I was resigned to losing Welsby given all the achievements you state (plus the England captaincy) and was very pleasantly surprised when he signed again. Don't think there is a clause in his contract although I stand to be corrected, I certainly hope not as most of our attacking threat is carried by him currently. He's certainly got the game to succeed over there but he's still only 23, I think it's simply a matter of if/when he chooses to go.

The contracts for 2026 I mention above, I don't think an external coach comes in and gives them out personally. Lomax, Percival and Walmsley have all spent significant time on the treatment table and I think we would be in a better position from a cap spend perspective if we had been more ruthless and kept them waiting until this point of the season before making decisions on all three. With that said I can't really speak to the succession plan as it isn't particularly clear given the contract status of most of the squad - there is every chance we have offered them longer deals on reduced terms with a view to naturally phasing them out for the likes of Robertson, Whitby, Vaughan and Stephens. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Wigan have a lot of players tied up long term, it looks like a smart move now given the current state of the market but the true test of that will be in another 18 months - how is the cap going to be managed if and when players fall out of favour with time left on their deals, and will it prevent the club from being able to offer good deals to the next batch of players? The short term succession plan for players looks pretty clear but Wigan have been more susceptible to NRL interest than most so even that is not without risk.

I was definitely on the fence with that one - whether its 3 or 4 players it demonstrates the tough spot the St Helens squad is in. 

Agree with you there, he is on the downward curve although to be fair was superb last night. He has been used as a battering ram for years and is most certainly injury prone. 

Also agree with our set up. We have very few 22-28 aged players, Welsby and Lees being the only ones of note. We either have ageing players past their best- Lomax, Walmsley, Paasi, Clark, Sironen, Percival etc or ones who are very young with potential- Whitby, Robertson, Dagnall, Stephens. 


It's the 22-28 age range we desperately need.

They're where we found ourselves under Lam, with guys like Smithies, Havard, Partington, Shorrocks, Byrne etc being asked to do a seasoned pros job, guys like Clubb and Lockers being pretty much done and a number of players who just weren't up to standard. We compounded the issue trying to sign somebody like George Burgess to sit in that in between age group as well. A few Saints fans liked to revel in telling us none of our players were good enough and just as then, there are players in this Saints side that can take them forward and things can turn quickly but they've some rebuild job on in this next year or two. 

7 straight defeats to Wire, 3 each to us and Rovers, 2 straight to Leigh. Saints this season are mostly winning the games that they should win but not the games that they need to win if they expect to be thereabouts for trophies. I don't like to dump on coaches but I don't see how Wellens stays beyond this season without an absolute miracle. But, as others have said, this isn't a situation a change of coach will easily fix. It needs a squad rebuild as well.

I almost feel guilty questioning his inclusion Stu, as I think he probably would be in that group were it not for his wholehearted playing style. Even last night he was still throwing himself at the defence harder than most of your forwards! He's still a talent when fit but, unfortunately for him and Saints, he's not at his best often enough.