Cunningham slams young halves
A lack of experience in the halves was clearly evident after Saints’ inability to see out the game against Wakefield, according to St Helens head coach Keiron Cunningham.
Trinity snatched a 16-12 victory at the Totally Wicked Stadiums thanks to a late penalty try from Jacob Miller.
Theo Fages and Danny Richardson were Saints’ halfbacks last night.
“A senior halfback tonight would’ve brought the game home for us especially when we were 12-10 in front,” Cunningham said.
“Nobody mentions that you’re missing one of the best halfbacks in the competition, who is sat on the side line because someone broke his leg.
“Matty [Smith] will be back soon enough and we’ve got to try and persevere and chuck some people around and make some stuff work for us.”
Cunningham was frustrated with video referee Phil Bentham’s decision to overrule James Child’s call of no try, which handed Wakefield the win.
“I thought the rule for a penalty try was that he’s got to be guaranteed to be scoring the try,” he said.
“That was my understanding whether I’ve got it wrong or not I’m not sure.”
Cunningham was also critical of the start his team made and warned of changes ahead of their next match away to Hull FC.
The hosts registered their first points five minutes before the interval.
“I thought our start was really poor today,” he added.
“I keep talking about energy battles and we just lacked a real sense of intensity about us because we just couldn’t build any momentum at all.
“It needs to be addressed and the only way to do that is player selection because it’s the same crew that keep coming up with them for us.”
St Helens have lost two of their opening three matches and came through with a narrow opening day win against Leeds, but Cunningham is not panicking about the progress.
“I’m not concerned,” he said.
“We get in front during the game and you should bring it home.”
Zeb Taia made his St Helens debut in the defeat to Wakefield and Cunningham was pleased with the attitude he showed after arriving from Australia just a few days ago.
The 32-year old has joined the Super League side on a two-year deal from the Gold Coast Titans with Joe Greenwood moving in the opposition direction.
“I thought it was a credit to him to play how we played considering he’s just jumped off a plane,” he added.
“He’s stepped off a plane halfway through the week and doesn’t know the calls or anything about how we play.
“He just understands rugby and he’s definitely going to be a big asset for us.”