St Helens have elevated their position in the league table after a 40-10 victory over Bradford Bulls.
After being 10-2 down after 25 minutes, the Red Vee turned the screw both in attack and defence, and were able to profit from some combinations that have been lacking in recent weeks.
Debutant Jacob Douglas, Curtis Sironen, Joe Shorrocks, Jackson Hastings, and two tries from Jack Welsby sealed the win, with the only try for Bradford being through Phoenix Steinwede.
There was a serious injury to Bulls forward Will Gardiner, who needed to be stretchered off the field in the final few minutes. The game continued for the final 90 seconds, despite many believing the game would have ended there and then, given the time left and the margin between the sides.
Bradford Bulls v St Helens talking points
Saints show glimpses as second-half sees Red Vee rise:
Paul Rowley’s side earned their 11th win of the season, and after scoring 28 points in the second half, they climbed to fourth in the Super League table.
The first half was very ill-disciplined, but a much-improved second half saw them pull away from the Bulls, and they were able to assert control.
Hastings proved crucial, with the half-back pulling the strings with both ball in hand and from the boot, as he did for the first part of the year. Welsby’s two tries show he had an improved night, whilst the forward pack made some impressive metres in the middle of the park.
Saints will need to wait until tomorrow to see if that fourth place is secure for the next week, and will need Huddersfield Giants to beat Wakefield Trinity to do so.
Bulls’ worrying discipline as Haggerty’s challenge failed again:
For the third week running, Bradford have failed to complete at a high enough level to put them in a position that could win them the game.
With under 70% completion for the past fortnight, it was yet another concerning night in terms of errors for Haggerty’s side, who failed the challenge set out to them by the boss in mid-week.
Haggerty wanted to see a completion rate of 80% or higher, and despite improving from the past two, achieved a completion of 75%, which is far from ideal at Super League level.
The second half especially, errors were aplenty, and that allowed Saints to have plenty of chances in good-ball, which they subsequently converted.
Bulls forward stretchered off:
In the final two minutes of the game, Bradford pack man Will Gardiner had to be stretchered off the field after he came off second best in a head-on-head collision with Daniel Suluka-Fifita.
The initial scenes didn’t look good, and all will be hoping that the injury is better than it looks on first glance.
Clark absence felt but Shorrocks competes well:
Saints were dealt a big blow earlier in the week when hooker Daryl Clark was left out of the 21-man squad. Assistant coach Lee Briers revealed that the side wanted to leave him out this week to allow him to recover from a few niggles. He is a doubt for next week’s Magic Weekend game against Wigan Warriors
In his absence, Joe Shorrocks played at nine and scored a try in the victory. The former Salford and Wigan man played a role not too dissimilar to what he normally does at 13, and was there to be the passing option in the Saints side, whilst being a workhorse in defence.
Wright sees yellow as fellow forward put on report:
Summing up what was a very ill-disciplined first half, back rower Shane Wright was sent to the sin bin 11 minutes into the game for a late shot on Chris Atkin.
Not only did that leave Saints with a player less for 10 minutes, but it also caused the first points of the game with Atkin slottin over a penalty goal following the infringement.
Moments later, Alex Walmsley was very nearly set the same punishment, if not worse, after a chicken wing-style tackle on Luke Hooley. The incident was put on report and will be dealt with by the Match Review Panel.
With five penalties conceded and 21 tackles missed in the first 40, the Red Vee were lucky to be leading at 12-10 at the break.
They started the second half by kicking out on the full, handing Bradford their next opportunity instantly, though they were handed a let off when they couldn’t convert the chance into points.
