St Helens’ Super League play-off hopes could take a further dent this weekend – as their injury-hit squad face the prospect of finishing the weekend just a solitary point inside the top six.
With Leeds Rhinos already winning on Friday night and Leigh Leopards heavy favourites against London Broncos, the Saints have the daunting task of a home tie against table-topping Hull KR on Saturday afternoon.
With injuries mounting and problems aplenty for Paul Wellens off the back of last week’s dismal defeat to Wigan Warriors at Magic Weekend, the pressure is on the Saints to put in a display that will give them a chance against Willie Peters’ impressive Robins.
But how will they line up? Based on this week’s 21-man squad, it’s difficult to predict in areas.
With both Curtis Sironen and James Bell out, perhaps Wellens’ first call is to work out how best to utilise Moses Mbye. There is some welcome relief with the news that Jonny Lomax and Sione Mata’utia return, and Lomax’s comeback from suspension directly impacts Mbye, you feel.
With no frontline hooking option available – Bell filled in there at Magic Weekend – is this the time to move Mbye back to hooker and change things up in the spine? Jake Burns is in the squad, but he will likely come off the bench: meaning that Mbye is likely to go back to nine.
But who partners Lomax in the halves? Perhaps this could be the time for Will Roberts to make his eagerly-anticipated bow in Super League. Wellens likes to introduce youngsters to a 21-man squad and have them around the first-team for a number of weeks before throwing them in for a debut: the same happened with Harry Robertson, for example.
With that in mind, George Whitby – who makes a Saints 21 for the first time – is unlikely to feature but given how Roberts has been in squads in recent weeks, perhaps this is the moment for him to debut alongside a senior half-back in Lomax.
That could nudge Ben Davies back into the centres with Waqa Blake, with Tommy Makinson and Tee Ritson on the wings. Wellens will likely not repeat last week’s experiment of Matt Whitley in the centres.
Into the pack, presuming they are fit, you would assume Alex Walmsley and Matty Lees start alongside Mbye at nine, with Joe Batchelor and Whitley in the back row. Agnatius Paasi would then go to 13.
That leaves some interesting decisions to be made on the bench. Mata’utia will almost certainly be on there, as would Jake Burns and George Delaney.
By a process of elimination, if we are to assume Jon Bennison, Sam Royle and the aforementioned Whitby don’t make it then it leaves Wellens with a straight decision between Jonny Vaughan and Noah Stephens. The latter seems to be the favourite.
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