St Helens head coach Paul Wellens has given his verdict after his side’s away win against fellow play-off contenders Hull FC.
Kyle Feldt scored tries in each half as St Helens won 13-6 with Jonny Lomax’s late drop goal confirming the win after a hard-fought second forty.
An Aidan Sezer break had set up Hull FC’s loan try but Saints’ rarely looked like being scored upon with their defence resolute and one of the men who led that was Morgan Knowles, described by Sky Sports’ commentator Stuart Pyke as ‘world-class’.
When put to Wellens, he responded: “It’s hard to disagree, isn’t it?”
Speaking more on the NRL-bound loose forward, Wellens said: “I suppose when you watch him from the stands up there, you see a lot of the quality stuff he does, but there’s a lot of unseen work there that goes on as well. He really sets the benchmark in terms of the effort areas.”
Saints ‘building momentum’ after Hull FC win
Whilst Wellens was happy to praise Knowles, he made sure to note the fact that all wearing a Red Vee played well as he praised the performance with St Helens now making it six wins in seven.
The coach said: “He’s not on his own today, so I’m really pleased to come away with a hard-earned two points.
“We just want to keep building momentum and building consistency. I thought we came here and played tough today.
“We had plenty of intent around our D. We want to see more of that moving forward. We have got some things to work on as well. We’ve got improvements that we need to make, but for now, we’ll just enjoy the win.”
It’s a win that moves St Helens to fourth in Super League, a far-cry from the early season wobbles that saw fan discontent and serious questions of Paul Wellens’ tenure. When asked about that, Wellens offered yet more praise to his players.
“There were tough times, not just me, the players, the supporters, everyone,” he admitted, adding: “We’re all in this together. When things aren’t going your way, it’s frustrating, but what you’ve got to do is stick true to your beliefs. We’ve done that, and we’ve managed to pick up some wins.
“I’ve got to credit the players, because there’s plenty of excuses out there in terms of personnel that’s not on the field, but the guys that are are really stepping up. Those guys that are off the field know how frustrated they are, because they’re desperately working hard to be a part of that as well.”
St Helens not looking at table despite moving into fourth
Having moved above Leeds Rhinos on points difference, Wellens was asked if his side have hopes of finishing higher than fourth with the recent Wigan Warriors wobble meaning that perhaps even second place could be up for grabs.
Those talks were silenced as Wellens focused on consistency and noted the tough games on the calendar, starting with Leeds Rhinos next week.
He responded: “We’re not having any conversations around the table. What we’re about, and I keep challenging the team week on week, and it may sound boring, but be consistent. There’s a lot of members of this team that know what that looks like, and there’s a few still that are learning, but we’re moving in the right direction at this moment in time.
“They’re all big games. It just seems like they’re all week to week, but they’re the games that you want to be involved in as a player and as a coach. Headingley’s a wonderful place to go and play, but we know it’s going to be extremely tough. I’ve obviously played them only a few weeks ago, so we’ll recover the way up and look forward to that challenge.”
The Saints win on the road 😇#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/zS72wswX8M
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 5, 2025
