Kristian Woolf praises Sione Mata’utia & Mark Percival after beating Hull

St Helens Head Coach Kristian Woolf has praised Sione Mata’utia and Mark Percival after Saints’ 24-10 win over Hull FC.

Mata’utia and Percival were played out of position for this one. Mata’utia lined up in the centres, while Percival moved out to the wing.

He also praised some of their forwards, saying it was a performance where they were nearly back at their best.

Woolf said: “I thought he was great (Mata’utia). I was very comfortable doing that. We’ve got a strong back row there at the moment and it’s great to have all those guys back.

“Sione has played plenty of centre. He started as a winger; he played for Australia as an 18-year-old as a winger and moved into the centres. Obviously he’s got bigger and bigger as he’s got older and he’s moved into the forwards. I was very comfortable that he could go out there and do a great job and he did.

“The bloke who I thought deserves special mention I thought he is outstanding and came up with some really big plays was Mark Percival.  He hasn’t played much wing- he may want to be careful because he might find himself out there more the way he played.

“But he was terrific. As I said, he came up with some great plays and that’s with and without the ball and that really worked well for us.”

Woolf praises second row options

Woolf was also full of praise for his second row forwards, saying they were all able to complement each other well.

Curtis Sironen started the match, and James Bell was able to come in off the bench. He was also full of praise for Joe Batchelor, saying his performance was back to his best.

He added: “To have Curtis (Sironen) back and he was terrific tonight. Joe Batchelor has been great all year, but I thought he was right back to being at his best again tonight as well.

“He has just been a touch off in the last couple of weeks not through effort. But it was back to his best effort wise and with what he did quality wise tonight and having  (James) Bell be able to come back onto the bench just meant that our full back row complements there.”

St Helens 24-10 Hull: Strong second half sees Saints return to winning ways