St Helens win League Leaders’ Shield
Despite their defeat to Wakefield Trinity at the Totally Wicked Stadium, St Helens have officially won the League Leaders’ Shield thanks to Hull KR defeating Wigan 38-28 at Craven Park.
The reigning champions will finish at the top of the Super League table following the end of the regular season and will enjoy a home semi-final tie in the play-offs.
Kristian Woolf’s side lead by four points on the table, with just one game remaining of the regular season.
It means the Saints will celebrate the title following their final game of the season, at home to Toulouse next Saturday, September 3.
St Helens fell to a 34-18 defeat at home to Willie Poching’s side in Round 26, fielding a youthful squad that included four debutants. However, Hull KR’s 38-28 home victory over the Warriors ensured St Helens’ top-place finish. The Saints last lifted the shield in 2019.
St Helens boss proud of season effort
“It’s an outstanding achievement for this group of men,” head coach Woolf said.
“Obviously they’ve had a lot of success the last three years going on four years and earned every bit of that. But I think what everyone can be proudest of this year, to get to this point and win the League Leaders’ with the amount of disruption and amount of challenges. It’s certainly been a really challenging year in that point of view.
“How many of our experience and good players and how much of our salary are sitting in the grand stands at time, to still be able to finish on top is a real credit to the whole group.
“It’s a real credit to our senior group and the way that they find that little bit of an extra load and make sure that they compete every week and give ourselves a chance of winning every week.
“It’s a credit to the young blokes who have stepped in there and have really followed the lead and showed the same attributes in terms of wanting to compete and wanting to win and wanting to make sure we put ourselves in a great position come the end of the year.
“I’m really proud of the group for that.”
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