6 conclusions from Warrington Wolves’ win against St Helens as Jack Welsby returns

Warrington Wolves made it nine wins in their last 11 games with a 16-2 victory at home against St Helens on Saturday afternoon.

Sam Burgess’ Wolves were 12-2 to the good at the break after tries from Matty Ashton and Jordy Crowther, with two penalty conversions early on in the second half from Josh Thewlis extending their advantage to 16-2.

That’s how it remained come the final hooter, with visitors Saints failing to score a try.

Here are our six key conclusions from the press box at the Halliwell Jones Stadium…

The hot topic of play-acting in discussion again

Saturday’s Round 25 clash started at a million miles an hour, and both teams had seen a man sin-binned by the time we’d reached the 13-minute mark.

Both of those yellow cards came after players stayed down following tackles, with the hot topic of play-acting coming to the fore again, no doubt clouding what was – for the most part – an entertaining affair.

Warrington‘s Lachlan Fitzgibbon was the first man sent for 10 by referee Chris Kendall having made contact with the head of Tee Ritson in a tackle, and Saints’ Matty Lees then followed him five minutes later after a late hit on Josh Drinkwater.

Both Ritson and Drinkwater had treatment from the medics after those incidents, and when Lees was shown yellow, he made his feelings clear towards the Wire playmaker as to him ‘milking’ the contact.

Wire winger Josh Thewlis was also sin-binned in the last action of the game, though that was for a professional foul.

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Warrington create a small piece of history

Having already beaten Saints twice on their own turf this season, Warrington’s victory on Saturday made it three wins against the Red V in a calendar year for just the sixth time. And notably, the last two occasions that’s happened have come en-route to the Wire being crowned champions!

The last time a Warrington side beat Saints three times in a calendar year came in 1954, so it’s the first time in 70 years it’s happened, and the first time in the modern era of the game.

There were also three or more wins against their local rivals in a calendar year in the following years: 1897, 1900, 1909 and 1948.

St Helens’ play-off place in serious danger

Saints have never failed to make the play-offs as long as they’ve been a thing in Super League, but that record is seriously in danger this year, with Saturday’s loss making it three defeats in their last four.

Paul Wellens’ side will still be in the top six come the end of the weekend, but there’s a very real chance that they could be occupying 6th by only the virtue of points difference heading into the penultimate round of the regular campaign next weekend.

With five teams battling it out for three play-off spots, a win at home against Castleford Tigers next Friday night is ABSOLUTELY imperative. Even if they manage that, they might still need to win at Leigh Leopards in their last game.

Hanging in the balance would be an understatement to describe the situation.

Jack Welsby returns

The big positive of the afternoon for Saints was the return of Jack Welsby, who played his first game since July 26.

Named on the bench, the Red V’s star man entered the action in the halves with eight minutes of the first half left, but shifted to his more natural position at full-back when Harry Robertson was forced off early on in the second half.

We didn’t see the best of him in attack, but with 11 minutes remaining, he got across to stop a sure-fire try from Ashton, putting the Warrington winger into touch. He then left the field with a little over two minutes left of the contest.

It’s been evident how much Wellens’ side have missed their #1 over the last few weeks. Having him back for this run in could make the difference.

An injury blow for the visitors

It could be an even bigger bonus to have Welsby back for Saints given that youngster Robertson could well be out for couple of weeks now.

We’re yet to hear from Wellens on how the full-back is, but he picked the knock up – seemingly to his knee – late on in the first half, just prior to Warrington scoring their second try of the afternoon.

The fact they gave him a chance to shake it off over the course of half-time and the first few minutes come the restart, and he couldn’t, will be a big concern.

Milestone men

Both sides had a milestone man on show on Saturday afternoon.

Marking his return to action, Saints back Welsby made his 150th career appearance. Making his senior debut for the Red V back in 2018, 139 of his 150 have come in their colours with the other 11 made for England. His bow on the international stage came in 2022.

Meanwhile, Warrington stalwart Ben Currie has exactly double that tally, bringing up his 300th career appearance in Saturday’s clash. The 30-year-old’s tally of 300 includes three games on dual-registration for Swinton Lions, 11 for England, three for Ireland and one for England Knights as well as a whopping 281 in the primrose and blue.

As Currie took to the field at the HJ, he also reached 250 Super League appearances, including the play-off and Super 8s games he’s been involved in over the years. Every one of those 250 have come for Warrington, with the first back on April 5, 2012 in a 46-12 win on home soil against Widnes Vikings.