Could St Helens miss out on the play-offs?

Correspondent

St Helens’ poor start to the Super 8s competition has raised the prospect of the reigning Super League champions not being in a position to secure a return to Old Trafford for the Grand Final.

Defeats away by Catalans and at home by Hull have seen Saints drop down to third in the table, but with just a two-point buffer over Huddersfield and Castleford.

Warrington’s one-point defeat at Castleford last week means there are now realistically just five teams chasing the four play-off positions, and Saints must be concerned that they could be the ones to miss out given their current form.

It’s not just the results which have been the issue, but the level of performance as well.

In one respect it could be argued the results in the Super 8s could have been predicted given that Saints lost away to Catalans and were beaten at home by Hull during the regular season. Yet the circumstances couldn’t have been more different.

While everyone accepts Catalans is always a difficult place to go, Saints were given a helping hand when Ben Pomeroy was sent off for the hosts with nearly half the game still to play. Saints put themselves in a position to win, and were perhaps unfortunate to have one try disallowed, but the continued indiscipline in giving away silly penalties was a key factor in their 26-16 defeat.

At home to a depleted Hull side last week, Saints weren’t playing well, but they were at least in control of the game with an 18-6 lead at half-time. But the second half was a complete contrast as Hull scored five tries to run out convincing, and deserved, 32-22 winners. It left Saints coach Keiron Cunningham feeling ‘embarrassed’ and describing the performance as ‘woeful’. Cunningham had already made one big decision by dropping Kyle Amor for that match and suggested afterwards that other big names should be looking over their shoulder as well.

The notable exception was James Roby, who has remained a brilliantly consistent performer this season, but can’t be expected to carry Saints through to the Grand Final on his own.

Certainly more would have been expected from the half-back pairing of Travis Burns and Luke Walsh, who have only shown in flashes what they are capable of together and too often there has been a limp finish to Saints’ attacks.

Injuries have again hit Saints hard, with the loss of Tommy Makinson to an ankle injury probably the biggest issue as the likes of Matt Dawson and Matty Fleming lack the wing threat of their team-mate.

Jonny Lomax’s absence is a blow, but he missed the key chunk of last season as well and first Shannon McDonnell – also now injured – and then Adam Quinlan have stepped into the breach at full-back. Atalea Vea’s latest injury has robbed Saints of power and ability in the forward line and Jon Wilkin’s leadership has been missing in recent weeks as well.

 

Yet last season, the injuries seemed to have a galvanising effect on Saints. Their Super League rivals are also suffering with injuries as well this year, but have produced a solid level of performance in the opening two rounds of the Super 8s to suggest they can overcome those issues.

Saints are still third favourites behind Leeds and Wigan to win the Grand Final, but defeat at home by Huddersfield in their next game will see that status threatened.

Only a dramatic late Walsh drop goal (again) saw Saints beat Huddersfield at home a few weeks ago, and Paul Anderson’s team will draw level on points if they can turn the tables at Langtree Park this time.

After that, Saints have away trips to Leeds and Castleford, where they have lost already this season, before facing local rivals Wigan and Warrington at home.

 

At the start of the Super 8s, it seemed unthinkable that Saints wouldn’t get the points to secure a top-four spot, but the picture looks much less rosy for the champions now.

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