PRESSURE! What pressure?
St Helens coach Paul Wellens says he’s calm, collected and enjoying his job as much as ever as he goes into his third year in charge aiming to get the once serial winners back on the trophy trail.
The 44-year-old club legend piloted his charges to a trophy in his first match after succeeding Kristian Woolf, when Penrith Panthers were toppled on their own patch in the World Club Challenge.
But since that dramatic 13-12 golden-point victory in February 2023, Saints have failed to pick up any further silverware.
That year, they finished third on points difference and lost in the semi-finals of the play-offs after suffering the same fate in the Challenge Cup.
And in an injury-disrupted 2024, they squeezed into the top six on points difference before falling at the first hurdle in the play-offs after bowing out of the Challenge Cup in the quarter-finals, both losses being at the hands of Warrington.
That has frustrated Wellens, who was assistant to Justin Holbrook, then Woolf, during that period of domination for the game’s most successful club since the switch to summer.
Having signed a contract extension for 2025 in August, the former England and Great Britain fullback, who made 495 appearances for Saints before joining the coaching staff in 2015, has new players in versatile back Tristan Sailor (from Brisbane Broncos), Kyle Feldt (North Queensland Cowboys) and former Wakefield winger Lewis Murphy, back in the UK after a stint at Sydney Roosters.
Wellens also has new assistants in Lee Briers, lured from Brisbane Broncos, and Eamon O’Carroll, who impressed in charge of Bradford last year – and is pleased to have both on board.
“We have freshened things up, and it’s always important to evolve,” he explained.
“The quality we have brought into the squad and the quality of the staff is already having a positive effect.
“The agreement for Lee to join us was made midway through last year. I have known him for a long time – we grew up around the corner from each other. I knew what I was getting.
“With Eamon, it’s different. I knew of him but we’d never really had a relationship.
“But after meeting and talking rugby, it was clear our views were aligned, particularly from a defensive perspective, which he’s leading on.
“He’s proving a wonderful addition; he and Lee work in tandem very well.”
Wellens believes he has learned from the barren run.
“It was always going to be a challenge to build on four straight titles, whoever was coach. Very few sides win things year on year on year.” he added.
“But it’s a challenge we want to rise to. While last season had some difficult moments which have been well documented, I found out a lot about myself and my players.
“Being the man in charge is not a role people can prepare you for. You have to put the shoes on and walk in them, a bit like parenthood.
“Going into my third year, I feel I am in a good place, with the support of people around me and a really good playing group.”