St Helens, the defending Super League champions, have on more than one occasion throughout the 20-year history of this competition defied the odds when many have written them off, with last year’s Grand Final victory – when they defeated Wigan without a recognised half-back in their side – perhaps the best example of all.
After four straight defeats to kick off the Super 8s and Leeds and Wigan picking up form at the right time, the Saints were given little chance of retaining their trophy but once again, their results have improved.
It would perhaps be unfair to attribute their resurgence, in which they have now won away at Leeds and Castleford within six days, to one man but the captain, Jon Wilkin, has certainly provided a timelyboost, with St Helens now assured a top-four finish at the expense of Castleford with this victory.
But amid the result and the 13 tries scored on the night, the controversial topic of the video referee once again dominated the post-match talk, with both coaches highly critical of the system -– which this year allows referees to offer an opinion on potential tries before sending the call upstairs. “The system is getting under my skin,” said the St Helens coach, Keiron Cunningham. “It’s making a mockery out of rugby league –they make a call on the field and somehow it gets overturned. I don’t understand it and I’m not sure what we’re getting out of it.”
For Castleford only a remarkable sequence of results coupled with an outrageous swing in points difference can now carry them into the top four – and those faint hopes can be extinguished on Sunday if Huddersfield beat Warrington. “I’ve said all the way through the year the system’s wrong, it’s nothing new,” said their coach, Daryl Powell. “There were strange calls both ways, but how the referee can say it’s a try and influence the video referee’s decision, I’m really not sure. It doesn’t make any sense, and it’s poor.”
Castleford fought back well to level matters up at half-time after trailing 18-0 midway through the first half. Two tries for Adam Swift and one for Adam Percival - – all of which Wilkin had a hand in – put Saints in control before Luke Dorn scored two magnificent tries and Ben Roberts followed suit five minutes later.
The second half was tit-for-tat, and after
Roberts scored his second after superbly supporting a break from Mike McMeeken Percival made it 24-24.
Adam Quinlan ensured the lead changed hands again with another try awarded by the video referee after Luke Gale had slotted a penalty to put Castleford back in front, before Swift’s hat-trick try and one for wing partner Tommy Makinson sealed the win. Castleford twice offered brief hope of a comeback with late tries for Denny Solomona and Junior Moors, but the Saints held on to seal their semi-final spot and keep their hopes of retaining their trophy alive.
Castleford Dorn; Gibson, McMeeken, Shenton, Solomona; Roberts, Gale; Lynch, Milner, Millington, Holmes, Moors, Wheeldon. Interchange Boyle, Maher, Springer, McShane.
Tries Dorn 2, Roberts 2, Solomona, Moors. Goals Gale 7.
St Helens Quinlan; Makinson, Percival, Jones, Swift; Burns, Walsh; Amor, Roby, Walmsley, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wilkin, Turner. Interchange Richards, Greenwood, Flanagan, Thompson.
Tries Swift 3, Percival 2, Quinlan, Makinson. Goals Walsh 7.
Referee B Thaler (Wakefield).
Attendance 5,253
