St Helens head coach Paul Wellens admitted he and his group have to do some “soul searching” after a troublesome 32-18 loss to Warrington Wolves in spherical 9 of Tremendous League.
After a poor opening 20 minutes of the sport, St Helens rallied to convey the scoreline to 16-14 at half-time, trailing by simply two factors and searching just like the group on high.
Nevertheless, they rapidly conceded within the second half as Matty Ashton went over for his hat-trick, Rodrick Tai and Matt Dufty then going over as they romped to the win.
The second half particularly was a displaying of sloppy defence from Saints, making it 15 losses in a row towards Tremendous League’s high sides since they beat Wigan Warriors within the Good Friday derby in 2024.
Now, Wellens believes he and the gamers want to check out the intent with which they turned up for the sport, the St Helens native bemused by his group shifting away from their normally efficient defensive techniques.
“I think I will be (deep in thought) for some time to be honest,” Wellens stated.
“It’s clearly disappointing and never simply the end result however the efficiency.
“Some soul searching needs to be done both individually and collectively because that is not of the standard. That is way off the standard we need to hit.
“I’m answerable for the outcomes and performances of this group and I’ve by no means as soon as shied away from that.
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Rodrick Tai scores for Warrington Wolves of their Tremendous League conflict with St Helens.
“For the second game in a row we have started a game really sloppily and coughed up cheap possession but I can’t keep talking about that, we have to fix it up.
“Now we have achieved a lot work all through pre-season and the early rounds making an attempt to implement issues to enhance our assault.
“But when you will get the chance to assault you should A) Hold maintain of the ball and B) Flip up with a defensive angle and resilience to earn the best to play and we did neither of these tonight and it must be higher.
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Toby King opens the scoring for Warrington Wolves of their Tremendous League conflict with St Helens.
“I thought our edge defence was poor but because people were coming out of our defensive system, I can’t for the life of me think why.
“We confirmed final week and quite a few instances that after we rise up collectively and keep related we’re a really tough group to interrupt down.
“But not only did we come out of the line we also missed the basic one-on-ones and at this level you just cannot do it.”
Whereas conceding rapidly within the second half is at all times a blow, the style wherein St Helens defended Ashton’s third strive was a “worrying sign” for Wellens, indicating an absence of “effort” from people inside his group.
Certainly, Wellens is conscious of the extent of criticism that his facet’s efficiency can be getting however revealed he has grown a “thick skin” within the 18 months he has been in cost.
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Matty Ashton will get his third strive of the night time for Warrington Wolves.
“It was just so frustrating because we had shown great character to get ourselves back into the game especially having been so poor for the first 15 or so minutes,” Wellens added.
“Then we conceded really softly again after half-time.
“It’s a worrying signal as a result of we had spoken at half-time about beginning the second half strongly however I’m not so positive that, to start with, as a collective, and sure people inside our group tonight, got here to play tonight with the correct quantity of intent.
“One of the things I have learnt to do over the last 18 months is grow a thick skin.
“I do know lots of people are going to be upset and dissatisfied, however I do not get caught up in that anymore.
“I get caught up in the performance of the team, the individuals in it, and working hard to help them improve and us all improve.”
Tremendous League – Spherical 9
Thurs April 24: Warrington 32-18 St Helens
Fri April 25: Leeds vs Hull KR – 8pm
Sat April 26: Huddersfield vs Castleford – 3pm
Sat April 26: Salford vs Leigh – 5.30pm – solely reside on Sky Sports activities
Sat April 26: Catalans vs Wakefield – 5.30pm
Solar April 27: Hull FC vs Wigan – 3pm
Sky Sports activities will once more present each sport of Tremendous League reside this season – together with two matches in every spherical solely reside, with the remaining 4 matches every week proven on Sky Sports activities+ through the crimson button.
