St Helens head coach Paul Wellens has criticised his side’s ill-discipline in attack and defence after their 32-18 loss to Warrington Wolves.
The Saints, who lost to Wigan Warriors on Good Friday, were second best for large periods of the contest at the Halliwell Jones Stadium with Warrington easing to victory in the end.
Matty Ashton scored a hat-trick on the night, while Toby King, Rodrick Tai and Matt Dufty also touched down for the home side, who recorded a third win in six weeks over St Helens. The visitors got over themselves as Jon Bennison and Mark Percival both notched up braces, but it was a subpar showing from Wellens’ side and the head coach slammed the showing.
“There’s no getting away from it, we were poor in a number of areas today,” Wellens told Sky Sports. “The start to the game we were ill-disciplined with the ball again and defensively we looked disjointed on the edge at time.
“Warrington were missing some creative threats out there but it didn’t seem to worry them because of the way we approached our defensive work today. Just really disappointing.
“We just didn’t stay at the task. We had a couple of decisions go against us which happens in games, that’s not our complaint. But we didn’t respond to them well enough.
“I think there was a bit of frustration in the team then. It’s honourable when you want to go and solve things but you’re solving it on your own and invariably that leads to more confusion and disruption and it spirals from there.
“We’ve changed a lot and we continue to work hard each week and Briersy has done a hell of a lot of work not just over the course of the season but in pre-season on how we can improve our attack. To be able to give yourself a chance with the ball you have to first of all hold it and second, turn up with a defensive attitude. We did neither of those today.”
⏹ The Saints fall to a defeat in Round 9 at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.#COYS | @LPL_Airport pic.twitter.com/p0Gbwbb6cj
— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) April 24, 2025
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