St Helens’ Jack Welsby and Tristan Sailor issue laid bare as huge decision looms

Plenty has changed at St Helens in the past 12 months yet one thing remains the same – the Jack Welsby and Tristan Sailor problem remains rife.

Saints were woeful in defeat to Castleford Tigers and, following a disappointing drubbing in the Challenge Cup semi-final and an unsatisfactory win over Huddersfield Giants, the question on everyone’s lips has resurfaced this year.

Welsby played in all three of those games and that inevitably is a talking point. Without him, Saints won nine from ten. It highlights that there is an issue.

But is this a Jack Welsby problem? There are many who don’t believe so, though even the most ardent backer of Welsby would have to admit he is not playing well right now. The issue might not even be a Tristan Sailor one. But simply, perhaps the pair can just not function together and play at their best.

Sailor has phenomenal x-factor at times, but defensively, he is frail and that was painfully on show several times in the defeat to Castleford.

Stats back it up as well, or certainly to an extent.

What do the stats say?

A look at Sailor’s run playing at fullback this year showcases a lot of things, good and bad. He is top of the competition for offloads and errors made. He is second in the competition for carries and metres made. That latter part of that is important in this argument, because it shows he is touching the ball a lot, and other stats back that up too.

Yet when you look at direct try contributions (tries scored and assisted) Sailor’s stats are relatively modest. He has 11, four tries and seven assists, which is equal 17th in the competition.

Meanwhile, Welsby’s last ‘full’ season playing at fullback was 2024, playing hjs favoured role in all but a handful of games.

In contrast to Sailor’s 2026 stats, Welsby wasn’t even in the top 20 players in the competition for carries made that year. It highlights two things, he provided less in terms of yardage, but stats show he touched the ball less than Sailor too.

Despite that, Welsby ended the season with 12 tries and 15 assists, with his 27 try contributions putting him eighth in the competition.

The fair reading on that is that Welsby got less of the ball, but did more with it. His output was better.

The big elephant in the room is clear

Tristan Sailor is off-contract at the end of the season. What do St Helens do?

They have tried to get the best out of both of them togehter under two difference coaches, neither have managed to do it.

It’s clear with Sailor you take the rough with the smooth, some brilliant moments and others that leave a lot to be desired. But playing him at six seems just too great a risk given his defensive issues.

But Welsby is statistically better at fullback, and a second, more dominant halfback would take pressure off Jackson Hastings to lead everything, and free up Welsby more.

He looks bereft of confidence right now and you can understand why. He’s had two major injuries in the last year and has only player in his favoured position in two of his last 11 appearances for the club, and one of those was in the Challenge Cup against Workington Town. Of course, the Ashes was disappointing personally for Welsby too, a poor performance in the opening test saw him lose his spot thereafter.

But it truly feels like you can’t get the best out of both together. If Sailor does stay, it does put doubt on Welsby’s future at the club, few would argue that at this point.

In contrast, letting a player go in Sailor, one who clearly does have talent, is brave too.

Saints have a big decision to make.