Paul Wellens was proud of his St Helens side’s showing on Friday night despite seeing them fall just short against Hull KR.
The Saints missed the chance to move up to second in the Super League table and leapfrog Wigan Warriors for 24 hours at least as they lost 12-8 at Craven Park. It was a tight, edgy and defence-orientated clash with neither side being able to build prolonged spells of dominance.
And, there were just two tries scored in the game with Joe Burgess and Deon Cross touching down in the second half. Ultimately, then, it was the boot of Rhyse Martin which proved to be the difference, with the second-rower kicking four penalties in the contest.
As such, while they didn’t get the points, Wellens was pleased with the grit, determination and defensive resolve his side showed for large periods as they begin to prepare themselves for the play-offs.
“I thought it was a really high quality game in terms of the effort and intensity, a play-off feel to it,” Wellens said after the contest. “I’m really proud of the players, the way they kept going and there was period where we were under immense pressure.
“Ten or 11 weeks ago, we came here and wilted under that pressure but we certainly didn’t do that tonight. We’ve come a long way as a team but quite naturally we’re disappointed in there. I think that’s a sign of where we’re at as a team at the moment, there’s a lot to like about our game but there’s a few areas that if we are going to be successful, that’s not anything to do with effort and I’m confident we can clean that up.”
St Helens boss addresses controversial referee calls
The first points of the game came in the first half after a captain’s challenge revealed Mikey Lewis had been hit late, somewhat controversially.
“Soft,” Wellens said when asked what he thought about the decision and the captain’s challenge. “That’s almost re-refereeing the game for me. There’s nothing in it.
“We had one penalty in the first half when Morgan Knowles got cleaned out and one just before half-time when Mark Percival kicked the goal. I’m not so sure we got our fair share of the calls tonight.
“I want to be really clear, Hull KR deserved to win the game, I thought they were exceptional at times. But sometimes you have to get the balance right from wanting the game to flow and allowing someone to be three metres offside, he pressures the kicker and he snuffs his kick.
“We can say he should kick the ball better but the guy making the tackle can’t be three metres in front of the referee. That happened too much tonight for my liking and we didn’t get one single call in that area until it was too late.”
St Helens had a spell with 12 men on the field in the first half too with George Delaney hitting Eribe Doro high. Doro stayed on which might have spared Delaney, showing the lack of force, but it was similar to the yellow he received at Wakefield Trinity a couple of weeks ago.
“We see quite a lot of those instances where a player is running upright at you and he gets tackled with his legs and starts to fall,” Wellens added. “We can watch that in slow motion but imagine being George Delaney and that’s happening at 100mph in front of you. It’s hard to be critical.
“What we will do is try and find ways of being better if we can. It’s being hyper-critical of George there I feel.”
Rovers were given a yellow card early doors as well, with Rhyse Martin catching Morgan Knowles high. In that instance the impact was enough to force Knowles off the field and he went on to fail a HIA, meaning he will sit out of the clash with Wigan Warriors next week.
“It’s a tough one for us,” the head coach admitted. “There’s no getting away from that, he’s pivotal to what we do at times with the ball and without the ball. We’ll have to find a way of offsetting that loss.
“What the team did tonight, they showed how you offset that by not getting caught up in the fact Knowles wasn’t there. Someone comes onto the field and they give their best effort. Joe Batchelor did that tonight, he’s not played a lot of rugby for a while but he played in the middle for a long period at a real good intensity. That’s what we need now, players coming into the team and stepping up.”
