St Helens: The jaw-dropping stats behind George Whitby’s performance v Catalans Dragons

St Helens might have endured a rocky start to the season, but the emergence of breakthrough starlet George Whitby has been one of the stories of the year so far. 

The 18-year-old (or 19-year-old if you’re reading this on Saturday) impressed on dual-registration duty for Halifax earlier this year, but since being thrust into the Saints’ starting side, he has gone from strength to strength.

That all came to a head last night too, with the half-back notching 24 of St Helens’ 40 points in their mammoth win over Catalans Dragons. That tally also included a superb hat-trick.

Aside from his points haul, Whitby played a key role in the win and was later named Man of the Match – a fitting reward for a spectacular performance.

Here is a full rundown of his stats from his display last night, and we must say they make excellent reading for Saints fans and even England fans for the future (or the Ashes?!?!?!?!?!?)

Attacking wizardry

Whitby might be an out-and-out number seven, but he is also showing really promising attacking flourishes with ball-in-hand too.

Across his shift last night, the youngster made 89 metres from his 15 carries, an average of 5.93 metres per carry, and he also managed to make one clean break.

On top of this, the pocket-sized playmaker also notched two tackle bursts.

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His kicking game was also spot on, making five attacking kicks.

As mentioned above, he also came home with a lovely tally of 24 points, thanks to three tries and six goals.

Defensive steel

Given his stature and inexperience at this level, teams might be prone to targeting him with powerful middles, but Whitby stood tall in defence to go alongside his outstanding attacking exploits.

Across the game, the half-back made 20 tackles from his 22 attempts, a success rate of 91%. What’s even more impressive is he was only beaten by Jonny Lomax (22) across the backs division, and higher than imposing prop Alex Walmsley (15).

He should be increasingly pleased with his night’s work, but you feel this is only the start of a bright career.

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