Last night St Helens laid down a real maker against rivals Wigan Warriors.

For the first time this season, the Saints leapfrogged the Warriors in the table.

At the heart of everything good for the Saints was star fullback Jack Welsby.

On his 100th Saints appearance, he scored twice and notched two assists for Tommy Makinson as well as an assist for Joe Batchelor’s opening try.

He picked up the Man of the Match award on Sky Sports and spoke to Jon Wells about his approach to the game.

Then Tommy Makinson spoke to Sky Sports and expressed how good Welsby is calling for Super League to make sure players like him don’t leave the competition for the NRL.

Fearful Welsby could move on, Makinson said: “A message to Super League, we absolutely have to keep these players in our competition.

“He is 22 years old and he has won it all but he keeps going.

“We have to keep players like him in Super League. At least for three of four more years so I can keep scoring them tries.”

A serious topic given the number of players Super League loses to the NRL, the marquee player rule change confirmed last week may help the situation.

After his World Club Challenge heroics, there is plenty of NRL interest in Welsby.

As Makinson praised the fullback, he wasn’t all serious:

“I think I’ll take the credit this week, I gave all the credit to him last week. Nah, it’s 100th game today and he can do anything.”