St Helens chief launches passionate Paul Wellens defence as extraordinary personal abuse revealed

St Helens CEO Mike Rush has passionately defended head coach Paul Wellens, insisting he ‘needs time to get it right’ before revealing some of the horrific personal abuse the pair have suffered.

Saints endured their worst campaign for 30 years in 2024, finishing 6th in Super League and being knocked out of the play-offs at the first hurdle by Warrington Wolves.

With certain sections of the club’s fanbase already unhappy, their 2025 so far has done little to aid the cause, with frustrations boiling over at Magic Weekend when at least one supporter attempted to ‘get at’ Wellens following their defeat to Leeds Rhinos.

But, Rush and the powers that be at Saints gave the 45-year-old a vote of confidence, and he has since gone on to guide his side to big victories against both Catalans Dragons and Huddersfield Giants.

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‘Do I believe that Paul Wellens is a good coach? Absolutely I do’

Rush has been at Saints for almost 26 years, holding various positions, including a brief stint as head coach in 2012 before being appointed as CEO the following year.

Appearing on Sky Sports’ ‘The Bench’ podcast with Jenna Brooks and Jon Wilkin, he said: “Paul and his staff need to be given time to get it right. Paul’s not become a poor coach.

“We believed in him when we first gave him the job. He won a World Club Challenge in his first proper game. He had tremendous success at the start of last year until we got all of those injuries.

“I think in sport, confidence has a big role to play. It’s not a criticism of anybody, but sometimes I just wish we could be more positive and look outwardly with hope and joy rather than despondence, ‘what if’ and doom and gloom.

“As I sit here, yeah (I think he’s the right man for the job). But I’m also not going to lie, you can see it’s hard on Paul, because nobody cares more than Paul Wellens at this club.

“Paul’s not daft, he knows results will dictate how far he goes as a coach, not just at this club, but in his whole career. Results will dictate that.

“But do I believe that Paul Wellens is a good coach? Absolutely I do.”

The episode of the podcast was recorded prior to Saints’ 40-0 win against Catalans at the Totally Wicked Stadium on May 15.

Asked about the pressure that has mounted on Wellens via sections of the club’s fanbase, Rush replied: “I’ve never been on social media. I only know some of the things that get posted on there through my children.

“I’ve got a couple of older children who probably don’t report back, but I’ve got a young daughter who’s in Year 11 that probably feels it because she sees the things.

“Paul’s the same, he’s got children. One’s working and one’s at school. It’s hard.

“The interesting point is that we can’t let outside noise dictate everything, but we can’t ignore outside noise. It is always going to be a tipping point in sport. That’s in every sport.”

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‘Tell your dad this, tell your dad that, tell Wello this is what they need to do’

Like Wellens, chief Rush hails from St Helens and grew up a fan of the club during their time at Knowsley Road.

As well as the abuse he’s received, head coach Wellens’ family have been the subject of vitriol in recent weeks, and Rush explained how he’s been impacted similarly.

He detailed: “We’ve been here before. We had another good friend (as coach), Keiron Cunningham was coach.

“This isn’t our first rodeo of having a legend coach the club.

“I think both Keiron and Paul have it tougher than Justin (Holbrook) or Kristian (Woolf) because fans know them and I think at times they think they can judge them and be more aggressive with them because they know more about them.

“I can’t answer when too long becomes too long, but there is an awareness (of outside noise).

“I’ve got two dogs at home, they’re putting on pounds by the day because I can’t walk them on the field at the moment. Everybody wants to give you an opinion on Paul Wellens.

“You go for milk and they want to give you an opinion. Not just on Wello (either), on young George Whitby or Jack Welsby or something else. This town lives and breathes rugby league, it’s absolutely a bubble.

“We got beat on a Thursday night recently against Warrington and I thought there were a few calls that went against us. My daughter the following day didn’t go in school because she said she had a headache.

“I’m not saying she didn’t, but she’s in Year 11 and she’d have been getting plenty of messages. ‘Tell your dad this, tell your dad that, tell Wello this is what they need to do’.

“I was literally born less than a mile from the old stadium. All of my family are Saints fanatics, they’ll give you an opinion.

“It’s our choice to live in this town. I could sell my house tomorrow and go and live in West Lancashire, which is two minutes down the road and out of the bubble.

“But I choose to live in the town, and I’m not going to walk away from that. The highs are brilliant, and when it’s good, it’s really good. But unfortunately, when it’s bad, it’s really bad.”

“I’ve had people knock on the door at our house in the past. I have had neighbours who live in the same street as us knock on the door to give me their opinion before.

“To be honest, you have to roll with it and accept it. It comes with the job, and what you can’t do is moan about it to everyone because it comes back to being my choice. I could go and live somewhere else, but I don’t want to.”

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