Eamon O’Carroll has hailed his St Helens’ side for their performance in the win over Wakfield Trinity, a win that has just kept the club’s play-off hopes alive.
Saints went 10-0 down inside 13 minutes and it looked likely that another dismal showing was on the way but a HIA for Jack Welsby actually changed the game in their favour, as Tristan Sailor’s move to full-back unlocked St Helens’ spark in what ended up a resounding 46-16 win.
His early shift to full-back saw Saints swiftly respond with two tries, one from Sailor and one where he assisted Lewis Murphy, as they took a 12-10 lead before the half-hour mark, when Welsby returned after passing his head injury assessment.
Sailor would resume at full-back but later had to shift to the wing, further highlighting his value but also the adversity that Saints had to overcome, something that made the victory so sweet.
“I’m just so happy for the players and for the staff,” interim coach O’Carroll told Sky Sports.
“They’ve worked tremendously hard for the last probably three weeks, and although it’s not shown on the field in terms of performance, we all have the belief that it would do, and it did today.
“I think that’s the key, the players did [believe]. The players did, and they didn’t listen to outside noise, and all the things that have been kind of being said, they just trust in what we’re doing in training.”
On how his side have blocked out that outside noise and focused, he said: “You delete your Twitter, and you just keep working. There’s no secret recipe. You just have to block it out and focus on yourselves. We’ve got great belief in the team. I know I’ve said it a couple of times, but believe in what we’re doing, and we’ve certainly got enough quality in the team to put pressure on teams.”
St Helens still have work to do but Sailor hailed
It was a win that moved St Helens within four points of the top six, ensuring their slim hopes of making the play-offs remain but O’Carroll wouldn’t be drawn on that.
He said: “I don’t want to get too far ahead. I think what’s important is tonight we really enjoy this. It’s important, but we have to keep our feet firmly on the ground.
“I think we’ve still got a lot of work to do. There’s still things in that game, particularly in the first half, in our try line defence, where we have to be better, and we understand that. I think that’s the key, enjoy it tonight, but we’ve got work to do. We know that.”
If St Helens are to make the play-offs then they’ll need Tristan Sailor to replicate that same form with the playmaker scoring three tries and assisting another three, something made all the more impressive considering Sailor played across three different positions.
Hailing the Australian, O’Carroll said: “What he does is he puts his hand up and plays really well in any position you kind of ask him. What we’re going through at the minute, having probably eight, nine key individuals out, he’s filling the spot and doing fantastic.
“Unfortunately, Jack went off with a bit of a head knock, and we moved him there [full-back] and we felt like we started just getting a little bit of rhythm. Then when Jack was in the centres, I thought he was outstanding to be honest with you. He looked threatening.”
As both Paul Wellens and Paul Rowley realised, O’Carroll admitted: “There’s a little bit of a headache there, but these boys are fantastic. They’ll do whatever it takes for us to perform like that, so regardless of where anyone plays, everyone’s all in.”
