Fri 29th Apr : SL : St Helens v Salford Red devils KO 20:00

[Chris22]

A scrappy, ugly game with little to split the sides. Two penalties for us and a Salford missed penalty before half time crucial.

Our attack struggled badly when Lomax went off. Welsby having to play full back in defence and take the kicking responsibility of a half back was a tough task. We lacked creativity but can easily understand why. 

Then we had the major issue of Hopoate. Woolf confirmed he picked up a knock but he was a passenger from minute one. A body and nothing more, with others having to do his work and several restructures of our backline on the fly. He's had a tough start to his career. His performance was awful tonight, but since he was injured and lacked match practice, then there's an explanation. We can be patient but to play him next week would be a risk.

Lees excellent for us, Lussick had his best match so far. Ormondroyd made some strong runs for Salford and Croft threatened at times.

Can't pin our labouring on injuries though as Salford more than matched us up front. The pleasing thing for us was getting the win and playing sensibly by kicking penalties when needed.

Knowles' effort to play 80 minutes and chase down a Chris Atkin intercept in the last minute was unreal. One of the best tackles I've ever seen. The pass by Welsby was crazy given all we had to do was see out the set and we would win. But  he's young and given a lot of responsibility tonight, so he'll learn and get better (but also shows why an international call up would be premature).

Big issues next week though. Dodd out, Lomax probably out, Hopoate possibly out, Percival may get a ban as may another for a tip tackle. It's going to be tough ask to beat Wigan.

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

Just watched the highlights and Saints last penalty came from Welsby doing his party piece of jumping over, whilst being tackled, to create what then looks like a lifting offence.  I thought he'd been warned by the disciplinary about this stunt.

[Josef K]

An amazing win in the end but it’s not good for my bad blood pressure. I thought Salford definitely deserved a draw at the very least, and even if they had won i wouldn’t have had any qualms about it. But Salford must be kicking themselves not being able to pick up the two points, because they had their chances and most of the play in the second half felt as if it was in the Saints 25 (can i still say 25yrd line).
A lot of Saints fans thought Salford’s first try shouldn’t have been given because he (Escare) didn’t have full control of the ball and he bounced it down on the ground. But i wasn’t stood near enough to see what happened as i stand near the corner, but if the official’s say it’s a try then there are no complaints from me. Losing Lomax was a massive blow, and with Hopoate having just a walking part that wasn’t good either and it put us in a spot of bother. Although Hopoate made a v good try saving tackle in the first couple of mins. Salford played some great RL throwing the ball out wide whenever they got chance and they caused us all sorts of problems.
The try saving tackle by Knowles was amazing and the dive he did to take the Salford player down was great to see. Walmsley doesn’t look fit at all and if he isn’t clicking then the rest of the pack don’t seem too either. Salford have no worries about going down this season.
10,900 tonight with around 150/200 very vocal Salford fans. They deserve a lot of credit for their support and the backing they give their side. 
As for Saints and what the side will be next week who knows, Wigan have got +6 start against us next Saturday, id take Wigan now. It was a pleasant walk to the ground and a pleasant walk home, it was made better coming home because we had won which does help. 

[bobbruce]

8 hours ago, Chris22 said:

A scrappy, ugly game with little to split the sides. Two penalties for us and a Salford missed penalty before half time crucial.

Our attack struggled badly when Lomax went off. Welsby having to play full back in defence and take the kicking responsibility of a half back was a tough task. We lacked creativity but can easily understand why. 

Then we had the major issue of Hopoate. Woolf confirmed he picked up a knock but he was a passenger from minute one. A body and nothing more, with others having to do his work and several restructures of our backline on the fly. He's had a tough start to his career. His performance was awful tonight, but since he was injured and lacked match practice, then there's an explanation. We can be patient but to play him next week would be a risk.

Lees excellent for us, Lussick had his best match so far. Ormondroyd made some strong runs for Salford and Croft threatened at times.

Can't pin our labouring on injuries though as Salford more than matched us up front. The pleasing thing for us was getting the win and playing sensibly by kicking penalties when needed.

Knowles' effort to play 80 minutes and chase down a Chris Atkin intercept in the last minute was unreal. One of the best tackles I've ever seen. The pass by Welsby was crazy given all we had to do was see out the set and we would win. But  he's young and given a lot of responsibility tonight, so he'll learn and get better (but also shows why an international call up would be premature).

Big issues next week though. Dodd out, Lomax probably out, Hopoate possibly out, Percival may get a ban as may another for a tip tackle. It's going to be tough ask to beat Wigan.

I’m hearing torn bicep for Lomax out for 12 weeks. 

[David Dockhouse Host]

9 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

Terrible game one of the worst I’ve watched in years.

Couple  of key things to take from that,

Saints never got out of 1st gear all night, they definitely had the sf on their minds. But fair play to Salford they gave it their absolute all and probably deserved something from that game.

Hopoate was utterly useless, never seen such a lazy disinterested display from a Saints player. He was an embarrassment to the shirt quite frankly.

welsby and Roby were magnificent all night and Knowles 90m chase down and try saving tackle in the last minute on Atkin just epitomises him as a player, superb effort.

In nearly 40yrs of going to games I can’t think of a more inept refereeing performance than this game, he was embarrassingly poor. You know it’s bad when both sets of fans boo you so much. As well as the number of mistakes he made and how many things he missed the game was so stop start he utterly ruined it as a spectacle.

Brody Croft is such a whining gobby git. Every little thing that happened he’d sprint across the pitch to confront the ref. A ref with a pair of balls would have warned him or binned him early on. The worst one was after Saints 1st try Makinson was trying to tee up the ball for the kick and had to wait because Croft was stood in front of him mouthing off to the ref - weak officiating.

I don't dispute the ref had a poor game but I have sympathy.

Players trying it on and a stop start game is due to the players, ref ignores they get grief, ref sends people to the bin "it's all about the ref"

Dropped balls, poor play, stop start etc is as much the players as anyone else, the game becomes bitty and the ref is left with it, they are not the cause.

This post isnt saying the ref didn't have a poor game it made errors but to show the players impact very often on the spectacle far more than the ref but the ref gets the blame.

What should we do if a ref has a bad game? 

[idrewthehaggis]

Interesting and to a degree surprisingly complimentary comments. Another good shift from SRD that took Saints to the wire last night.

Rewarding that a number of players have upped their form and commitment from being fairly anonymous earlier in the season. And Bourmouh was outstanding on his debut as well. All so given watching Lussick play against us is for me really painful. Ah well his younger brother Freddy could do himself no harm in coming to Salford.

Sadly, despite the endeavours, the reality is that this was another defeat. The Reds have won once in eight, which is the worst form for any club this season and probably as bad as any SRD team for a decade. 

But for once, the revival of form points to a realisation of the optimism I always have for the Devils.

Next is a wee of rest. Maybe some heads back and a couple of four pointers v Wakey and Cas.

Keep smiling, remain positive.

[JonNgog]

9 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

Hopoate was utterly useless, never seen such a lazy disinterested display from a Saints player. He was an embarrassment to the shirt quite frankly.

Very unfair- he was injured for > 80% of the match but opted to play on

[Chris22]

2 hours ago, bobbruce said:

I’m hearing torn bicep for Lomax out for 12 weeks. 

That would be a hammer blow and would change the dynamic of the whole season. 

With both of our half backs out long term, no natural replacement for either and the form both players were in, this presents a huge challenge.

[Damien]

What an effort from Knowles, some pace from a forward and in the last minute too:

 

[Loiner]

14 hours ago, Saint Toppy said:

Terrible game one of the worst I’ve watched in years.

Couple  of key things to take from that,

Saints never got out of 1st gear all night, they definitely had the sf on their minds. But fair play to Salford they gave it their absolute all and probably deserved something from that game.

Hopoate was utterly useless, never seen such a lazy disinterested display from a Saints player. He was an embarrassment to the shirt quite frankly.

welsby and Roby were magnificent all night and Knowles 90m chase down and try saving tackle in the last minute on Atkin just epitomises him as a player, superb effort.

In nearly 40yrs of going to games I can’t think of a more inept refereeing performance than this game, he was embarrassingly poor. You know it’s bad when both sets of fans boo you so much. As well as the number of mistakes he made and how many things he missed the game was so stop start he utterly ruined it as a spectacle.

Brody Croft is such a whining gobby git. Every little thing that happened he’d sprint across the pitch to confront the ref. A ref with a pair of balls would have warned him or binned him early on. The worst one was after Saints 1st try Makinson was trying to tee up the ball for the kick and had to wait because Croft was stood in front of him mouthing off to the ref - weak officiating.

After all that no mention of Welsby play acting again  

[dkw]

33 minutes ago, Damien said:

What an effort from Knowles, some pace from a forward and in the last minute too:

 

Outstanding that, amazing some people on here think other players are ahead of him for England. He's exactly the player we should build a spine around.

[Damien]

Just now, dkw said:

Outstanding that, amazing some people on here think other players are ahead of him for England. He's exactly the player we should build a spine around.

Yes he's a quality player and is very much a NRL style Loose Forward.

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

8 minutes ago, Loiner said:

After all that no mention of Welsby play acting again  

I have mentioned it earlier.

[Loiner]

2 minutes ago, Wollo Wollo Wayoo said:

I have mentioned it earlier.

Yeah I know you have,  i meant no mention from one eyed Toppy.

[Exiled Wiganer]

1 hour ago, Loiner said:

Yeah I know you have,  i meant no mention from one eyed Toppy.

Funny that…

[Pete Grady]

On 30/04/2022 at 02:07, Josef K said:

An amazing win in the end but it’s not good for my bad blood pressure. I thought Salford definitely deserved a draw at the very least, and even if they had won i wouldn’t have had any qualms about it. But Salford must be kicking themselves not being able to pick up the two points, because they had their chances and most of the play in the second half felt as if it was in the Saints 25 (can i still say 25yrd line).
A lot of Saints fans thought Salford’s first try shouldn’t have been given because he (Escare) didn’t have full control of the ball and he bounced it down on the ground. But i wasn’t stood near enough to see what happened as i stand near the corner, but if the official’s say it’s a try then there are no complaints from me. Losing Lomax was a massive blow, and with Hopoate having just a walking part that wasn’t good either and it put us in a spot of bother. Although Hopoate made a v good try saving tackle in the first couple of mins. Salford played some great RL throwing the ball out wide whenever they got chance and they caused us all sorts of problems.
The try saving tackle by Knowles was amazing and the dive he did to take the Salford player down was great to see. Walmsley doesn’t look fit at all and if he isn’t clicking then the rest of the pack don’t seem too either. Salford have no worries about going down this season.
10,900 tonight with around 150/200 very vocal Salford fans. They deserve a lot of credit for their support and the backing they give their side. 
As for Saints and what the side will be next week who knows, Wigan have got +6 start against us next Saturday, id take Wigan now. It was a pleasant walk to the ground and a pleasant walk home, it was made better coming home because we had won which does help. 

Many thanks Josef K for a very fair revue of the match, it's refreshing to read a report about a match where credit is given to both teams.   Cheers Pete.

[DG70]

Wigan and Saints usually hammer most teams so for Salford to run them both close indicates Salford shouldn't be relegated, in fact they could even make the play offs with a bit of luck on the injuries front.

[bobbruce]

1 hour ago, DG70 said:

Wigan and Saints usually hammer most teams so for Salford to run them both close indicates Salford shouldn't be relegated, in fact they could even make the play offs with a bit of luck on the injuries front.

Toulouse lost to Wigan by 1pt and beat Saints so not sure your theory stands up. 

[Josef K]

Where i stand at Saints know one knew Welsby had been binned after six minutes. When Welsby came back on someone said he must’ve had to go off for a HIA, which shows most people in the section were i stand were nonplussed. I can’t remember if the PA announcer mentioned it(although the PA at Saints is naff, unless you are stood outside or in the bogs) or i don’t know if had been put on the scoreboard. If not id like them to start doing that so then the fans at the other end of the ground know what is going on. 

[Saint Toppy]

On 30/04/2022 at 13:40, Loiner said:

After all that no mention of Welsby play acting again  

Because the only mention of it came from Wollo Wollo Wayoo, not from anything I saw, anything the officials saw or anything the disciplinary saw

[Saint Toppy]

12 hours ago, Josef K said:

Where i stand at Saints know one knew Welsby had been binned after six minutes. When Welsby came back on someone said he must’ve had to go off for a HIA, which shows most people in the section were i stand were nonplussed. I can’t remember if the PA announcer mentioned it(although the PA at Saints is naff, unless you are stood outside or in the bogs) or i don’t know if had been put on the scoreboard. If not id like them to start doing that so then the fans at the other end of the ground know what is going on. 

It was announced over the PA, though your right its not that great a system and easy to miss something. 

[Saint Toppy]

On 30/04/2022 at 08:56, JonNgog said:

Very unfair- he was injured for > 80% of the match but opted to play on

Not unfair at all the guys been MIA since turning up in the UK. When We signed him I said he was a waste of a quota spot and I stand by those comments now.

Anyway one possible bright spot is i've been told by someone who's usually pretty accurate with their info that Hopoate may not be around much longer, already played the 'homesick' card (or rather his missus has) and has asked for a release to return to Oz.

[Josef K]

35 minutes ago, Saint Toppy said:

It was announced over the PA, though your right its not that great a system and easy to miss something. 

That’s good news then Toppy at least they’re keeping the fans updated. 

[Saint Toppy]

On 29/04/2022 at 23:36, Wollo Wollo Wayoo said:

Just watched the highlights and Saints last penalty came from Welsby doing his party piece of jumping over, whilst being tackled, to create what then looks like a lifting offence.  I thought he'd been warned by the disciplinary about this stunt.

Still waiting for that so called 'proof' of Welsby cheating as you claim - you know the one only you and the other anti-Saints fans on here appear to have seen but nobody else did including the officials & the disciplinary !!

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

1 hour ago, Saint Toppy said:

Still waiting for that so called 'proof' of Welsby cheating as you claim - you know the one only you and the other anti-Saints fans on here appear to have seen but nobody else did including the officials & the disciplinary !!

Just my eyesight, no one called up from Salford for the tackle and the similarity when Connor Wynne was deemed no case to answer by the panel because Welsby "rolled into the tackle" IHMO obviously.