ST HELENS head coach Paul Wellens hailed his fullback Jack Welsby for a ‘breathtaking’ winning try against Leeds Rhinos.
Welsby scored a good try at the beginning of the second half but then secured the 22-18 Super League win with a brilliant second.
The England star raced onto a Jonny Lomax pass, racing through a gap in the middle of the Leeds defence, and then beat Leeds fullback Richie Myler.
“Jack Welsby’s try was absolutely breathtaking,” said his coach Wellens.
“I think there’s only probably him, Jai Field and Bevan French in Super League that can score that type of try.
“The way Jack injected himself into the game at that moment alongside Jonny Lomax was brilliant to watch.
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“The fans on the terraces come to see moments like that.”
Wellens believes Welsby’s greatest strength is his running and is keen for the talented youngster to focus most on using that part of his game.
“It’s something I’ve been speaking to Jack about a fair bit in recent times,” added Wellens.
“He can ball-play, he’s a half, he can create, but I’m a firm believer that his strength is his running game.
“When I started my coaching journey in the scholarship, Jack was in the under 16s and his best strength was his running game.
“That’s what he needs to use first and foremost and everything else will come off the back of it.”
Wellens also praised the team as a whole for bouncing back from last week’s Challenge Cup semi-final defeat to Leigh Leopards, as well as the controversy over John Asiata and the subsequent injuries which weakened their line-up.
“It was a challenging week for us as a club and obviously there was some disappointment there from the previous week,” he said.
“But they channel their energies positively and they wanted to go out there and perform, they wanted to work hard for each other, they wanted to rectify the disappointment of the previous week by going out there and playing well. That’s what you saw from the group.”
