St Helens moved to the top of Super League with a 24-14 win over Hull FC at the MKM Stadium in what could be John Cartwright’s final match in charge.
Hull FC came out fighting and took the lead early on and even led at half-time, however, St Helens were the better team in the second-half and they kicked on to run out comfortable winners.
The pre-game talk was consumed by whether this game would be John Cartwright’s final match in charge of the Black and Whites. If that was the case then he can take pride in the fact his side showed plenty of fight, however, that may be little consolation to him.
After the loss for Hull FC, we’ve looked at all the key talking points from St Helens’ gritty win.
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Hull FC v St Helens talking points
St Helens go top of Super League
Another week and another win for St Helens and that’s seen them make it six wins from eight in Super League, enough to take Paul Rowley’s side to the top of Super League.
What’s more impressive is the fact that they have been far from perfect in several games and they’ve also been massively hampered by injury throughout. Those injury issues are still ongoing but as players begin to trickle back in the coming weeks, you have to wonder what a fully fit and firing St Helens side could look like.
Cartwright’s last stand?
After his explosive press conference earlier in the week, many have formed the opinion that John Cartwright’s position is untenable and whilst he denied pre-match that this would be his last game, or at least denied his knowledge of that, you do feel like his time is up.
His emotion was visible after Hull FC scored their first try with this clearly a club that he’s poured his heart into, only to have had the rug pulled from underneath him and without much of a genuine reason.
Only those high up at Hull FC will understand the decision to end Cartwright’s deal a year early but doing so in the manner they did clearly left ill well between club and coach, something that’s created a difficult scenario for a team already behind the eight ball in dealing with injuries. This off-field drama is simply an unnecessary burden, yet the players still turned out for their head coach which is probably a fair measure of the man and the respect he commands from his playing group.
Man of Steel favourite emerges
Week after week, Tristan Sailor puts in brilliant performances and tonight was no different and it’s now getting close to the point where the Man of Steel voting committee announce their candidates.
That comes after next week’s round of games and you have to think that Sailor will be among them with the St Helens star among the most destructive players in Super League, as evidenced by how many metres he’s made.
It’s not just how good he is with ball in hand when running but also creating and that was evident tonight with his kick assist for Kyle Feldt helping break the 14-14 deadlock. More performances like this and Sailor has to be among the names atop the favourites list.
Hull FC suffer another huge injury blow
Both of these clubs have been hit hard with injuries and whilst they both lost a player tonight, it’s Hull FC who have suffered the lengthier blow as Sam Lisone left the field with a torn bicep.
That could rule him out for an extended period and with Herman Ese’ese still not back fit, the ex-Leeds man is a major loss. St Helens meanwhile lost outside back Deon Cross to a failed HIA but that should only mean he misses one game.
Boos for Myler
One thing of note at the MKM Stadium was that Hull FC CEO Richie Myler was in attendance and the home fans made their thoughts clear when he appeared on the big screen, as boos rang around the ground.
The statement shared by the club announcing Cartwright’s exit had been penned by Myler but since then nothing has been said publicly from the higher-ups. This is a club that needs some certainty offered and whilst that may come quickly, the lack of communication since that explosive presser is a bad look.
St Helens go TOP after victory against Hull FC! 📈 pic.twitter.com/mViXjX91Rg
— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) April 16, 2026
