St Helens 34-16 Hull FC: Player ratings and major talking points

St Helens produced a Champion performance in victory against Hull FC. Despite being without both Tommy Makinson and Regan Grace, the Saints impressed in attack and ploughed through a Hull FC side who simply couldn’t keep up with the run away Saints.

Major Talking Points:

1. St Helens spine outstanding

The basis of the win came from St Helens’ key players. Every try originated from the spine for the Champions as Theo Fages, Jonny Lomax, Lachlan Coote and James Roby all impressed. Lomax was particularly impressive as he again reminded the competition of his class.

2. Hull still have work to do

Hull have been impressive this season and were for spells tonight. However, it showed that to compete with the very best they still need to learn one or two things but I’m sure it will come with time. This felt like last year’s Super League semi-finals when the class of Wigan and Saints carried them to the decider. Can Hull improve in time for next week’s semi-final against St Helens or will we see something similar to tonight’s game.

3. Saints proving a point

Some have been critical of St Helens this year. Even in victory, people questioned their attack. Last week saw them lose their first real test and many were questioning whether they’d retain their crown. Today they reminded everyone of their class with a champion performance. They seemed to be playing the game on fast-forward compared to Hull. They dictated the pace and deserved the win.

Player Ratings:

St Helens
1 Lachlan Coote – 8
3 Kevin Naiqama – 6
22 Josh Simm – 7
4 Mark Percival – 7
18 Jack Welsby – 9
6 Jonny Lomax – 9
7 Theo Fages – 8
8 Alex Walmsley – 7
9 James Roby – 8
15 Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook – 8
11 Joel Thompson – 7
14 Sione Mata’utia – 7
13 Morgan Knowles – 7
Substitutes
16 Kyle Amor – 7
17 Agnatius Paasi – 7
20 Joe Batchelor – 7
21 Lewis Dodd – 6

Hull FC
1 Jake Connor – 6
5 Mahe Fonua – 7
3 Carlos Tuimavave – 7
4 Josh Griffin – 7
21 Adam Swift – 7
6 Josh Reynolds – 6
7 Marc Sneyd – 7
13 Ligi Sao – 7
9 Danny Houghton – 7
10 Chris Satae – 6
16 Jordan Lane – 7
12 Manu Ma’u – 6
15 Joe Cator – 6
Substitutes
14 Jordan Johnstone – 6
17 Brad Fash – 6
20 Jack Brown – 6
22 Josh Bowden – 6