St Helens find ‘the answer’ to spine headaches in thumping win but win clouded by ‘ugly scenes’

St Helens secured a resounding 36-12 win over Castleford Tigers to keep their slim play-off hopes alive heading into the final few rounds. 

Tries from Jack Welsby, Shane Wright, Jacob Douglas, Tom Humphreys, Tristan Sailor and Nene Macdonald were enough to get the Saints over the line, but Castleford did hit back through Louis Senior and Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e.

Here are our key takeaways from the Super League clash.

Ugly scenes

One of the key talking points coming out of this game will inevitably be the scuffle at the end of the first-half.

What initially seemed like a normal tackle quickly escalated into something much more dramatic, with Jackson Hastings allegedly throwing a punch that left Tyler Dupree leaking claret from his eyebrow. As a result, Hastings was shown a straight red card, while Dupree was sent to the sin-bin for his part too.

You’d have thought that would have been the end of it, but oh no. Upon leaving the field, Dupree was seen shoving Tigers assistant coach Scott Murrell out of the way in an effort to go after Hastings down the tunnel.

It was just a case of the red mist descending on the pair, but that doesn’t excuse it. It was just a really ugly incident all round.

Finally?

It’s been a long time coming, but do St Helens finally have the answer to the Tristan Sailor-Jack Welsby-Harry Robertson axis?

Today was yet another trial combination, with Sailor at full-back, Welsby at centre and Robertson at six, and to be honest it seemed to bring the best out of each player and the unit as a whole. Sailor got that sort of freedom to float and pop up in different spaces that he simply craves; Welsby got to play much flatter at the line where he can be that dual-threat but yet wasn’t forced to go hunting for involvements and just let the play find its way to him, while Robertson yet again fizzed in attack and just made things happen with his deft playmaking.

That combination then brought a tune out of the Saints’ attack as a whole. In pretty much every one of Saints’ tries, at least one of these three players was involved, either in the scoring or the creating. Their work ball-in-hand also just had the Castleford defence on strings at times, with pretty much every involvement either leading to a decent carry from one of them or unlocking extra space for players like Nene Macdonald or Jacob Douglas.

Things did potentially slow down in the second-half following Hastings’ red card and a slight reshuffle around; but if anything, that only proves the point more.

This was such a pleasing display from the axis that has for so long been a major headache for the St Helens coaching staff. This was such a pleasing display amid the backdrop of Kevin Walters’ appointment, and a display that could give the incoming head coach some idea of how to play them next season.

Play-off hopes alive, just

St Helens will need things to fall their way if they want to stay in the hunt for the top six, but they are doing everything in their power to keep their slim hopes alive.

Hull KR are still to play this weekend, of course, but this victory now sees Saints move just two points behind the reigning champions and only four behind Leigh Leopards, Wakefield Trinity and Warrington Wolves as well.

This win, off the back of their victory against Wakefield Trinity last weekend, keeps them in the play-off picture and keeps them playing with real hope.

Hope, if channelled correctly, can be a dangerous weapon too.

What to make of Castleford Tigers

Considering everything that is going on behind the scenes at Castleford Tigers, this was always going to be a tough hit-out.

The scoreline potentially got away from them in the first-half, but that was also very much a case of St Helens being good rather than Castleford being poor.

When things clicked into gear ball-in-hand they looked pretty good. Their tries in the second-half came via some lovely flashes from Tom Weaver and Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e, while their desire to offload the ball out of contact helped get them a genuine leg up into the contest in the latter stages.

But then again, they also left a handful of points out on the pitch. A string of penalties late in the second-half, which even saw St Helens reduced to 11 men after Walmsley’s sin-binning, ended with Louis Senior knocked into touch by Robertson. Another break deep in the second-half, which again looked like ending in a try, was brought to a grinding halt courtesy of a knock-on and then a conceded penalty. Compare that to St Helens, who seemed to score a try with every proper chance, and that serves as the ultimate difference between the sides.

This has been the story of their season, to be honest. This was yet another embodiment of their ability to have both flashes and lapses within mere seconds of one another, and that will frustrate all involved with the Fords.