The unwanted 38-year record St Helens could break in crucial Leigh Leopards clash
St Helens head coach Paul Wellens appears dejected following a defeat in the 2024 Super League season
If St Helens are beaten at Leigh Leopards on Friday night, it will see them lose five league games in a row for the first time in over 38 years as well as five in a row across all competitions for the first time in more than a decade.
Paul Wellens’ side are currently on a four-game losing run having been beaten by Salford Red Devils, Castleford Tigers, Wigan Warriors and most recently Warrington Wolves, who claimed a 24-10 victory at the Totally Wicked Stadium.
As a result, the Red V have slipped to 4th on the Super League ladder. Saints lost at Leigh last season, and if history repeats itself, they could find themselves as low as 6th in the table come the conclusion of Round 18 dependent on results elsewhere.
Plenty of Saints teams over the years have lost four in a row, but five in a row is an absolute rarity where the 10-time Super League champions are concerned…
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The unwanted record St Helens could break in crucial Leigh Leopards clash
The last time any side donning the Red V lost five league games in a row came between Boxing Day 1985 and January 19, 1986 during the 1985/86 Championship season.
Boxing Day of ’85 saw a 38-12 defeat at Central Park to bitter rivals Wigan, with a loss on New Year’s Day ’86 at home against Widnes following.
Halifax then beat Alex Murphy’s side at Headingley, before Warrington got the better of them at Wilderspool and Bradford – then with the ‘Northern’ tagline – edged them out at Knowsley Road.
It’s worth noting that before that run started on Boxing Day, they’d been beaten by Hull KR in the semi-finals of the John Player Special Trophy (Regal Trophy), so the losing run across all competitions was actually six.
In terms of league games alone, in the same season, this is the last time any Saints side lost five in a row.
Murphy’s side finished 3rd come the end of the year, a point behind 2nd-placed Wigan and two behind champions Halifax.
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2013: Wellens captain as Saints lose five in a row
Since then, only one St Helens side has lost five games in a row in the same season across all competitions. Current boss Wellens was the captain of that side, headed up by Nathan Brown, beaten five times on the spin between April and May 2013.
That run started with a defeat to Hull KR at Craven Park on April 7 in Round 11 of the Super League season, with a home defeat to Catalans Dragons following just five days later.
Brown’s side then returned to Craven Park in Round 4 of the Challenge Cup and were beaten again by KR, before they returned to business in Super League and were beaten 21-14 at Twickenham Stoop by London Broncos.
The five-game losing run across all competitions was completed when Widnes beat Saints 35-28 at Langtree Park (now known as the Totally Wicked Stadium) on May 3.
Come the end of that season, the Red V finished 5th and were beaten 11-10 in the preliminary semi-finals during the play-offs by Leeds Rhinos.
