Wigan Warriors were simply too strong for St Helens on Friday night as they took the derby spoils with an 18-4 win at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
Here’s our talking points.
Clinical Wigan
St Helens dominated the first half of an hour of the derby and more than deserved their lead with Jack Welsby picking out Deon Cross with a sumptuous cut out pass for the winger to finish. But despite winning the physical battle and battering the Cherry and Whites, they had only managed to rack up four points when the game swung.
That’s a mistake Wigan made them pay for, with the Warriors getting over twice before the break. Liam Farrell set up the first, waltzing through a gaping hole in the Saints line to lay the platform, before Jake Wardle eventually got himself over.
Liam Marshall got the second, making the most of Nsemba’s fine work to collect a kick and get the ball away to the winger.
Saints started the second half well, too, but one poor grubber from Mark Percival presented Jai Field with the chance to score a try from 90m.
Wigan didn’t have too many opportunities in the game but they managed to come up with the points that Saints just didn’t look capable of scoring. There’s plenty to like about St Helens but their attack lets them down and that will ultimately be their undoing.
A Welsby-Sailor solution?
Eyebrows were raised when the teamsheets came through 90 minutes before kick-off, with Tristan Sailor getting the nod at full-back and Welsby picked at loose-forward. It certainly made a lot of sense, with Welsby being able to get his hands on the ball as often as possible and generally the more possession Welsby has, the better Saints look.
Welsby certainly has the size and defensive ability to play such a role, too, with Sailor’s best position being full-back.
So did it work? Well it’s fair to say it probably did but only in fits and starts. Welsby made an electric start to the role with his inch perfect cut out pass setting up Deon Cross for the early try but as the first half wore on, he seemed to tire due to the grind in the middle and his influence waned.
He was brought off after 30 minutes or so before being re-introduced in the second half, but he was part of an attacking unit which once again was too easy to stifle with mistakes and the lack of any real shape being their downfall.
Morgan Knowles returns next week, giving Wellens another decision to make, but given Friday was his first spell as a forward, it’s fair to say Welsby showed enough to make him a viable option through the middle down the line.
A treat for Shaun Wane
Shaun Wane will be feeling good about his England side’s chances of beating the Aussies in October after this one. The contest was almost like a Test match with an atmosphere as fierce as the action on the field and his England players were at the very heart of it for both sides.
Junior Nsemba, Liam Marshall, Daryl Clark, Brad O’Neill, Matty Lees were all excellent on the night, while the likes of Alex Walmsley, Harry Robertson, Sam Walters, Ethan Havard and even Mark Percival impressed too.
What it means
Wigan now sit just two points behind Hull KR, who take on Hull FC on Sunday afternoon. That means that a win for Rovers wouldn’t mathematically be enough to win the League Leaders’ Shield. Their points difference would make it a formality but they wouldn’t be over the line.
The Wigan win certainly adds pressure to that Hull derby and it just gives them that breathing space over the chasing pack for the top two. Make no mistake, though, with Bevan French fit and firing in this side, no one will want to face this Wigan side in the play-offs.
St Helens remain fifth and with two games to go, they are now completely out of the top two picture. However, they could also now find themselves going away in the eliminator round of the play-offs.
