St Helens player ratings: 3s and 4s aplenty as senior players disappoint in Wigan Warriors loss

St Helens were beaten 20-0 at Elland Road by bitter rivals Wigan Warriors on Saturday evening in the second game on day one of Magic Weekend.

In an utter war of the wounded, Saints found themselves 14-0 down come the break after tries from Liam Marshall and Jack Farrimond, with Adam Keighran converting those two and tagging on a penalty.

That’s how it remained until the 75th minute, when Sam Walters raced onto Abbas Miski’s kick through to ground for his first Cherry and Whites try, which Keighran also converted.

It’s now six defeats in eight for Paul Wellens’ side, and these are our Red V player ratings from the press box in Leeds…

Harry Robertson – 8

Young back Robertson was the standout performer for Saints at Elland Road, causing problems for Wigan whenever he got the ball in hand. How he didn’t get the reward of a try from either of his own darts for the line in the first half, we’ll never know. The same goes for his break in the second half which teed Matt Whitley up for a try he failed to score. =

Tommy Makinson – 5

A distinctly bland performance from Makinson, who has enjoyed plenty of better days than this against Wigan. The veteran winger ended up at full-back in the second half, and never really got going throughout the full 80 minutes. Certainly not the way he’d have wanted to mark his 300th Super League appearance.

Waqa Blake – 4

If someone told you that was Blake’s first-ever game at centre, you’d have believed them. He didn’t create anything, and seemed to struggle to make any metres whenever he got the ball in hand. A poor decision to go it alone 20 metres out on the last towards the end of the first half epitomised the Australian’s showing.

Joe Batchelor – 5

Moving into the centres, Batchelor struggled to make any real impact. He wasn’t quite as poor as partner Blake, in our opinion, but the Wakefield native gave a cheap penalty away by tipping a Warriors man in the tackle as the third defender. Wigan scored their second of the evening off the back of that, and it was an uphill battle for Saints from there on in.

Tee Ritson – 6

After a quiet first half, we thought Ritson showed up well in the second half, particularly defensively. Very few chances to get going with the ball in hand, which is when he’s at his best, but a decent job. Again, always fighting an uphill battle.

Ben Davies – 6

Davies hasn’t exactly been a regular for Wellens’ side so far this season, and was asked to move into the halves today by the boss amid a quite unbelievable injury crisis. He didn’t really let them down, but likewise, there was nothing exciting from him. Jonny Lomax’s return can’t come soon enough for Saints. Passed a HIA late on.

Moses Mbye – 6

It felt like without someone like Lomax, or even Lewis Dodd, at the side of him, we didn’t see the best of Mbye. Wigan kept him quiet all game, and nothing really came off for him – not for the want of trying.

George Delaney – 6

Another very middle of the road performance from Delaney. A bit too enthusiastic at times in jumping out of the line, but we can’t knock him for that too much.

James Bell – 7

Another unconventional role here forced upon Saints with Bell moving into hooker for the day, but it was a role he embraced, in fairness and gave it a good go. If we had any criticism, it would be his lack of speed when playing the ball at times, but absolutely no lack of effort.

Matty Lees – 4

A frustrating afternoon all round for Saints, and Lees probably epitomised that when he got involved in a scuffle with Kaide Ellis towards the end, all because the Wigan man wouldn’t give him the ball back. Lees was also responsible for the penalty which the Warriors kicked on the stroke of half-time to take it out to a three-score game.

Matt Whitley – 6

How Whitley failed to score when he supported Robertson and got the ball in the second half remains a mystery. Yes, it was a decent tackle from Jai Field, but it looked for all the money in the world that Whitley was scoring, and he should have done. There was enough in his performance to earn him a 6 from us, but no more.

Knocked on 25 mins in.

Failed to score midway through second half, looked for all the world he would having been put in by Robertson.

Curtis Sironen – N/A

It feels unfair to hand Sironen a rating because he limped off injured 10 minutes in. On a day where Saints already had an abundance of absentees, they could’ve done without that.

Agnatius Paasi – 6

Had Paasi’s ankle tap on Wardle to stop the Warriors man going over 15 minutes in not eventually ended up with a try, this rating would have been higher. That’s perhaps harsh, but after that, the big Tongan didn’t produce anything memorable.

Alex Walmsley (Interchange) – 3

Our lowest rating, and an uncharacteristic one, but Big Al had an absolute stinker. He came on just before the half-hour mark and knocked on with his first touch of the ball. He then knocked on again before the end of the first half, and in two second half stints, did nothing of note. Harsh but fair here, we think.

Jake Burns (Interchange) – 6

24-year-old Burns didn’t have the impact he’s had for Saints in recent weeks, but didn’t really put a foot wrong when he was out on the field. Saints are – not by choice – asking a lot of their youngsters at the minute, and it told at Elland Road.

Jonny Vaughan (Interchange) – 7

Vaughan was probably just behind Robertson in terms of standout performers for Saints. He came on for the injured Sironen 10 minutes in, and had a stormer over the 70 minutes which followed. His offload to Robertson with 25 minutes on the clock was his first notable moment, and Vaughan produced numerous other exciting bits of play thereafter. One to watch, for sure.

Noah Stephens (Interchange) – 5

Stephens entered the action early on in the second half, and didn’t really manage to leave his mark on the game. He knocked on with three Warriors men around him soon after coming on, which sort of set the tone for the remainder of the game.