St Helens beat Catalans Dragons 36-4 in the south of France to make it two wins from three and the talking points are now in.
Despite only leading 6-0 at half-time, Saints turned the screw in the second half as they scored five tries to hammer home a very convincing win over an error-prone Catalans side.
The major talking point heading into the game revolved around how St Helens would line up after Jonny Lomax’s injury last week. They were boosted by the fact that Nene Macdonald passed fit with the centre retaining his spot as Harry Robertson slotted in at full-back, whilst George Whitby was named to the bench.
The scoring opened after 10 minutes when Shane Wright’s break was supported by Daryl Clark with the hooker scoring under the sticks. That would be the only score until the 50th minute when Jacob Host crashed over, something Wright did ten minutes later on the hour mark to make it 18-0.
Daryl Clark would bag a second with Charlie Staines picking up a consolation before a late Jackson Hastings penalty and an even later Kyle Feldt brace settled the game at 36-4.
Where Hull KR rank among Super League’s greats, referee controversy and Las Vegas predictions – Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show
Catalans Dragons versus St Helens talking points
Rowley ball in full swing
Catalans weren’t great and they did make it easy for St Helens at times but Saints were very strong at a ground where they have struggled historically.
Jackson Hastings is finding his feet whilst pack signings Davi Klemmer and Joe Shorrocks have also been standouts. Consistency will be tough given how many injuries have been picked up already but as the weeks go by, this Saints side will get stronger and stronger.
Dodd ‘No Try’ the turning point
Whilst the final result would suggest otherwise, the game was actually very competitive for long periods and that changes at the 50th minute when St Helens scored their second try, as Jacob Host crossed over.
That opened up a 12-0 lead but the score could easily have been 6-6 had Lewis Dodd successfully grounded the ball just two minutes earlier. The ex-Saints man reached out but found his arm short and then knocked on whilst trying to regain the ball. Joel Tomkins will be left wondering what if.
Saints spine locked in
Paul Rowley told us all in pre-season with his spine selection and he isn’t being deterred by injuries. Tristan Sailor and Jackson Hastings will be his half-back pairing in 2026 and that was underlined today with Harry Robertson named at full-back once again.
Young talent George Whitby was used as a utility off the bench in a switch with Nene Macdonald around the hour mark, which consequently saw Robertson move back to the centres and Sailor revert to full-back.
Perhaps that was always the plan and with Saints 18-0 up at the hour mark, it made perfect sense. However, don’t expect to see Tristan Sailor starting at full-back any time soon.
Error-prone Dragons beat themselves
For the second week in a row, Catalans have beaten themselves with a ridiculous number of errors. They were pinged multiple times for playing the ball incorrectly whilst they also had plenty of handling errors and offsides.
If those errors came late on as they chased the game then it would be more acceptable but instead, they came early on meaning that the Dragons were fighting an uphill battle and found themselves fatigued as the game went on.
Milestone man scores
All the talk about St Helens’ spine has focused on the one-six-seven combination and the reason why there has been such little talk about the number nine is because Daryl Clark is so well-established.
On his 350th Super League appearance, he once again showed his value by scoring the opener and then controlling the game throughout, then adding the fourth in a burst from dummy-half.
A massive win in France for the Saints 😇#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/pIlJVzxSvY
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) February 28, 2026
