Why St Helens didn’t go to Las Vegas in 2026 as CEO talks marquee player ‘chase’ and pressure

St Helens‘ CEO Mike Rush has spoken on the huge weight of expectation at the club, as well as why they’re not Las Vegas-bound for 2026 but could be in 2027.

In a wide-ranging interview on Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast, which also saw him defend the club’s recruitment, Rush discussed the expectations that a club such as St Helens holds, and why they meant that the first ten rounds of the season were difficult.

Recorded prior to Saints’ emphatic 40-0 win over Catalans Dragons and their subsequent heavy win against Huddersfield Giants, the Red Vee were sat on just five wins and five losses when Rush spoke about the immense pressure at the club and the subsequent criticism that comes when results aren’t going the right way.

“It’s not great,” Rush said of the criticism, before outlining the fact that it is something that comes with the job, particularly at a club like St Helens.

“I can sit here and be moaning but you know what it is going to be when you walk into the job, whether it be as a head coach or a CEO. That’s not just in rugby league, that’s in most sports.”

Weight of expectation sits heavy on Saints

One of the reasons why criticism has come St Helens’ way of late is that 2024 marked their first calendar year without silverware for the men’s team since 2017, and Rush highlighted that history and the high expectations as a catalyst for criticism in bad times.

He explained: “The beauty of our club is that we all have high expectations. We believe we should be in every Grand Final, we believe we should win every Challenge Cup, we believe we should compete every year for the League Leaders Shield. That’s part of what makes this club great.

“I think we’ve been in 14 of the 28 Grand Finals so expectation weighs heavy. The criticism I can cop, I think it’s hard when it gets personal but that’s the same in any walk of life.”

Criticism has slowed down in the two games since the interview with St Helens registering two huge wins, however, Rush pointed to the club’s “tough start” to 2025 as to why their record read as poor as it did.

“I understand the expectation of this club and that’s what it comes back to,” he stated, adding: “The expectation is we compete for everything and we’re in the big games but we’re at round 11 and we’re five wins and five losses.

“So are Warrington, so are Leeds, some big clubs are around us. We’ve had a tough start to the season with the fixtures, we’ve already played Warrington twice, we’ve been to Catalans away, we’ve played Wigan on Good Friday.”

Money saved on Las Vegas could see St Helens sign marquee man

Next up for St Helens is arguably their biggest test yet as they travel to Craven Park to face league leaders Hull KR, a team who will head to Las Vegas in 2026.

Rush has confirmed that Saints had thrown their hat into the ring for those Vegas talks and will do so once again in 2027, teasing some possible opponents.

“We were part of the process,” he confirmed.

“There is a narrative, two Lancashire teams went last time, two Yorkshire teams are going this time. We’d very much like to play a Yorkshire team there in 2027.

“To take on somebody like Hull (FC) because Hull KR have been so let’s try and get Hull on the bandwagon and get it on between us.”

Speaking in further detail on the selection process, Rush praised all involved but claimed that Las Vegas is “not a money maker”, and that the club could use that money elsewhere in a possible hint at a major signing for 2026.

He explained: “It was very open and really transparent and dealt with professionally. We spoke with the NRL and we spoke internally. I’m not going to knock the Vegas thing but you also have to have a really stable financial footing if you do it.

“It isn’t a money maker. We have (got stable financial footing) but it’s a decision and at this time, do we want to invest in Vegas or go and chase a marquee player and put the money into that, which might help the coach on the field.”

St Helens brought in Tristan Sailor from the NRL for 2025 but with five overseas players off-contract in 2025, then perhaps a marquee could be recruited for 2026 with the money saved by not going to Las Vegas.