Paul Wellens delighted at Saints’ win over Wigan Warriors

Following on from the bounce from the Magic experience, Saints held all the aces with some special plays from Jack Welsby the highlight of a team performance.

On a feelgood day for the club, with 17,088 packing in, Saints leapfrogged the Warriors and are currently two points off the league leaders in a tightly-packed top six with a game in hand.

Wellens said: “Given the fact that it’s a Derby game anfd obviously, we were disappointed we lost the game on Good Friday to come back home in front of our fans and put in a performance like that was really, really pleasing.

“Last week was good, but I thought in a big Derby game the way we went about our business was impressive.”

Saints dominated the game in all aspects – but the game was tight for the first half hour or so on account of the two tries Wigan scored from kicks.  

“What I’ve been really keen to do is play to our strengths and when you have big ball carriers, and even in the backfield, they’re very tough to handle.

“So by us or keeping it simple, playing to our strengths, I think we become very tough to handle.

“It’s a blueprint for us moving forward. We’ve really simplified our game in recent weeks and I think it is working for us.”

There were plenty of doubters in the early part of the year when when Saints struggled on their return from the World Club Challenge.

And Wellens admits that Saints have had to do it a little differently as the sides reach the midway point. 

The coach, in his first year in charge of his hometown club, always had faith.

“Earlier on the year when we were going through tough periods, I always sensed that we were never quite as far off as probably people were making out,” Wellens said.

“We were down on energy for different reasons and obviously missing players, whether that be injury or suspension and that can knock the confidence of the group.

“But what you have seen in recent weeks is that people start to get back to the level that they know they can play at individually and then as a collective we’ve grown in confidence off the back of that.

“And when you start to get results and get performances, that confidence only grows.”

Wellens said he was reluctant to pick out key performers from the 17-man display but pointed to three.

“I thought it was a fantastic team performance, but in the dressing room I spoke about Agnatius Paasi and the way he carried the ball through the middle off the bench. He showed he’s getting very close to back to his best.

“I thought James Roby – who we take for granted these days – who at 37, playing 70 minutes through the middle in a in a Derby game when everybody else is gasping for air he will be just keeps on going.

“So a huge performance from him and he’s really effective as well.

“And the final one was Jack Welsby in his 100th appearance. I think you saw today the quality that he possesses.

“But what I like about Jack’s game in the last couple of weeks is that he’s been really patient.

“I think because he’s got this ability sometimes he can really want to go out on to the field and show how everybody how good he is straight away.

“But what he’s done in the last couple of weeks is just keep it really simple, work hard for the team, carry the ball when he needs to carry it, but when he gets an opportunity he more often than not nails it.

“And that’s what you saw tonight,” Wellens said.