THE younger members of Saints first team squad returned to training this week - with a combination of gym sessions beneath the stadium concourse and ball work up at Ruskin. The seniors will join next week in preparation for a big year of rugby league - with Saints aiming to be champions for three times in a row for the first time. The youngsters, who played very little during 2020 following the March lockdown of the academy, reserves and dual reg, nevertheless played a key role in providing the opposition to the top 17 in training every week. And some of those caught the eye - particularly Lewis Dodd and Josh Simm - when handed a first team opportunity in the second half of the campaign.
Regan Grace. Picture: Bernard Platt SAINTS bounced back into action at the start of August refreshed from the lockdown break. There was one significant change of personnel - with Luke Thompson departing for Canterbury with James Graham coming in the opposite direction. With Covid protocols to the fore, there were other changes - no crowds, just cut-outs, regular testing and social distancing. The non-playing players acted as ball boys. Game wise there were significant rule changes, with six again restarts instead of penalties for ruck infrigements and scrums eliminated. Performance wise, Saints looked as though they had used their time off well to recover.
IN the world of rugby league it was a year like no other – with the sport not immune from the dark cloud of Covid hanging over 2020. So maybe it was only fitting, then, that the season would end like no other with Jack Welsby’s after the bell touchdown securing back-to-back Super League titles for Saints. But what a tumultuous year for the sport. A four-month hiatus, players being furloughed, games being behind closed doors on neutral venues, a raft of rule changes and a table settled on percentages all contributed to a season that threw challenges at the players and coaching staff every week.
Jack Welsby being congratulated by non-playing Josh Simm at the Grand Final. Pic: Bernard Platt GRAND Final match-winner Jack Welsby should come back to Saints a better Super League player in 2021 – but coach Kristian Woolf believes a further challenge will come with that bounce. Welsby’s hard work, as much as his footballing skills, have been a key factor in winning the coach over this term. And that has meant that the versatile 19-year-old had plenty of starts this year, deputising at full back, wing, centre and stand-off. That perseverance, determination, application and no little skill paid off with that last critical play of the turbulent season which as good as brought him freedom of the borough.