St Helens v Wakefield Trinity verdict as Saints first-half attack too strong for Trinity

St Helens hosted Wakefield Trinity on Friday evening in round seven of Super League and here’s our verdict of how the match unfolded. 

Both sides were looking to get their seasons back on track following 20-12 losses in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals last weekend but with injuries to key players, there were a few changes across the park.

St Helens boss Paul Wellens had to shuffle around his spine following injuries to Daryl Clark and Jonny Lomax. He started Tristain Sailor at fullback with Jack Welsby moving into the halves alongside George Whitby. Harry Robertson returned to the centres replacing Mark Percival, who missed the game through HIA protocols.

Wakefield also had some injury problems of their own with Jay Pitts moving from loose forward to stand-off for this match. Max Jowitt remains sidelined so Josh Rourke continued in the fullback role. Seth Nikotemo came into the second row to make his Super League debut.

Here’s our verdict of the Super League match-up between St Helens and Wakefield Trinity.

St Helens exceptional first-half attack too strong despite Wakefield Trinity comeback

It was St Helens who got off to the best start with Morgan Knowles opening to scoring for the home side. Following a surge of Saints attack, Wakefield took the gamble with a short goal-line drop-out but it came to no avail. Knowles found the ball in his hands after the ball was patted backwards by Trinity and he fought his way over the line. George Whitby was on kicking duties for the evening but missed the first conversion.

They were in again after just 13 minutes as Whitby set up Matt Whitley for his first Super League try of the season. Whitley moved into the centres from the second row following Mark Percvial’s HIA. Whitby created the overlap on the left-hand side and made Cam Scott second-guess himself in defence. That created a sizeable gap for Whitley to go through. Whitby’s conversion gave them a 10-0 lead.

Wakefield had a spurt of attack on Saints’ line with three sets in a row but couldn’t make the field position or possession count. Trinity spilled it at one end of the pitch and St Helens went the full length of the field in the following set and scored. Harry Roberston grabbed his sixth try of the season at the end of an impressive attack. With Whitby’s conversion, Saints took a 16-0 lead.

St Helens opted to kick two penalties late in the first half rather than running the ball. Whitby kicked both to give the home side a 20-0 advantage going into half-time.

There was a worry for Saints fans as Harry Robertson didn’t return for the second half, picking up a quad injury in the first half. Dayon Sambou came off the bench to replace him in the centres.

Saints continued their scoring streak in the second half with Whitley getting his second of the night. James Bell got on the end of a Jack Welsby kick, offloading to Whitley for him to score in the corner. Another Whitby conversion extended their lead to 26-0.

It took nearly an hour for Wakefield to score with a great team try, moving the ball from right to left. Tom Johnstone had tonnes of space on the left-hand side before passing inside to his centre partner Oliver Pratt for him to get over the try line. Mason Lino missed the conversion, making the score 26-4 with twenty minutes to go.

Trinity grabbed back-to-back tries as Renouf Antoni burst through a gap in the middle of the field and Lino was on the end of the break to grab his second try of the season. He converted his own try to close the deficit to 26-10.

Wakefield managed to grab their third try in a row but it was too little, too late for them. Josh Rourke made a break down the middle and kicked it through for Oliver Pratt to follow through on the left side, scoring in the corner. Lino missed the conversion and the game finished 26-14 in Saints’ favour after a nervy ending.

Good day for

St Helens attack, especially in the first half. It looked like they could score off every play and Wakefield couldn’t handle it. Saints’ forwards were making too many metres and too many offloads and the backs were there in support. They had most of the field position and possession and Wakefield just couldn’t get a grip on the game whatsoever.

The dynamics of Tristan Sailor at fullback and Jack Welsby and George Whitby in the halves was a risk but ended up being an inspired choice with all three combining well and putting in strong performances.

Bad day for

Wakefield’s defending. Whilst Saints’ attack was just too good, Trinity were allowing them to make far too many offloads in the ruck. The Saints’ forwards often had three or four players tackling them and still managed to pass the ball out before the tackle was called. However, their fight remained until the very end in attack with three tries on the bounce in the second half.

Star man

George Whitby. Other than one missed conversion and one kick out on the full from his own half, he had an outstanding game. For a halfback with so little Super League experience, he took his chance in the first team and didn’t look out of place. His kicking game was solid throughout and there were a few neat combinations alongside Jack Welsby.

Teams for St Helens v Wakefield Trinity

St Helens XIII: Tristan Sailor, Jon Bennison, Harry Robertson, Matt Whitley, Lewis Murphy, Jack Welsby, George Whitby, Alex Walmsley, Moses Mbye, Matty Lees, Curtis Sironen, Joe Batchelor, Morgan Knowles.

Interchanges: James Bell, Agnatius Paasi, George Delaney, Dayon Sambou.

Wakefield Trinity XIII: Josh Rourke, Lachlan Walmsley, Cam Scott, Oliver Pratt, Tom Johnstone, Jay Pitts, Mason Lino, Mike McMeeken, Liam Hood, Caleb Hamlin-Uele, Seth Nikotemo, Isaiah Vagana, Renouf Antoni.