did note an improvement in the second half but suggested that “decisions” will have to be made after viewing the game again.

“There was an improvement, but not to the levels where we were going to need to go to. I’m not going to say too much at this moment in time, but obviously we’ve got to go back and watch the game.

“It’s going to be unpleasant viewing obviously but then I’ll need to make some decisions off the back of that.”

Asked if those “decisions” meant ‘wholesale changes’, Wellens responded: “Potentially. We spoke all week about standards. The standards have been set really high here for a long, long time and we’ve got to keep trying to meet those standards. That’s staff and players, we’re all included in that.

“If you’re not meeting standards, then you’re not helping the team be successful.”