St Helens have beaten Castleford Tigers 36-12 to keep their play-off hopes alive, but it has come at a huge cost.
Skipper Jackson Hastings was shown a red card shortly before half-time, after an incident involving him and Castleford prop Tyler Dupree.
The Tigers man was also sat down, but he was also shown a yellow card, and returned with half an hour left to play.
Luckily for Saints, they had already built up a 30-0 lead, so the victory was already in the bag. The second half proved much more promising from a Castleford perspective, though you expect that when playing 30 minutes with a man advantage.
Jack Welsby, playing at centre this afternoon, scored the opening try, before Shane Wright crossed quickly after. Jacob Douglas, Tom Humphreys and Tristan Sailor also added first-half scores.
In the second half, Nene MacDonald improved the Red Vee’s lead, before Louis Senior and Phoenix-Laulu-Togaga’e reduced the deficit.
With six minutes to go, Saints went down to 11, with prop Alex Walmsley shown a yellow card after the home side conceded far too many penalties consecutively on their own line. They then finished the game with 10 men, after young forward Chris Matagi hit Daejarn Asi late off a kick.
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St Helens v Castleford Tigers talking points
Hastings red-carded after Dupree punch:
After a one-sided first 39 minutes from St Helens, Castleford were given a lifeline with Saints skipper Hastings sent off by referee Aaron Moore.
Both he and Castleford prop were at each other all game, before it all came to a head with just 30 seconds to go before the break, where the two came together in the Castleford in-goal area.
Whilst the Sky Sports cameras didn’t clearly show a punch being thrown, video referee Chris Kendall saw what he needed to show Hastings his marching orders, whilst also sin-binning Dupree.
Could that be Hastings’ last act as a Saint?
The former Man of Steel remains off-contract at the club, and with him already accruing 4.25 penalty points this season, a Grade E charge for punching would see him banned for three games, which would mean he misses the rest of the regular season.
With Saints still unlikely to make the play-offs, it could well be that Hastings’ last act in a St Helens jersey was that moment, with new boss Kevin Walters having a key decision to make.
Whether Walters sticks with the 30-year-0ld or he opts to recruit his own number seven remains to be seen, but it is uncertain times for Hastings now, who will be hoping he gets a chance to redeem himself before the end of the campaign.
Dupree explodes after sin-binning:
After he was sat down for 10 minutes, Dupree walked to the sidelines, but them seemingly looked to try and follow Hastings down the tunnel, before being stopped by assistant coach Scott Murrell.
Dupree tried to push past his coach, creating quite a scene in and amongst the dugouts, before it all eventually calmed down and he took his place on the bench.
After completing his 10-minute sit-down, he returned to action, where he was booed by the Saints faithful every time he touched the ball, however that didn’t stop him from getting an assist to Phoenix Laul-Togaga’e’s try.
Pressure on Hull KR:
With the win, St Helens now sit just two points behind Hull KR in sixth, but they play this evening against Toulouse Olympique. With no Mikey Lewis or Tyrone May, the Robins will have to dig deep to beat the spirited French side, and a slip-up this evening would make the play-off race a lot more interesting.
One reality could well be that the final round meeting between Saints and Hull KR decides who gets into the play-offs and who doesn’t, but you would think Saints need to win all their remaining games for that to happen. With no Hastings, that looks increasingly unlikely, especially given they have Leeds and Leigh to come.
