The Super League season is a fortnight old, but the signs already look ominous for the rest of the competition in their quest to prevent St Helens winning a fourth consecutive title. Plenty can change between now and the business end of the season but on what we have seen so far, they are going to take some stopping.
Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of St Helens’ opening two victories is that they came in vastly different conditions and required completely different performances. Last week’s impressive win against Catalans was played in near-perfect conditions, but with sleet, rain and even snow here, Saints had to go about their business in a different manner. They were industrious and gritty when it mattered, and clinical at the right moments.
Any notion that the departure of Lachlan Coote and Kevin Naiqama, mainstays of the side that won three successive Super League crowns, would weaken this remarkable team is clearly wide of the mark. In a World Cup year, how heartening it is to see young English talent such as Lewis Dodd and Jack Welsby begin to come to the fore. Welsby, in particular, was outstanding here.
“We played some great footy in difficult conditions and defended really well,” Kristian Woolf, their coach, said.
There is no avoiding the fact that St Helens’ cause was aided by a red card shown to Hull’s captain, Luke Gale, midway through the first half. Gale attempted to charge down a Jonny Lomax kick feet first, and caught Lomax on the leg in a dangerous manner.
From that point onwards, Hull were up against it, and against a side this good, playing with 12 men is not advisable.
By half-time, the game was over as a contest. Two tries from Josh Simm, another from Mark Percival and four goals from the boot of Tommy Makinson made it 20-0 in St Helens’ favour and even before Gale was sent off, the warning signs were evident for Hull.
Welsby was at the heart of everything Saints did in the first half and, unfortunately for the hosts, he raised his game to an even higher level after the break.
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That was epitomised by his try that made it 26-0, a wonderful kick and chase that he collected, just beating Jamie Shaul to ground the ball and remove any lingering doubt about the outcome of the match – as if there were any.
On an afternoon when Hull paid tribute to one of their greatest players, Johnny Whiteley, who died this week at the age of 91, the home supporters should take pride from the way they battled against such tough opposition.
Hull at least avoided the ignominy of being nilled when Josh Griffin seized on a rare St Helens error to touch down. But within minutes, the balance of power had shifted back to St Helens in devastating fashion. Sione Mata’utia barged his way through some tiring defence for their next try, before Dodd rounded off the scoring by crossing the line with a stunning individual effort.
