Everything Paul Wellens said about Saints' defeat at Wigan

Although defeated 16-12, it was a huge improvement on the dismal showing the week before.

Q: How do you reflect on that performance?

PW: We've gone into a quiet dressing room because the lads are disappointed that they have lost a game.

But in terms of the mental attitude in terms of how you approach big games we got everything we needed from the playing group today.

There are a lot of us - the players and myself – who have been questioned in recent weeks and I think that was the perfect answer in terms of how committed he is to this club being successful.

Q: You almost won it - did you think you would get home at 12-6?

PW: I think the frustrating thing from the game is that both times we scored we conceded straight after.

If we handled a few things a little bit differently. We probably are on the right side of the result, but these games are always settled by fine margins.

I can't come away from here and I don't think any single supporter who's behind them sticks can question anybody’s effort.

And that should be a blueprint for us moving forward, we kind of reconnected with who we are tonight and it made me really proud.

It was a great performance. We doing things tough at the moment in terms of results and we're doing the things tough at the moment in terms of missing personnel, but we cannot ever use that as an excuse when you play for this club.

What we got tonight was 17 blokes who turned up and give the absolute best efforts and that's all I want from players.

(Image: SWpix.com)

Q: And a fine debut from Harry Robertson - and he has added something to the squad?

PW: You go through adversity as a club or as a team, if you approach in the right manner, you actually improve off the back of it.

12 months ago we didn't know about George Delaney injury gave him an opportunity and now he's mixing it with seasoned pros and in a cauldron like that.

Six months ago, we didn't know about Noah Stephens and he is doing exactly the same through the middle of the field so and you can put Harry Robertson, Jonny Vaughan, Jake Burns - those types of people as well.

Our squad now is probably four or five players deeper than we actually knew it was at the start of the year because these blokes have gone into the team and shown that they can perform at this level, in that atmosphere and environment against a very good.

(Image: SWpix.com)

Q: Did you know after 10 minutes that it was a different beast out there than the week earlier?

PW: I didn’t come here tonight at all, thinking we were going to get any different.

I could see it in the players eyes before the game.

I've been in enough changing rooms as a player and a coach throughout my career to know that when you look at a players eyes they're ready to go.

You were saying all the right things, but then you have to deliver on actions and I thought we did that tonight.

The most pleasing aspect of it was our physicality. When you're missing, players like Morgan Knowles, like Sione Mata’utia and like Alex Walmsley, who are renowned for being the blokes in our team who bring physicality then you need other players to step up and we got that tonight from every single player.

Q: Harry Robertson's addition allowed you to do something different in the halves?

PW: Jonny is naturally a very bossy person anyway, on the rugby field, so going into seven suits him a little bit, and Jack is a true team player.

He spoke to me earlier on the week and said, I'll do anything you ask of me.

He's not precious about one or six – he just said he’d do what's best for the team and we need those types of players.

It was encouraging to see that and but I do need to put on record that obviously Lewis Dodd has missed out today.

I don't think any less of Lewis a player.

And Lewis hasn't not played tonight because he's going to Australia at the end of the year. There's just a couple of areas of his game that we feel he can improve on, and if he does that, he's prepared to do that, there’s an avenue back into the team for him.

We are not giving up on Lewis Dodd; he's a very good person and a very good player and he's got some small improvements that he needs to make his game. If he makes those improvements. He can find himself back in team.

(Image: SWpix.com)

Q: First try you scored is that straight off the training ground or was that a little bit of smart play from two very talented individuals?

PW: It is off the training ground in terms of we we encourage the players to be direct carry, carry the ball strong but also get in support.

Support play is something that we were working hard on as a team and to see Curtis Sironen poke his nose through the line and Harry Robertson turn up is really encouraging and to see Jack Welsby turn up on the outside of Harry Robertson is also really encouraging.

So there's a lot to like about some of the things we did.

We will sit down with the team tomorrow and look at those few little things that we feel that if we had handled better, we could have a different result, but all in all really proud and I know from the reaction of the supporters after the game that they're immensely proud of the team as well.

Q: Credit Wigan's defence but it was a bit of a stinger, to get bundled into touch straight after that try?

PW: It happened to Tee Ritson earlier on in the game and then Ben Davies and it's actually something that we spoke about earlier on in the week.

Wigan have had some success with that recently, committing numbers to the tackle and driving people over the sideline, something that we have to learn from and be conscious of next time that the play them because it's a tactic the employ quite regularly.

Q: With Paasi and Stephens you kept alternating those two in particular -can you explain your rotation strategy?

PW: We are down on props at the moment and we're asking a lot of teenagers, George Delaney and Noah Stephens.

I thought Matty Lees was incredible.

It was an incredible performance from him, Daryl Clark James Bell and Curtis Sironen in the back row, so rotating Agnatius and Noah kept their legs fresh and allowed them to give the team the punch that we needed.

I have to put on record – and I hate doing it as a coach when you pick plays in the 17 and you you don't play them.

So in Jake Burns and Sam Royle today we had two players who didn’t take the field, but our circumstances are a little bit different at the moment, keeping that middle group fresh was a priority for me, and it resulted in them not getting on the field.

So I really feel for them blokes – as in terms of what we're about as a team and how hard they work and how committed they are and how nice lads they are, if that makes it all more difficult doing it.

So it's a disappointing one for them, but they have got to be ready to go again next week.

(Image: SWpix.com)

Q: If a couple of those cross kicks or passes stuck, you'd have probably won that game?

PW: We kept challenging – if we’d got a bounce of the ball or nailed the pass at the end we just might have got the result that we feel we probably deserved leaving here tonight, but that's to take nothing away from Wigan.

They came to play as well. That's what these Derby games are all about.

And I think people can talk about Wigan missing Field and French – obviously two high quality players who make who improve them as a team - and we're missing all our ball-carrying firepower.

But what that showed me tonight is the Saints v Wigan games are not about who isn’t – they are about who is and how hard you want to work and how committed to the cause.

I thought both teams put on really good performance and a really good show tonight and I think what else it highlights is that with both clubs is that they're investing in the youth system, working really hard with young players, you really do bear the fruits of that when you see a number of young players from from both teams out there performing in that manner.

Q: Night and day from last week's performance - and an ovation that reflected that?

PW: It was really encouraging. I know and I expect as head coach at this club that when we don't win games the supporters are going to be disappointed. Disappointed with me, disappointed with the team, disappointed with the players.

But I think they realised that there is a team that do care and who want to work hard for each other, a team that do want to commit. And I think actually with our support base that's actually more important than results.

Anyone can get behind the team that cares, you can't get behind a team that picks and chooses when it plays.

The challenge for us now as a group is to get consistent and turn up with that mind set that turns up with that attitude every week.

And I know if we do that our supporters will be 100 per cent behind us.