Mark Percival is the best centre in Super League, says St Helens coach

Drew Darbyshire
Mark Percival St Helens SWpix

Photo: Sylvain Thomas/SWpix

St Helens coach Kristian Woolf says he believes that Mark Percival is the best centre in Super League.

The England World Cup hopeful produced a stellar display on Good Friday to help Saints beat arch rivals Wigan 22-4 at the Totally Wicked Stadium.

Speaking after the game, coach Woolf said: “Mark Percival is always great for us.

“In my eyes he is the best centre in our competition.

“What he does with the ball… He is always a threat and he is always hard to handle and he always comes up with big plays.

“Defensively, he is outstanding as well and he does that on such a consistent basis. He is a great player to have in your team.”

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Kristian Woolf hails “world class” Tommy Makinson

Like Percival, winger Tommy Makinson also scored one to help Saints defeat Wigan on Good Friday.

Percival and Makinson will both be hoping to be in England coach Shaun Wane’s plans come the end of year World Cup.

On Makinson’s performance, Woolf said: “I thought what Tommy did was outstanding.

“We were really under the pump in them first minutes and he comes up with a carry and breaks the line. That showed what sort of mood he was in and he continued that for the whole game.

“I thought we had a couple of really big performers. But I thought Tommy was up there with the top few.

“Tommy is a world class finisher, he is not as big as some of the wingers you get in the NRL but he certainly makes up for it with the way he carries, how powerful he is and the effort he puts in.

“He is an all-round winger, he can carry out of yardage, he can score tries, he can save tries, he can catch… I think he is world class and he showed that tonight.”

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