Jon Wilkin believes St Helens are paying the price for poor recruitment over a sustained period after seeing Paul Wellens field a 10th half-back pairing of the season against Leigh Leopards.
The Saints were beaten 28-10 on Friday at Leigh Sports Village as they were consigned to fifth spot in the Super League. However, while it was St Helens’ third defeat in a row, much of the talk centred on the club’s spine with Wellens visibly struggling to nail down what he believes is his best combination.
Jake Welsby and Moses Mbye started in the pivots against Leigh, with Wellens making the decision to drop Jonny Lomax to the bench and leave George Whitby out of the fold yet again. Tristan Sailor has also played in the halves this season, but he is clearly not the answer despite wearing the number six on his back.
Welsby and Mbye struggled to ignite an attack that has struggled against the better teams, though, with the Saints lacking attacking shape, nous and an effective kicking game. They did score two tries but ultimately they both stemmed from Bailey Hodgson errors.
Wilkin puts those problems down to poor recruitment over the last few years, with Saints neglecting the need for a specialist scrum-half who can take a game by the scruff of the neck and manage Saints’ play.
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“Recruitment is the problem,” Wilkin said on Sky Sports after the contest. “St Helens’ recruitment and particularly the overseas players they’ve brought in has been poor for a period of time. Since Kristian Woolf, really.
“I just don’t think they’ve taken having a proper scrum-half seriously. Jonny Lomax is creaking, he’s been an exceptional player but what in the absence of George Whitby do they have?
“They play Moses Mbye but he isn’t the answer I’m telling you now, long-term he is not the answer. Jack Welsby, the best player in the competition at times, is almost out of the game.”
Paul Rowley on St Helens’ spine answer
Wellens refused to name his best spine when asked after the game and on that, Salford Red Devils head coach Paul Rowley said: “It’s his prerogative to play his cards close to his chest.
“There’s always contributing factors but I think Wello makes some really prudent points about adversity and how they deal with it and the injuries that they’ve had. He knows what it’s like to win big games and Grand Finals, he’s been there and I have so much respect for him but he admits like everyone can see that they need a settled spine.
“There probably is no right answer but I think consistency. The answer is consistency.”
