St Helens boss Paul Wellens has hit back at critics who say the standard of his team’s attack is not good enough for where they want to be.
The Saints approach Saturday’s play-off semi-final after a stunning late try in the final play of the game by Shane Wright completed a comeback over Leeds Rhinos and sent them crashing out of the playoffs in heart-breaking fashion. For Wellens’ men though, it was a night of pure ecstasy and one that will live long in the memory of players, fans and everyone involved.
Wellens has admitted that the late try cannot be used to paper over the cracks shown against the Rhinos. They need to improve massively if they are to go on and beat Hull KR this week, and if they do they could book a place in the Grand Final for the first time in three years.
One of the key criticisms for Saints this year has been their attack. Tristan Sailor was brought in to play in the halves, but he has failed to deliver in that position, with full-back proving to be the Australian’s preferred spot. That means Jack Welsby has had to move to the halves, but again he is not as effective in that role either, leaving Wellens with a key role to fill in his team.
As a result of the inability to form a successful halves partnership. Saints’ attack has been under fire from many this year, with them failing to threaten the line in big matches. In their last five matches, they have scored just 64 points, an average of 12.8 per game. That is the lowest of all four teams in the semi-finals, with Hull KR scoring 76, then a huge rise to Leigh scoring 164 and Wigan out in front with 186.
Wellens responded to comments over his sides’ ability to create and deliver in the big games, saying he doesn’t think there is anything to worry about in terms of posing an attacking threat.
He said: “I think the spotlight gets put on our attack probably more so than any other team, for some reason, and I’m not quite sure why that is, because I think we scored the third most tries in the competition, behind a couple of other teams.
“What I will say is we are working on our attack and that side of our game, like we would do most weeks. We want to sharpen the tools there, and be a little bit more creative where we can. We want to cut out the unforced errors that we made at times, particularly in big games against the better opposition, you can’t afford to do that.
“When all’s said and done at the weekend, we scored three tries, and I think they scored two.”
St Helens boss addresses big game mentality and talks comedown fr0m last-gasp winner
Following the win over Leeds that came in such dramatic fashion, there was bound to be a wave of high energy running through the group and heap of excitement that could have been as emotionally draining as the Rhinos’ emotions in defeat.
Wellens spoke about bringing his team down from that high and maintaining composure heading into such another big game on Saturday.
He revealed: “I spoke to the players after the game and said it’s important we enjoy the victory because it’s a special win for us but I also stressed that when we’re returning on Monday, we have a mindset around finding the necessary improvements that we’re going to need to make when we’re looking ahead to the Hull KR game this week.
“To the players’ credit, they’ve done exactly that. As you can imagine, there’s been a lot of media attention around the way the game finished, which is great, and it’s good that our players can enjoy that. But at the same time, we need to now move on and hopefully create some more special memories.
As we saw last week, Saints have an ability to edge out those big matches when it matters most, having been there and done it so many times before. Having that experience of knowing what to do in the biggest moments of the season is such a unique skill that not many teams can execute, but Wellens’ men sure know how to do so, and will take confidence from last week that if the game remains tight, they can see out, or grab another victory.
He said: “We’ve got a lot of players who know what it takes, and part of winning big games and being successful as a team is knowing how to suffer. That’s probably one of the hardest parts as a professional because not many can do it.
“People talk about giving 100 per cent, but not many give 100 per cent. Champions do, and they prefer to suffer. We had a lot of players in our team the other night, some who have won Grand Finals, some haven’t, who prefer to suffer with each other.”
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