What Paul Wellens said on his St Helens job and future after play-off defeat

Paul Wellens admits he is still in the dark about his future as head coach of St Helens.

The Saints’ season came to an end on Saturday night as they lost 20-12 against Hull KR in the Super League play-off semi-finals.
Wellens’ side pushed and challenged Rovers at points of the game but they weren’t able to trouble the east Hull outfit enough, with the club falling at the final hurdle before the Grand Final.

And, focus will now turn to the future of Wellens in the role with the head coach’s contract now up. The 45-year-old has had three years in charge at the Totally Wicked Stadium with a World Club Challenge being his only success just a few months’ into the job.

However, the Saints now have a decision to make about whether they want to see Wellens take the club into a fourth year and the head coach expects a decision to be made soon.

Paul Wellens on his St Helens future

“It got to the point where I thought all of us were set just to get to the end of the season before making any announcements or decisions,” Wellens said after Saturday’s loss at Craven Park. “What I think it’s important to do is, there’s obviously a lot of emotion surrounding tonight and losing a big game so, we’ll let the dust settle there.

“Quite naturally the club have got to make a decision on what they want for the future and those discussions will take place sooner rather than later. I don’t want the emphasis to be on me and my future.

“I’m comfortable with whatever happens with regards to my future but we’ve got a number of players Bell, Batchelor, Mbye, Knowles and Bennison, they’re leaving the club and a lot of them have given a lot to the team. It’s important that we let them celebrate a couple of days with their teammates before they all move on to pastures new at the end of the year.

“There’s no doubt there’s an exceptional crop of young players coming through at the club, Harry Robertson, George Whitby, George Delaney is still young, Noah Stephens, Owen Dagnall and young Leon Cowan who debuted the other week and there’s many more like it.

“Whoever has the privilege to sit in this seat next year, whether it be me or someone else has got a wonderful group of young players to work with.

“There’s some work to do, there’s no getting away from that as well. The team needs to improve and get better if we’re going to be challenging the likes of Wigan and Hull KR next year.”

Serious About Rugby League has launched a brand new podcast which can be watched in full on our YouTube channel here.