St. Helens' Key Man Returns For Warrington Clash: Can They Stop The Wire's Treble Bid?

With two Saints teams away in Warrington, supporters can make even more of their Saturday, firstly at Victoria Park where our Women’s team could claim the League Leader’s Shield with a victory.

Our First Team go into the Wolves’ den the Halliwell Jones Stadium looking to make it back-to-back away wins following last Sunday’s victory over Huddersfield on the road. With the play-off race getting tighter with just three rounds remaining, a positive result for the Red V would keep us in control of reaching the play-offs.

Paul Wellens makes just one change to his team following last Sunday afternoon’s win over the Giants.

Our Vice Captain and #1 Jack Welsby is named in the 21-man squad for the first time since Round 19 against Leigh when he suffered a hamstring injury in the opening few minutes of that match. As revealed by Wellens during his weekly press conference, Welsby has been progressing well, including training with the team on-field this week.

Leon Cowen is the Saints who steps out of the declaration from the previous round. Tommy Makinson will serve the second game of his two-match penalty notice.

1.Jack Welsby, 3. Waqa Blake, 5. Jon Bennison, 6. Jonny Lomax, 8. Alex Walmsley, 10. Matty Lees, 11. Sione Mata’utia, 12. Joe Batchelor, 13. Morgan Knowles, 14. Moses Mbye, 17. Agnatius Paasi, 19. Matt Whitley, 20. George Delaney, 21. Ben Davies, 22. Sam Royle, 24. Jake Burns, 25. Tee Ritson, 30. Jonny Vaughan, 31. Noah Stephens, 33. Harry Robertson, 35. George Whitby.

Matty Smith has named his 21-woman squad to travel to Warrington on Saturday to face the Wolves, making three changes.

Faye Gaskin, Emily Rudge and Georgia Sutherland all come into the side in place of Rebecca Rotheram, Alyx Bridge and Grace Arrowsmith.

St.Helens Women could be crowned 2024 League Leader’s Shield winners for the second time with a win at the weekend. The last time Saints won the trophy was back in their treble winning season of 2021, and they currently hold a four-point lead at the top of the Betfred Women’s Super League with just two regular season rounds remaining.

Saints are currently on a thirteen-game winning run across all competitions. It’s the third meeting of the season between the two sides, having come head-to-head in both the cup and league earlier on in the year. Saints travelled to Bank Quay Bulls in the Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup back in April, winning 6-58 in the group stage. That was followed by a dominant 82-0 victory in the Betfred Women’s Super League in July at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

A reminder that this Women’s match on Saturday takes place at Victoria Park in Warrington, at 12pm. Tickets will be available on the gate, costing just £5 for adults and £2 for concessions.

Beri Salihi, 4. Erin Stott, 5. Leah Burke, 6. Zoe Harris, 7. Faye Gaskin, 8. Vicky Whitfield, 9. Tara Jones, 10. Chantelle Crowl, 11. Paige Travis, 12. Emily Rudge, 13. Jodie Cunningham, 14. Naomi Williams, 16. Darcy Stott, 17. Pip Birchall, 19. Katie Mottershead, 21. Amy Taylor, 22. Megan Williams, 24. Georgia Sutherland, 25. Danielle McGifford, 28. Erin McDonald, 30. Rachael Woosey.

IT is something that seemed barely possible when this year started.

At that stage, Warrington Wolves’ recent meetings with St Helens had brought them nothing but heartbreak.

Saints had won the past seven meetings between the two clubs going into 2024 but now, The Wire stand on the brink of a rare treble.

Having beaten their neighbours twice on their own turf this year – 31-8 in the Challenge Cup in April and 24-10 in Super League in July – winning Saturday’s meeting at The Halliwell Jones Stadium would complete a bit of club history.

It would be just the sixth time Warrington have beaten St Helens three times within the same calendar year – and the past two occasions have been part of runs to being crowned champions of England.

The last team to do it was the all-conquering 1953-54 team, who won 7-2 at Knowsley Road on January 2, 1954 and 12-8 at Wilderspoon on February 27 before triumphing 11-0 on home soil in the Championship semi-finals.

They went one better in 1948, beating Saints four times in the calendar year with the first two games of that run – an 8-2 win at Knowsley Road on January 10 and a 21-3 triumph at Wilderspool on March 6 – forming part of their title-winning 1947-48 season.

The new campaign then saw them win 12-4 at Knowsley Road on October 16 and 15-5 at Wilderspool on December 4.

There were also three Warrington wins over St Helens in 1897, 1900 and 1909, the results for which are listed below

1909

Won 15-9 at Knowsley Road, January 23

Won 78-6 at Wilderspool, April 12

Won 19-15 at Wilderspool, September 18

1900

Won 6-0 at Knowsley Road, March 17 (Challenge Cup)

Won 7-0 at Knowsley Road, November 24

Won 6-5, December 24

1897

Won 7-3 at Wilderspool, February 22

Won 8-3 at Knowsley Road, October 23

Won 8-0 at Wilderspool, December 27

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PAUL Wellens welcomes back Jack Welsby to the 21-man squad for the first time since Round 19 against Leigh.

It is a surprise inclusion with the England full back well ahead of schedule after his recovery from a hamstring injury sustained in the opening minutes of that match.

It is the only change with Leon Cowen stepping out of the declaration from the previous round.

Tommy Makinson will serve the second game of his two-match penalty notice.

Coach Paul Wellens said: "Warrington have a number of threats – they are a dangerous team – particularly off the back of ruck speed and that is where the likes of George Williams comes into the game really effectively and with Matt Dufty out they now have Cai Taylor-Wray has been doing a great job there.

"They have strike in the three-quarters, players like Matt Ashton, Toby King, Josh Thewlis and Rodrick Tai playing well – they have strike all over the field and we’ll have to work hard to nullify that."

And when asked what he wants to get from Saturday's game, Wellens replied: "I want to see us improve on last week’s performance.

"There's a lot I liked about it, but not by any stretch of the imagination it was not a brilliant performance – more a kind of get the job done type display.

"I want us to go out there with a competitiveness and resilience and keep showing those qualities but we can be better in a few areas and when we get an opportunity, try and nail them because as I mentioned, big games at the back end of the year, opportunities are few and far between.

"So we need to be clinical there and I'm hoping to make some improvements."

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ST Helens could welcome one of their key men back into contention for their trip to Warrington Wolves on Saturday.

Full-back Jack Welsby, who has not played since suffering a hamstring injury against Leigh Leopards in Round 19, has been named in Paul Wellens’ 21-man squad for the trip to The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Welsby’s inclusion in place of youngster Leon Cowan is the only change to the Saints 21, which is still missing several key players.

Daryl Clark, Curtis Sironen, Lewis Dodd, James Bell and Mark Percival are among the injury absentees, while Tommy Makinson misses out through suspension.

Jack Welsby, Waqa Blake, Jon Bennison, Jonny Lomax, Alex Walmsley, Matty Lees, Sione Mata’utia, Joe Batchelor, Morgan Knowles, Moses Mbye, Agnatius Paasi, Matt Whitley, George Delaney, Ben Davies, Sam Royle, Jake Burns, Tee Ritson, Jonny Vaughan, Noah Stephens, Harry Robertson, George Whitby

😇 𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗗 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 Paul Wellens & Matty Smith have named their Saints squads for our two matches against @WarringtonRLFC this Saturday! Read more ⬇#COYS | @saints1890women

— St.Helens R.F.C. (@Saints1890) September 5, 2024

Wellens concedes that The Wire will be seen as favourites for Saturday’s game in the eyes of many having already beaten them twice in 2024.

However, he insists his patched-up side will make the short trip to The Halliwell Jones Stadium with “a tough mindset” while aiming to nullify “the number of threats” he says their hosts possess.

“Some people will see them as favourites and that Warrington will be a difficult place to go, with them having already beaten us twice this year,” he told our sister paper The St Helens Star.

“It is a tough game for us but we are going there with a tough mindset of what we need to do to win the game.”

“Warrington have a number of threats – they are a dangerous team – particularly off the back of ruck speed and that is where the likes of George Williams comes into the game really effectively and with Matt Dufty out they now have Cai Taylor-Wray has been doing a great job there.

“They have strike in the three-quarters, players like Matt Ashton, Toby King, Josh Thewlis and Rodrick Tai playing well – they have strike all over the field and we’ll have to work hard to nullify that.”