{"id":422395,"date":"2026-02-12T21:02:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/422395\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T21:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:02:07","slug":"paul-rowley-st-helens-head-coach-offers-squad-licence-to-thrill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/422395\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Rowley: St Helens head coach offers squad licence to thrill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saints have made some big plays in the transfer market for 2026 in their bid to revive their title aspirations, with big forwards such as David Klemmer<\/a> and Jacob Host<\/a> bringing punch to the pack, and Nene Macdonald<\/a> adding extra strike out wide.<\/p>\n

Former Man of Steel Jackson Hastings’ arrival<\/a> added a strong dollop of control and creativity to the mix too, reuniting Rowley with a player he worked with while on Salford’s staff and a genuine playmaker.<\/p>\n

Australia-born Hastings, 30, has played some of his best rugby league in the northern hemisphere, and counts his second home of England as a place where he can get his headspace right.<\/p>\n

His new boss is another key factor in that positive mindset.<\/p>\n

“He never gets too high when we do something good or too angry when we’re not great,” Hastings told BBC Radio 5 live.<\/p>\n

“To have that mental fortitude as a coach to stay even throughout the game, or when training sessions fluctuate, is something he’s always been good at.<\/p>\n

“Everyone talks about his sides and how they move the ball, but I think him as a person, he’s pretty even with his emotions and that’s something I really enjoy being around.<\/p>\n

“For me, as someone who fluctuates a bit, having someone who’s really calm has been great.”<\/p>\n

Hastings had to stand and applaud Saints as they beat his Salford and Wigan teams in back-to-back Grand Final losses in 2019 and 2020.<\/p>\n

Now, he’s combining with long-standing Saints icons such as Welsby, Jonny Lomax and Walmsley on a daily basis, players at the heart of those disappointments.<\/p>\n

“You can see why they’ve been successful, they train hard, they’re disciplined, and they all do the little things that make you a great player, a great person and ultimately a great team,” Hastings said.<\/p>\n

“They do the things that you require to be successful and that’s been great.<\/p>\n

“We’re trying to establish a new culture and everyone has bought into that.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saints have made some big plays in the transfer market for 2026 in their bid to revive their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-422395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}