St Helens boss Paul Wellens welcomes selection headache with Morgan Knowles ban complete

St Helens coach Paul Wellens has welcomed selection headaches, with key forward Morgan Knowles having now served his ban.

England international Knowles was handed a two-match ban after being sent off for a high tackle in their Challenge Cup sixth round win at Halifax last month.

With his suspension now complete, Knowles is free to return in Friday’s derby clash with rivals Wigan.

Speaking after their impressive 48-6 win over Huddersfield at Magic Weekend, Wellens welcomed the selection dilemma on his hands with a relatively healthy squad available to select.

He said: “What I will say is the last couple of weeks that I haven’t had headaches, although it’s been difficult, it’s been much better than what’s been happening previously so now I’ve got players competing to get in the team.

“I actually said to the players before the (Huddersfield) game, we’ve got good players not in the 17, good players who are disappointed who’d love to be out there playing. I said what we have is the responsibility that if you are in the 17 is to go out and perform. Perform for those who have got the opportunity and I think we saw that today.

“Difficult decisions I have to make week in, week out as a coach around selection aren’t always easy, but I make them with the best interests of the group at heart.

“Whilst guys are disappointed they are missing out, they need to be ready because they can be called upon at any time.”

Paul Wellens pleased with how St Helens have cleaned up their discipline

The Saints produced a professional and clinical performance against the Giants, much to the delight of Wellens, who praised the way his side tidied up their discipline.

He said: “For me as a coach, I probably needed to have strong conversations a little bit earlier (about our ill-discipline) but given the fact what this team has achieved in recent years – I probably gave them the benefit of the doubt.

“There have been strong conversations between myself and the playing group around what is and isn’t accepted there.

“I thought the evidence of today was a team that can play aggressive and physical and do all the things that brought us success but also retaining discipline whilst doing that.

“I really had to condemn the group on that because they’ve come under the microscope more so than any other team I feel in 2023 and that may continue, so it’s important that we do retain our discipline.”

St Helens host rivals Wigan at The Totally Wicked Stadium in Friday night’s televised fixture, 8pm kick-off.

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