ST HELENS 40 CASTLEFORD TIGERS 10
MARK TAYLOR, BrewDog Stadium, Saturday

MATTY LEES took centre stage as St Helens marked a decade of service from one of their most reliable modern servants with a comfortable win over Castleford in his testimonial and Saints’ only pre-season game.

A guard of honour from both sets of players welcomed Lees and his family before kick-off, setting the tone for an afternoon of celebration, and the prop later left the action in the closing stages to thunderous applause from the home faithful.

A decent crowd of 5,422 turned out, with supporters eager to catch a first glimpse of new faces as both sides begin to shape up under new coaches – Paul Rowley at Saints, and Castleford’s Ryan Carr.

Though neither coach will read too much into a January workout, Rowley will have been encouraged by the contribution of former Salford, Wigan and Newcastle Knights playmaker Jackson Hastings, while Carr would have taken heart from winger Mikaele Ravalawa, who scored a try in each half on his Tigers debut.

The visitors started brightly and went close to opening the scoring on a couple of occasions, but they were punished for their wastefulness as Saints clicked into gear. Pressure forced a Castleford error deep in their own half, and Nene Macdonald showed strength and composure to wrestle free and score his first try in Saints colours down the left. Hastings added the extras to set the tone.

Macdonald went on to have a mixed afternoon, three times dropping ambitious interception attempts but also producing a couple of defence-clearing runs that would have endeared him to his new fans.

Saints doubled their advantage soon after, courtesy of another spell of sustained pressure. A six-again on the Tigers’ line allowed the Saints to shift the ball quickly to the right, where Harry Robertson had the space he needed to cross, with Hastings again converting for a 12–0 lead.

Midway through the half, a flowing right-to-left move saw Jack Welsby link with Deon Cross, who finished neatly in the corner, although Hastings was unable to convert from the touchline.

Castleford, who handed debuts to a number of their 2026 recruits, showed flashes of promise and were rewarded just before the break. Tom Weaver’s deft short kick was gathered by Darnell McIntosh, who got the ball away for Ravalawa to score in the corner. Weaver converted on the stroke of half-time to leave Saints 16–6 ahead at the interval.

A seemingly endless stream of substitutions explained much of the stop-start feel after the break, but Saints continued to add points at regular intervals as a number of youngsters were given their chance.

On the back of a succession of penalties, Saints made good ground, and Tristan Sailor was influential, bursting through a gap before finding Shane Wright in support to score early after the restart.

Hastings converted, and Wright was in again minutes later after strong work from Robertson, strolling over under the posts to stretch the lead to 28–6.

Ravalawa grabbed his and Castleford’s second with a strong finish out wide following a well-worked set, but Saints ensured the afternoon ended as it began, with the focus returning to Lees.

Lewis Murphy produced an acrobatic finish on the left before the increasingly influential Sailor capped an impressive afternoon by racing clear after a break from Jake Davies to score late on.

GAMESTAR: Jackson Hastings can play a lot better than this but his central performance suggested he could be the kind of playmaker Saints have been crying out for.

GAMEBREAKER: Harry Robertson’s converted try opened up a 12-0 lead, which Saints never looked in danger of relinquishing.

MATCHFACTS

SAINTS
1 Jack Welsby
2 Kyle Feldt
3 Harry Robertson
25 Nene Macdonald
5 Deon Cross
6 Tristan Sailor
31 Jackson Hastings
13 David Klemmer
9 Daryl Clark
10 Matty Lees
12 Shane Wright
16 Matt Whitley
22 Joe Shorrocks
Subs (all used)
15 George Delaney
17 George Whitby
18 Jake Wingfield
19 Agnatius Paasi
20 Lewis Murphy
23 Jake Burns
24 Owen Dagnall
26 Jacob Douglas
28 Jake Davies
29 Alfie Sinclair
30 Luca Walsh
32 Cole Marsh
33 Tom Humphreys
34 Billy Keeley

Tries: Macdonald (12), Robertson (17), Cross (26), Wright (52, 65), Murphy (77), Sailor (79)
Goals: Hastings 4/5, Sailor 1/1, Whitby 1/1

TIGERS
1 Blake Taaffe
22 Jason Qareqare
21 Louis Senior
4 Darnell McIntosh
5 Mikaele Ravalawa
6 Daejarn Asi
7 Tom Weaver
8 Renouf Atoni
9 Liam Hood
10 George Lawler
11 Jordan Lane
12 Alex Mellor
13 Joe Stimson
Subs (all used)
14 Brock Greacen
16 Joe Westerman
17 Chris Atkin
18 Fletcher Rooney
19 Brad Singleton
20 Aiden Doolan
24 Jenson Windley
25 Sam Hall
26 Alfie Lindsay
30 Jimmy Beckett
– Daniel Sarbah

Tries: Ravalawa (40, 71)
Goals: Weaver 1/2

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 12-0, 16-0, 16-6; 22-6, 28-6, 28-10, 34-10, 40-10

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Saints: Jackson Hastings; Tigers: Mikaele Ravalawa

Penalty count: 8-5
Half-time: 16-6
Referee: Jack Smith
Attendance: 5,422