Sky Sports pundits Sam Tomkins and Jon Wilkin have urged St Helens to focus on building a spine around Jack Welsby and Harry Robertson, with off-contract Jackson Hastings a possible casualty in their plans.
St Helens have struggled with their spine for a number of seasons, specifically the last two years, with a huge turnover in the different combinations of players at the one, six, seven and nine positions.
Injury issues have played a role this year with veteran Jonny Lomax currently unavailable, whilst full-back Jack Welsby missed much of the first half of the year. In recent weeks, Welsby has become a lock at full-back whilst youngster Harry Robertson has adapted well to playing in the halves and that pair are now being viewed as the future.
Speaking ahead of their loss to Hull FC on Thursday night, Sky Sports pundits Jon Wilkin and Sam Tomkins asserted that the pair must be involved for 2027, with ex-Saint Wilkin claiming that the club can ‘build on those two’.
As for who they will play alongside, Tomkins has suggested that incumbent Jackson Hastings is not the man, stating: “I don’t think Hastings of the answer. If I was St Helens, I’d be breaking the bank and I’d go and get a top NRL seven. Spend some money and go and go and get Daly Cherry Evans.
“Tell him to put off retirement and get someone in to nurture these two because Welsby and Robertson together could be playing for this club for so long as part of a homegrown spine.”
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Is Harry Robertson St Helens’ saviour at six?
It would be a quite spectacular move for one of the all time greats in Daly Cherry-Evans to make the switch to Super League but another huge move that Jon Wilkin called for was the sale of Tristan Sailor, who recently signed a new three-year extension.
“Sell Tristan Sailor. Get rid of him and keep Harry Robertson and play him at six and play him at six for ten years,” Wilkin declared before heaping praise on Robertson.
“We’ve been questioning their spine and last week he answered about nine problems for the new coach. He played as a six, he ripped it up in a really shambolic Saints performance that was error-strewn but he looks silky and smooth, and confident and calm and relaxed in a way that made me think why have they not been playing him at six all the time.
“Its so obvious, play him at six.”
Sam Tomkins, who played both full-back and six, as Robertson has done, added: “It’s been like an elephant in the room. Why have they got this young star that’s destined to be something special in Super League almost being a filler.
“I think he’s a six. He’s got a great balance a great knowledge of the game. There’s a reason that he didn’t get sold and it’s because he’s a special kind of talent. Put him at six and let him learn but he’s not going to come in and be the best six in the competition from day one but he can be potentially.
“Nurture that talent, keep it the club as long as you can.”
If Robertson is to be the club’s six, both men were clear on the need for a senior seven before fellow youngster George Whitby develops with Wilkin stating: “They need a seven. They need a seven who can come in and just guide a young Robertson around.”
