St Helens have defeated Bradford Bulls 26-22 in a chaotic and entertaining affair at the Brewdog Stadium.
Bradford took the half-time lead, going into the sheds at 10-4 up, but a red card in the second half was a huge blow to Kurt Haggerty’s men.
Saints were nowhere near perfect, but Paul Rowley will be happy with how his side battled through and came away with the victory.
Here are the major talking points from the game, with a main takeaway being that the home side suffered three more injury blows to key players.
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St Helens v Bradford Bulls Talking Points
Bulls see red, Saints get yellow:
Bradford were dealt a hammer blow in the second half, as young forward Eliot Peposhi collided with George Delaney returning a goal line drop out. The Bulls man caught Delaney high, forcing the Saints man for a HIA which he failed.
Video referee Tom Grant deemed there was no mitigation in the contact, and that meant he would miss the final 25 minutes of the contest, bringing his side down to 12 players.
After that moment, the Bulls fans must have thought that it was game over, but a sin binning for Joe Shorrocks saw the game go to 12-0n-12, and were able to capitalise as Andy Ackers crossed from close range.
Hooley’s conversion made it 22-20, giving Kurt Haggerty’s side a chance, but a late score from Deon Cross once Saints returned to full strength put the home side back in front, and it would be enough to secure the two points.
Saints triple injury concern:
St Helens’ injury list is already bigger than most, and they could be set to lose another key man, with Nene MacDonald going off injured in the first half.
The PNG man had a thigh concern going into last week’s win over Catalans, and played for an hour before being replaced. This week, he only lasted around 25 minutes before leaving the field for Harry Robertson.
The ex-Salford man was unable to return, and he becomes another first team starter that is in the medical room, as the issues begin to mount for Rowley.
The aforementioned Delaney failing his head test means that he will be ruled out of next week’s Challenge Cup game against Castleford, whilst Jacob Host also needed to be taken from the field with an injury to his right knee.
The former NRL forward looked in a heap of pain, and he becomes the latest of Rowley’s forwards to be sidelined through injury.
Bradford’s Blake blow:
The visitors had their own injury troubles in the game, with centre Waqa Blake leaving the field at half-time and not returning.
The former Saints man would have wanted to have a stand-out performance against his previous club, and whilst he carried well in the opening 40, he wouldn’t get the chance to shine in the second part of the game.
Connor Wynne:
Bradford may have been defeated, but one man had a standout game, as winger Connor Wynne impressed yet again.
Scoring two tries, his second half score was a spectacular 90m effort, as he combined with Esan Marsters to score a magical touchdown.
Not only that, he made some strong carries to get the Bulls out of danger, particularly ones on his own line, as Saints were trying to trap Bradford in their own 20m area.
Wynne is currently serving in the absence of Jayden Okunbor, who is out for the long-term, but one the former Hull FC man returns, boss Kurt Haggerty will have a real selection dilemma on his hands.
Shorrocks returns early:
After being shown a yellow card on 63:17 minutes, Shorrocks re-entered the field with 71:40 on the clock, and the Sky Sports graphic coincided with that, as it stated there was 1:37 left on his sin bin.
Neither referee nor video ref picked up on that fact, but it will be interesting to see if there are any consequences for Saints going forward.
Klemmer sin-binned in milestone game:
There was a third card in the game as David Klemmer saw his 300th career appearance tarnished by receiving a yellow card in the opening quarter of the game. The former World Cup winner put on a high shot against Bradford’s Ackers, which referee Jack Smith deemed worthy of a yellow card.
Ackers managed to stay on the field, in a show of just how strong rugby league players are, and the error would come to cost Saints, with Ethan Ryan scoring whilst Bradford had the man advantage.
Whitby-Hastings partnership:
Rowley elected for a different halves pairing this week, electing to play Jackson Hastings in the six and George Whitby at seven.
It was the same partnership as the round one defeat to Warrington, though this game it proved a lot more fruitful, and Hastings created well, allowing Whitby to play his own game.
The former Man of Steel is more adept to being a ‘half-back’ rather than a ‘stand-off’, but even from the more creative position, he was still able to control the tempo of the game.
