Boss Paul Wellens has accepted responsibility for St Helens’ wretched disciplinary record admitting he hasn’t been tough enough on his players.
He has laid the law down on the Super League champions this week after England loose forward Morgan Knowles was hit with his THIRD ban of the season. England prop Matty Lees serves the second game of his latest suspension at Leeds on Friday. And Australian forwards Curtis Sironen and Sione Mata’utia plus Tonga centre Konrad Hurrell have all been sidelined by disciplinary chiefs this term.
Wellens said: “It’s frustrating because you want your best players on the field as often as possible. We put ourselves in a difficult situation. What I had to do as coach is accept responsibility for that. And maybe I haven’t been strong enough with the players or got the message across clear enough of what is and isn’t expected from a Saints player.
“Having had some strong conversations with them this week, I sit here more confident that the group now do firmly understand what is expected of them. I know we need to clean certain aspects of our game up. We have a number of players who like to play on the edge. But if you are one of those, discipline is the most important thing for you. And too many times this year we’ve not just gone over the line but way beyond the line. We need to fix it up. Quickly.”
On his first game back after a five-match ban, Knowles was sent-off in the dying seconds of Friday’s Challenge Cup win at part-timers Halifax. He was given a two-game suspension for a high tackle having also been banned for a match earlier in the season for a late hit. Wellens has spoken to Knowles individually about addressing his obvious issues.
He said: “Morgan is disappointed and frustrated. He doesn’t want to let his team-mates down and he has done. I can sit here confidently and say Morgan Knowles is one of if not the best middle forward in the competition and I wouldn't want to swap him for anybody. But at the same time, there are certain aspects of his game that he needs to improve on and we'll start working hard on those. He knows he's going to become a bit of a marked man in those types of instances now. And we’ve defined some areas where he’s overstepped the mark.”
