4 hours ago
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With the midway point of the Super League season now passed the pressure is rising across the competition – but few, if any, clubs have the burden of expectation and history weighing upon them quite like St Helens.
This midsummer afternoon’s waltz in the sunshine against a woeful Huddersfield side at least released some of the strain which has been building on Saints and their head coach, Paul Rowley. Had they lost, it would have been almost unforgivable, but they were comfortable 38-6 victors.
However, the result should not mask the problems which quite clearly exist at a club with such rich history. A glance at the Super League table may suggest the issues are not too serious; two points off second and a four-point advantage to the side just outside the playoffs in Leigh.
But that does not tell the full story. The win against Huddersfield epitomised their year, with Saints brushing aside the poorer teams but winning only two of seven games against the other sides in the playoff places. Had they produced such an error‑strewn display against a better team they would probably have lost again.
It is a far cry from the dominance Saints had over the club game at the start of the decade. Four successive Super League titles, champions of the world in 2023 and a squad that was the envy of everyone. They are anything but challengers these days.
Over the past couple of years, most of the things St Helens have done on and off the field has been anything but standard‑bearing. Since they were crowned world champions you would be able to count on one hand the number of signings that have been wholly successful.
In contrast, there have been a string of arrivals from overseas who have not managed to live up to the standards expected by a club of the stature of St Helens. With the club’s long-serving chief executive Mike Rush leaving shortly after Rowley’s arrival, the pressure is on the coach to show he can buck that trend.
It is a situation Rowley will have not experienced before. There is far more expectation to not only deliver success, but deliver it with style compared to his previous clubs such as Salford and Leigh. Rowley is renowned as a coach who plays exciting rugby, but that has not materialised yet.
But Rowley has also inherited a club in transition. Some of the greats from that all-conquering team are gone and others are undoubtedly in decline. More players are leaving this year, as are plenty of staff members. Whether that is Rowley putting his own stamp on proceedings is unclear, but it has created uncertainty at the club.
He summed up the mood around the ground well post-match by saying: “I didn’t enjoy it at all.” Many of those in attendance didn’t seem to, either. The final scoreline looked handsome but it was 16-6 after an hour and when Cole Geyer scored for Huddersfield, you could feel the tension rising. A late flurry of points calmed any notion of an upset, at least: but it wasn’t pretty again.
“I want to play this game a certain way and at the minute we’re not playing that way,” Rowley said. “Over time, I’ll fix things up and it’ll look more like my team: through change, if needed.”
Rowley clearly has no idea who his best full-back is, with the general feeling being that the highly paid duo Tristan Sailor and Jack Welsby cannot coexist in the same team. With Sailor recently re-signing for 2027 and beyond, you wonder where it leaves the future of England’s first-choice full-back.
This was a welcome result to halt a run of three successive defeats – which in this part of the world is crisis territory. But the acid test games return soon, with two clashes with local rivals and Super League’s form side Wigan in July. History has shown it is those fixtures, not ones like this, where Saints players and coaches are judged.
For all their success in Super League, bridging the gap that has now formed to the top teams could be their biggest challenge of all.
