ST HELENS SEASON REVIEW: Year of the Woolf

When you finish top of the league by a record 16-points and win the championship with in a comfortable manner, the big question is how do you back that up? That was the question facing St Helens in 2020.

Unsurprisingly, with the departure of head coach Justin Holbrook, the reigning champions did not make any signings for the new season. They did lose some depth with the experienced Adam Swift and Danny Richardson leaving the club. Players who, understandably, could not be satisfied being back-up players (although Adam Swift's debut season at Hull FC saw limited opportunities).

St Helens' season started with a comprehensive victory over Salford in a repeat of the previous year's Grand Final. As the weeks passed by, St Helens suffered a 19-0 loss to Warrington. The suspicion was that St Helens had one eye on the World Club Challenge, where they pushed Sydney Roosters all the way.

Following that St Helens suffered a home defeat to early pacesetters Huddersfield, where their attack looked blunt. They were then humbled by Castleford Tigers on 15 March, in the last Super League game to be played in front of fans. Castleford put St Helens in a world of pain that day, and with a fixture against an impressive Leeds coming up on the Friday, the murmurings of discontent were growing.

The world as we know it then changed. Rugby League became one of the final sports to fall victim to Covid-19 and the season was suspended. St Helens' period of lockdown was hardly joyous either with Luke Thompson leaving the club early to join Canterbury Bulldogs. That loss was somewhat offset by the return of James Graham. A player who, whilst beyond his peak, still had plenty of contributions to make, especially in terms of leadership.

The St Helens that returned to the field in August 2020 looked far more like the team that we had become accustomed to seeing. The manner in which they brushed aside Catalans was impressive. They then faced Leeds, in a re-arranged fixture from March. This match was seen as a tricky task in March, but St Helens won 48-0 in August, a stunning hat-trick by Regan Grace being the highlight of a near-faultless performance.

Aside from a hiccup in the Challenge Cup against Warrington, in an encounter where the two sides could barely be split, the post-lockdown St Helens remained unbeaten until late-October. However, the irrepressible performances of August were replaced by spluttering wins over sides such as Hull KR and Wakefield.

Still, St Helens looked set to claim a third consecutive League Leaders Shield, but were denied following defeats to Salford and, what ultimately tuned out to be a shoot-out, against rivals Wigan. St Helens fielded a very youthful side against Salford, and came very close. Had the club known that the season would be shortened, perhaps the line up would have looked different and the destiny of the Shield changed?

St Helens' home defeat to Wigan did give cause for concern. St Helens lost by 12 points, the score kept artificially by Zak Hardaker's wayward goalkicking. Wigan dominated the St Helens forward pack with a display of mainly controlled aggression and the hosts looked like a side incapable of coping with such intensity.

It was therefore a blessing in disguise to play Catalans in the play-off semi final. Where their last outing against Wigan was dominated by largely controlled aggression, Catalans played in a manner of uncontrolled aggression! St Helens demonstrated an ability to overcome an aggressive forward pack and turned on the attacking style that had been largely absent since August.

This left it set up for a Grand Final derby. The finish to that game will never be forgotten. But to just focus on the ending would undersell the game. St Helens noticeably upped their line speed to try and neutralise Wigan. This tactic was successful and Wigan's attacking chances were limited, as evidenced by the concession of just one try.

With the scores locked at 4-4 and less 60 seconds of the Grand Final to go, St Helens' final set of the season showed why they are back to back champions. When Wigan missed a penalty with time ticking away, St Helens did not accept the perceived wisdom that the game was heading for golden point. Jonny Lomax surged 30 yards up field, supplemented by strong runs from Kevin Naiqama and Theo Fages to put St Helens in a position to have a pot-shot at a drop goal.

That pot shot from Tommy Makinson struck the post. James Bentley, who had made 69 tackles and played 80 minutes charged up field in a near-superhuman effort. As did Regan Grace. As did Jack Welsby. All three players would have been forgiven for not chasing the apparent lost cause.

The ball bounced shorter than Bevan French expected, then over the crossbar, then wickedly to the left into the arms of Jack Welsby, who did brilliantly to stay onside, then not to push Bevan French, then to keep his composure and stay in play to ground the ball and win the championship.

It's clichéd to say that efforts like that make a champion. But it's true. Tommy Leuluai, for example, probably would have got to the bouncing ball before Welsby had he chased back. And it's not a criticism of Leuluai that he did not. The Wigan side could have reduced Jonny Lomax's metre-making after the failed penalty attempt. Either would have seen the game to golden point. 

That Grand Final was of an origin-like intensity that I can only recall seeing a handful of times in Super League. But the extra effort of several St Helens players in that final set of the season saw them claims the spoils and back-to-back championships.

St Helens have done it differently this year. Yes, the players are the same, but the style has changed. There has been a greater focus on defence, specifically, goal line defence. That was evident in the Grand Final where Regan Grace, a player not known for his defence, shut down a number of critical Wigan attacks. St Helens also demonstrated their scramble ability in stopping a certain Zak Hardaker try in the same match.

That defensive steel has come at the expense of some attacking flair. In the Grand Final, St Helens looked rudderless in attack at times and did not seem to have sufficient ideas to break Wigan down, with the exception of the kick.

Ultimately, Kristian Woolf had an impossible job following up from Justin Holbrook. It is very rare that a winning coach gets a louder cheer than the players, but that is what happened for Justin Holbrook at the 2019 Grand Final.

But Woolf retained the title for St Helens and his tactics provided St Helens with the steel needed to win a Grand Final. That was the type of game that, perhaps, St Helens may not have been able to win under Holbrook.

St Helens fans will hope to see attacking flair on a more consistent basis in 2021, which at times in 2020 they have proven capable of.

With no new signings for 2020, Woolf inherited Holbrook's team and made tweaks to bring the title home. With Taia and Peyroux departing and Paasi, Thompson, Mata'utai and Norman coming in, the 2021 St Helens squad will unquestionably be Kristian Woolf's.

With the bounty of being back-to-back champions on their head, the remaining 11 Super League sides will be gunning for St Helens. But the motivation of becoming only the second side to win three consecutive championships in the Super League era will keep St Helens hungry for more.