Measures Saints have put in place to help key players return

It is still not a full-strength line up – with Konrad Hurrell, Jake Wingfield and Curtis Sironen still sidelined, youngsters Harry Robertson and Jonny Vaughan having niggles and Moses Mbye suspended - but stronger than it has been for months. 

But we will see how many of those returnees from injury make it on to the teamsheet for tonight’s game with Castleford – and indeed, whether some of those who have stepped up retain a spot in the 17.

On paper, the potential Saints line-up looks more impressive than it has done for a long during the current run of eight losses from 11 matches.

Injuries cannot be simply taken out of the equation – and for those who like statistical comparisons Saints team of 2004 suffered a similar run of eight defeats from 11 in the latter end of that campaign with much fewer absentees.

It is a small shred of comfort that thankfully, so far, this current crop has not suffered the 70 and 64 point shellackings that Ian Millward’s side suffered late on in that season.

But how coaches and staff handle players returning from injury is a debate that is as old rugby league – especially where big games are concerned. But those calls are only judged with the benefit of hindsight.

So whatever the coach does is a masterstroke if it comes off – so hat-tip to Daniel Anderson for bringing Paul Sculthorpe back from serious injury in the second of Saints’ World Club Challenge win over Brisbane Broncos in 2007.

But it was a retrospective thumbs down to Justin Holbrook for his 2019 selections which featured a cluster of key players short of match fitness that contributed to the 18-4 Wembley defeat by underdogs Warrington.

If you recall Lachlan Coote, Alex Walmsley and Morgan Knowles had not played for between 4-6 weeks before that final – and that told in some more than others on a swelteringly hot day in north London.

Sometimes Saints have been lucky. Like when they played Theo Fages at Wembley in 2021, with a jabbed shoulder that would later be diagnosed as a season-ending break.

His half time departure led to a game changing appearance off the bench from Jack Welsby and a first Challenge Cup win since 2008.

And then there is the call to not pick the experienced player, sitting out a potential game winner deemed too much of a fitness risk.

So had Saints clung to that lead against Leeds in the 2011 Grand Final then Royce Simmons’ decision to prefer Lee Gaskell at 6 to the experience Leon Pryce, who had endured a year of groin niggles, would have been vindicated.

Alas, we were left to wonder what might have been if Pryce had strode out for one last time as we watched Saints slump to the most heart-breaking of modern day losses.

The flip side of that approach was Ellery Hanley pitching in Sean Long for the 1999 play-offs despite not playing since August. Long’s response was to come off the bench in the Grand Final and kick the crucial goal to win the game over Bradford.

Although not as dramatic, in 2014 Anthony Laffranchi was denied his swansong on the field with Nathan Brown opting for teenage props Luke Thompson and Greg Richards on the bench instead. And that quietly paid off. 

So all of that will be going through Wellens’ mind as he seeks to find a winning formula at the business end of the campaign.

Speaking to the head coach last week, before the full list of potential returnees was announced, Wellens explained the approach to bringing players back on board after, in some cases, lengthy absences.

Wellens said: “I'll approach every individual case on its own merit. For example, someone like Mark Percival has shown year on year, even though he's had periods when he has been out of the team, he's shown that he can come back in and perform really well at a really high level.

“He is just one example.

“There are a number of others we are talking about around a potential return.

"What we have done, in and around the training environment, is put some things in place to really accelerate players’ progressions in terms of the amount of conditioning work they get, the amount of skill work they get and they are keeping on top of their medical programme so that they're in a position to really hit the ground running when they get back.

“And that's a challenge because when you are out injured you probably do not get the same level of exposure as the rest of the players.

But we are working hard to re-address the balance there.

“Form will be a big factor in determining who's playing in the big games at the back end of the year.”

So here is the St Helens 21-man squad for tonight versus Castleford Tigers.

1. Jack Welsby, 2. Tommy Makinson, 3. Waqa Blake, 4. Mark Percival, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 7. Lewis Dodd, 8. Alex Walmsley, 9. Daryl Clark, 10. Matty Lees, 11. Sione Mata’utia, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 15. James Bell, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Matt Whitley, 20. George Delaney, 21. Ben Davies, 24. Jake Burns, 25. Tee Ritson, 31. Noah Stephens.

And if we are going off form, and provided all are fit and not at risk of aggravating injury then my 17 for tonight would be: Welsby; Makinson, Mata’utia, Percival, Bennison; Lomax, Dodd; Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Batchelor, Bell, Knowles. Subs: Burns, Paasi, Delaney, Stephens or Whitley.