SAINTS take on Warrington Wolves tonight at Totally Wicked Stadium looking to back up last week’s improved performance at Wigan.
It will be another tough one, given the length of the side’s casualty list, but there is a mounting pressure off the back of three consecutive defeats that has seen Saints slip down the table to fourth.
Although the majority of the squad’s missing eight frontline players are due back within the next four weeks, Saints will be keen to stay in touch with the top two and not leave themselves with too much to do late on in the campaign.
But second-placed Wire will pose a tough challenge, as evidenced by their 31-8 cup victory in April.
With pace to burn, in the middle and especially on the edges, Saints’ vulnerabilities - exposed in spells this past three weeks - will be picked at for sure tonight.
Saints boss Paul Wellens highlighted the guile of England captain George Williams in particular as a key man.
He said: “They have got s lot of strike within their team, George Williams is obviously the most notable and Matt Duffy is having a fantastic season.
“They are very dangerous in the middle of the field, with Danny Walker out at 9 and Matty Ashton on the flanks – there is a lot of speed there.
“We obviously found out earlier on this year (in the Challenge Cup) how dangerous they can be. So we are going to have to perform well on the weekend and in particular defend well.
“Luke Yates is a very workmanlike - probably one of those players that a lot of his teammates love to play alongside.
“It seems to be one of those players that does a lot of the unfancied work, but all the unfancied work that it does do makes players around him much better.”
Wire counterpart Sam Burgess has already come out on top in the previous encounter at TWS in the Challenge Cup.
He said: "Saints are a great side and we know what they’re going to bring. I thought they were great against Wigan on Friday.
"It’s going to be a good challenge – going back to their stadium it should be a good atmosphere and we’re looking forward to it.
"You have to move on from games quickly – it’s the same when you lose as well. We take lessons out of everything and move forward and it will be the same for them – they will have moved on from that (Challenge Cup) game.
"It’s our first time meeting them in the league and there’s a bit to play for. Facing St Helens at St Helens is a tough task.
"For however many decades, it’s been a tough place to go but we’re excited for that.
"We embrace the challenges the year throws at us and this is another one. The results haven’t been going their way but they’ve been in tight games.
"We’ve been building our game since the start. We’ve not been at our best of late, but we’ve got a couple of wins which is nice.
"We’re in that sort of phase where we’re getting our game back on track, but there’s still a long way to go in the season. We’re pretty aware of getting our timing right.
"We’re still fine-tuning a couple of things that we can nail down, but we’ll look for an improved performance again this week.
"We’ll certainly need it, so I’m looking forward to seeing how we turn up."
St Helens 21-man squad: 1. Jack Welsby, 3. Waqa Blake, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 9. Daryl Clark, 10. Matty Lees, 14. Moses Mbye, 15. James Bell, 16. Curtis Sironen, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 20. George Delaney, 21. Ben Davies, 22. Sam Royle, 24. Jake Burns, 25. Tee Ritson, 30. Jonny Vaughan, 31. Noah Stephens, 33. Harry Robertson, 34. Owen Dagnall.
Warrington Wolves 21-man squad: 1. Matt Dufty, 4. Stefan Ratchford, 5. Matty Ashton, 6. George Williams, 7. Josh Drinkwater, 8. James Harrison, 9. Danny Walker, 10. Paul Vaughan, 11. Ben Currie, 13. Matty Nicholson, 14. Rodrick Tai, 16. Zane Musgrove, 17. Jordan Crowther, 25. Lucas Green, 28. Adam Holroyd, 29. Tom Whitehead, 32. Sam Powell, 33. Arron Lindop, 34. Max Wood, 36. Cai Taylor-Wray, 41. Luke Yates.
Last ten meetings St Helens v Warrington Wolves.
: St Helens 8, Warrington 31 (CCQF, 14/4/24).
St Helens 16, Warrington 8 (SL-E, 30/9/23).
Warrington 6, St Helens 18 (SLR26, 15/9/23).
Warrington 20, St Helens 24 (SLR18, 7/7/23).
St Helens 28, Warrington 6 (SLR10, 20/4/23).
Warrington 10, St Helens 12 (SLR13, 19/5/22).
St Helens 28, Warrington 2 (SLR5, 11/3/22).
Warrington 14, St Helens 24 (SLR22, 30/8/21).
St Helens 2, Warrington 6 (SLR10, 17/6/21).
St Helens 18, Warrington 20 (CCQF, 19/9/20) (at AJ Bell Stadium, Salford).
Super League summary.
St Helens won 58 (includes wins in 2010, 2012 and 2023 play-offs).
Warrington won 16 (includes wins in 2012, 2016 and 2018 play-offs).
2 draws.
St Helens highest score: 72-2 (H, 2002) (also widest margin).
Warrington highest score: 56-22 (H, 2001) (also widest margin).
(Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
DARYL CLARK needs two tries to reach 100 for his career.
- 7 for St Helens (2024).
- 52 for Warrington Wolves (2015-2023).
- 37 for Castleford Tigers (2011-2014).
- 1 for England (2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2023).
- 1 for Great Britain (2019).
(0 for Combined Nations All Stars, 2022).
(0 for England Knights, 2012).
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