St Helens player ratings as 4 score just 4/10 in golden point loss to Warrington Wolves

Warrington Wolves hosted St Helens in the first round of the Super League play-offs with Paul Wellens’ side looking to become the first team ever to make the Grand Final from sixth.

Their chances of that were ended as they sacrificed a 16-4 lead to lose 23-22 in golden point after drawing 22-22 following Jon Bennison’s last-minute try.

Paul Wellens had plenty of players back and available but Moses Mbye and Curtis Sironen weren’t involved, whilst Sam Burgess was without Lachlan Fitzgibbon as Wire named an incredibly strong side featuring their three Dream Team members Matt Dufty, Matty Ashton and Danny Walker. Paul Vaughan also returned from suspension.

Warrington had won each of the match-ups so far this season, including in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals when they dismantled Saints, however, the clash in Round 25 was far tighter with Wire only winning 16-2. That said, that game marked the start of three consecutive where they had not conceded a try which showcased the huge task facing St Helens at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Errors cost St Helens a semi-final shot

The game got off to a shocker for St Helens as departing winger Tommy Makinson dropped the kick-off on his 350th career appearance. It was a costly knock-on as Warrington scored on that set with Toby King carving through after just 90 seconds, targeting makeshift centre Sione Mata’utia to open the scoring.

Makinson would make up for his error by finishing superbly in the corner after Saints took advantage of back-to-back sets in Warrington territory. Video referee Chris Kendall could not find evidence to overturn the on-field decision as Makinson somehow managed to avoid the touchline before Perrcival’s sideline conversion saw Saints take a 6-4 lead.

A fast and physical ten minutes would ensue but it culminated in St Helens scoring their second as they capitalised on a Matt Dufty knock-on before shifting the ball wide left to allow Mark Percival to crash over. He’d convert his score to make it 12-4 to the Saints after just 25 minutes.

Five minutes later and Wellens’ side were in again and it was Tommy Makinson again. A quick play the ball and a smart pass from Jack Welsby allowed Makinson to crash over and extend St Helens’ lead to 16-4. That was slashed as Matty Ashton scored to cut the deficit to 16-10 at the half after some brilliant work by George Williams.

Wire built the pressure early in the second half and the England captain was involved again as he played a brilliant pass to Toby King who scored his second to help bring the scores level with 25 minutes to go. Warrington were certainly on the front foot but St Helens would then hand them a gift as a loose pass wasn’t pounced on by anyone in a white shirt, leaving Toby King to scoop the ball up and set Matty Ashton up for his second try of the game making it 22-16.

Saints scored in dramatic fashion in the 79th minute through Jon Bennison and Mark Percival’s sideline conversion levelled the scores up to take the game to golden point. Morgan Knowles would block a George Williams’ drop goal attempt in incredible fashion.

Seconds later, Mark Percival, who had been Saints’ Man of the Match, kicked out on the full to hand Warrington prime territory and allow them to set up for a drop goal and win 23-22.

St Helens will likely look back on 2024 as a season of misfortune with injury but ultimately, one where they were not good enough. A new-look spine next season with NRL signing Tristan Sailor and the addition of attack coach Lee Briers will be something for fans to get excited about as they’ll quickly want to forget this performance.

Moment of the Match

The sequence of play that led to Warrington’s fourth try and the one that took them from 16-16 to 22-16 up was simply laughable from St Helens. A stray pass out of dummy half by Daryl Clark was ignored by both Alex Walmsley and Jonny Lomax before Josh Drinkwater flicked it to Toby King who in turn played in Matty Ashton for the easiest of his 25 tries this season. A genuine disaster from St Helens who couldn’t get out of the way of themselves on the big stage.

Disaster for St Helens!!

The pass goes to ground and Saints cant get hold of the ball.

Warrington can as King passes to Ashton who is over in the corner.

The kick is good and as it stands Warrington are heading to Hull KR.#SkySportsRL pic.twitter.com/3kwhBTOQwW

— Sky Sports Rugby League (@SkySportsRL) September 28, 2024

St Helens player ratings

Jack Welsby 6, Tommy Makinson 5, Sione Mata’utia 4, Mark Percival 6, Jon Bennison 5, Jonny Lomax 4, Lewis Dodd 4, Alex Walmsley 4, Daryl Clark 5, Matty Lees 6, Matt Whitley 5, Joe Batchelor 5, Morgan Knowles 6

Interchanges: James Bell 6, Agnatius Paasi 6, George Delaney 6, Jake Burns 6