St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus has assessed the club’s recruitment and spoken about the pressures on new head coach Paul Rowley, explaining that the ex-Salford boss doesn’t have to ‘hit the ground running’.
McManus has admitted that it would ‘certainly help’, however, he’s explained that he’s far more interested to see how and where Paul Rowley’s side get on at the end of the season, as opposed to wanting a quick start.
Rowley joined in the off-season on a three-year deal, replacing Paul Wellens after another season without silverware for St Helens. Whilst McManus hasn’t set trophy expectations for Rowley, he did reveal to BBC Radio Merseyside that he’s much keener to see how the club end the season, as opposed to start it.
“He doesn’t have to but it certainly helps,” he responded when asked if Paul Rowley needs a quick start in his new role.
“There are 35 games during the season, so I’m much more interested in how we finish than how we start. But a good start in rugby league is important. You normally find that the teams that start well are there or thereabouts at the end of the season.”
St Helens’ heavy recruitment explained by chairman
McManus also pointed to the evolving status of Super League, outlining that a host of teams now compete near the top as opposed to the traditional big four.
“This a very competitive league. We’ve always had four vying at the top of the league but now I would say we’ve got seven, eight or nine teams.”
That reason, coupled with the club’s lack of silverware the past two seasons, perhaps explains why recruitment has been so strong this off-season with three NRL players arriving as well as overseas centre Nene Macdonald and a few other domestic signings.
On that recruitment, McManus said:”Everything’s a calculated risk. It’s not a gamble. But it’s obvious to all that the results of the past two to three years have not been at the level [required].
“You can’t expect continuous success, and it denigrates other clubs who have really improved.”
McManus pointed again to Super League’s changing landscape, noting the big investment made by other teams with Hull KR a prime example, as well as evolving academies.
He said: “There’s been huge investment in a lot of clubs over the past two or three years, so the landscape in Super League isn’t what it was. You no longer have three or four teams who would pick and choose players and inevitably the competition was between them. It’s much more competitive.
“There are many more clubs chasing and producing top-class players.”
To that end, St Helens have probably had their strongest recruitment window since before Paul Wellens took charge with both their NRL and Super League recruits bringing genuine quality to help flesh out a squad that looks set for a title charge.
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