Friday night derby loss to Wigan Warriors<\/a>, Wilkin highlighted the crux of the problem and why St Helens had to act.<\/p>\nJust 1,700 fans had made the trip from St Helens to Wigan, with Wilkin stating on Sky Sports: \u201cThere lies the problem for me at St Helens. In 2024, they had average of 13,000 is at home attendance. That regressed in 2025 to just 11,000 and we see here tonight just 1,700 fans in a stand that holds 5,500.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I played here, that stand was full and it\u2019s that lack of engagement with the fans and that diminishing season ticket holders, diminishing number of people who watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaul Rowley was brought in to improve the style and the substance of the team and play Rowley-ball and engage with the fans to bring them back. They haven\u2019t done that.\u201d<\/p>\n
How player power ended Paul Rowley\u2019s reign<\/p>\n
Wilkin went further, suggesting that not only have Saints not reconnected to the fans, they\u2019ve actually widened the gap and created a clear disconnect as he cited Jack Welsby\u2019s try celebration against Catalans as an example.<\/p>\n
Most Read on Serious About Rugby League<\/p>\n
The full-back put his fingers to his ears and faced the home crowd after crossing over, with Wilkin highlighting it as a sign of a troubled club.<\/p>\n
He argued: \u201cI think there\u2019s a real disconnect between the players and the engagement with the fans and we saw that with Jack Welsby and his celebration against Catalans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat he\u2019s saying is the fans who pay their hard-earned money aren\u2019t able to criticise what he\u2019s doing. They\u2019re well entitled to criticise and they\u2019re voting with their feet. It would be wise to see feedback from their fans about what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilkin also suggested that such a huge decision, parting ways with a coach just nine months into a three-year deal, would not happen without the approval of senior players.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would imagine that there\u2019s a disconnect between the style, the feeling of the club, the detail, the Championship mindset that they had, and an element of looseness that came with the Salford culture was maybe brought into the club,\u201d Wilkin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe senior players are very powerful, but it\u2019s more the results, it\u2019s more than the supporters, it\u2019s more than the players, it\u2019s all of it together, isn\u2019t it? The commercial side of it, it has to be all of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just one thing, it\u2019s probably a culmination of all of those things that lead to a coach being sacked just nine months in to a three-year deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jon Wilkin\u2019s final St Helens verdict<\/p>\n
Wilkin, who played a whopping 424 games for St Helens, went on to offer an honest and harsh reality of the club\u2019s situation, one that he called \u2018desperately sad\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like the state that St Helens are in,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like the way that the club is at the minute, I don\u2019t like the vitriol and negativity, the disconnect between the fans and the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played there for 16 years and it makes me sad to look at the stand down there and just have 1,700 fans there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for a club that won the title four times on the spin and so recently have been attached with success, I find it desperately sad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really hope and wish that they can get back to a situation where there\u2019s a connection back.\u201d<\/p>\n
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