2015 St Helens RLFC season

The 2015 St Helens R.F.C. season is the club's 141st in its history; its 120th in rugby league. The Saints entered the season as defending champions after winning the Super League XIX title against Wigan Warriors 14-6 at Old Trafford after also winning the minor-premiership by topping the Super League ladder. Following the departure of previous head coach Nathan Brown, Saints entered the season with a new coach, former Saints player Keiron Cunningham

Saints began the defence of their title by playing the Catalans Dragons at Langtree Park which they won.^[1] In February Saints played the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the World Club Challenge which they lost 35-0.

2015 transfers in/out[edit]

In

Player	Previous Club	Contract	Date Signed
Atelea Vea	London Broncos	2 Years	July 2014
Travis Burns	Hull Kingston Rovers	3 Years	September 2014
Matthew Haggarty	Dewsbury Rams	3 Years	February 2015
Shannon McDonnell	Wests Tigers	2 Years	April 2015
Adam Quinlan	St. George Illawarra Dragons	6 Months	July 2015

Out

Player	Signed for	Contract	Announced
Sia Soliola	Canberra Raiders	2 Years	August 2014
Anthony Laffranchi	Retired	N/A	August 2014
Paul Clough	Bradford Bulls	2 Years	September 2014
Carl Forster	Salford Red Devils	1 Year	September 2014
Willie Manu	Retired	N/A	October 2014
James Tilley	Rochdale Hornets	1 Year	October 2014
Gary Wheeler	Warrington Wolves	1 Year	October 2014
Richard Beaumont	Leigh Centurions	1 Year	October 2014
Connor Dwyer	Swinton Lions	2 Years	November 2014
Jordan Hand	Whitehaven	1 Year Loan	December 2014
Shannon McDonnell	Wests Tigers	1 Year	January 2015
Alex Clare	Released	N/A	January 2015
Matthew Haggarty	Dewsbury Rams	Loan	Feb 2015
Lance Hohaia	Retired	N/A	April 2015
Paul Wellens	Retired	N/A	June 2015

2015 squad[edit]

Other staff[edit]

Technical staff[edit]

Name	Job title
Keiron Cunningham	Head coach
Sean Long	Assistant coach
Jamahl Lolesi	Assistant coach
Matt Daniels	Head of strength and conditioning, head trainer
Ade Gardner	Assistant strength and conditioning coach
Joey Hayes, Nathan Mill and Adam Rowland	Physiotherapists
Craig Richards	RL Coach Development Officer
Steve Leonard	Merseyside RL Development Manager
Derek Traynor	ASSE Manager & Under 19's Coach
Ian Harris	Training steward
Alan Clarke and Stan Wall	Kit manager
Neil Kilshaw	Player Performance Manager
Paul Johnson	Club Chaplain
Derek Jones	Masseur
Kel Coslett	Gameday manager
Simon Perritt	Club doctor
Ian Talbot	Lead Community Rugby League Coach

^[2]

Boardroom staff[edit]

Name	Job title
Eamonn McManus	Chairman
Mike Rush	Chief executive officer
Colin Whitehead	Accounts
Dave Hutchinson	Head of Sales & Marketing
Paul Sculthorpe	Business development manager
Steve Law	Merchandising manager
Mike Appleton	Media manager
Mark Onion	Marketing manager
Christine Hesketh	Ticket Office manager
Peter Speakman	Lottery Operations
Helen Emanuel	Hospitality manager
Gordon Pennington	Saints Community Development Foundation
Bill Harris	Ground Safety

^[3]

Preseason[edit]

Saints played two pre-season games to warm up for their title-defence. Both games were played at Langtree Park with the first match against Widnes Vikings ending in a 16-20 defeat and the second, against rivals Wigan Warriors ending in a 28-12 victory.

Date	Competition	Vs	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Att	TV	Report
18/01/15	Friendly	Widnes Vikings	H	Langtree Park	L	16-20	Greenwood, Swift, Roby	Makinson (1), Hewitt (2)	3,508	No	[1]
25/01/15	Friendly	Wigan Warriors	H	Langtree Park	W	28-12	Greenwood (2), Swift, Vea, Makinson	Makinson (4)	6,888	No	[2]

Super League XX & World Club Series Fixtures/results[edit]

Date	Competition	Rnd	Vs	H/A	Venue	Ref	Score	Tries	Goals	KO	Att	TV	Report
06/02/15	Super League	1	Catalans Dragons	H	Langtree Park	P Bentham	18-7	Vea, Turner, Savelio, Makinson	Makinson	20:00	12,008	Sky Sports	[3]
12/02/15	Super League	2	Salford Red Devils	A	AJ Bell Stadium	B Taylor	6-52	Percival (2), Turner (2), Greenwood (2), Thompson, Makinson, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Savelio	Percival (6)	20:00	4,975	Sky Sports	[4]
22/02/15	World Club Series	-	South Sydney	H	Langtree Park	R Silverwood	0-39			20:00	17,980	Sky Sports	[5]
27/02/15	Super League	3	Castleford Tigers	H	Langtree Park	R Silverwood	21-14	Swift, Makinson, Jones, Percival	Percival (2), Wilkin (DG)	20:00	10,066	Sky Sports	[6]
06/03/15	Super League	4	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	A	Belle Vue	R Hicks	16-20	Wellens, Greenwood, Turner	Percival, Makinson (3)	20:00	9,676	Sky Sports	[7]
13/03/15	Super League	5	Widnes Vikings	A	Halton Stadium	R Hicks	20-30	Hohaia (2), Vea, Thompson, Turner	Burns (5)	20:00	7,772		[8]
19/03/15	Super League	6	Warrington Wolves	H	Langtree Park	B Thaler	32-24	Greenwood, Wilkin, Swift, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Makinson	Burns (6)	20:00	12,618	Sky Sports	[9]
27/03/15	Super League	7	Hull Kingston Rovers	A	KC Lightstream Stadium	J Child	24-22	Wilkin, Makinson, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Turner	Burns (3)	20:00	7,311	Sky Sports	[10]
03/04/15	Super League	8	Wigan Warriors	A	DW Stadium	P Bentham	12-4	McCarthy-Scarsbrook		15:00	24,054	Sky Sports	[11]
06/04/15	Super League	9	Hull F.C.	H	Langtree Park	R Hicks	20-28	Makinson, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Turner	Makinson (4)	20:00	11,088		[12]
12/04/15	Super League	10	Huddersfield Giants	A	John Smith's Stadium	J Child	8-11	Turner	Burns (3), Walsh (DG)	15:00	5,825		[13]
17/04/15	Super League	11	Leeds Rhinos	H	Langtree Park	B Thaler	16-41	Makinson, Turner (2)	Burns (2)	20:00	12,640	Sky Sports	[14]
24/04/15	Super League	12	Widnes Vikings	H	Langtree Park	P Bentham	34-16	Walsh, Burns, Walmsley, Fleming, Makinson, Percival	Burns (5)	20:00	11,271		[15]
01/05/15	Super League	13	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	H	Langtree Park	C Leatherbarrow	44-4	Walsh (2), Charnock (2), Makinson (2), Turner, Swift, Masoe	Burns (4)	20:00	10,001		[16]
09/05/15	Super League	14	Catalans Dragons	A	Stade Gilbert Brutus	J Child	33-26	Swift (4), McDonnell	Walsh (3)	17:00	8,886	Sky Sports	[17]
22/05/15	Super League	15	Hull F.C.	A	KC Stadium	M Thomason	10-17	McDonnell, Makinson	Makinson (2), Charnock (2), Turner (DG)	20:00	10,320		[18]
31/05/15	Super League	16	Warrington Wolves	N	St James' Park	R Silverwood	20-16	McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Swift, Wilkin	Makinson (4)	15:15	26,970	Sky Sports	[19]
05/06/15	Super League	17	Salford Red Devils	H	Langtree Park	B Thaler	32-12	Makinson (2), Swift, Turner, McDonnell	Makinson (6)	20:00	11,664		[20]
12/06/15	Super League	18	Wigan Warriors	H	Langtree Park	R Silverwood	30-14	Swift, Turner, Burns, McDonnell, Wilkin	Percival (5)	20:00	15,500	Sky Sports	[21]
18/06/15	Super League	19	Castleford Tigers	A	The Jungle	R Silverwood	25-24	Walsh, Walmsley, Greenwood, McDonnell	Percival (4)	20:00	6,086	Sky Sports	[22]
03/07/15	Super League	20	Leeds Rhinos	A	Headingley Stadium	R Silverwood	46-18	Jones, Turner, Amor	Percival (3)	20:00	18,514	Sky Sports	[23]
10/07/15	Super League	21	Huddersfield Giants	H	Langtree Park	B Thaler	35-34	Quinlan (3), Percival (2), Greenwood	Walsh (5+DG)	20:00	11,164	Sky Sports	[24]
16/07/15	Super League	22	Warrington Wolves	A	Halliwell Jones Stadium	J Child	14-20	Roby, Masoe, Turner	Walsh (4)	20:00	11,618	Sky Sports	[25]
25/07/15	Super League	23	Hull Kingston Rovers	H	Langtree Park	R Hicks	52-12	Greenwood (2), Burns, Dawson, Vea, Quinlan, Flanagan, Swift (2)	Walsh (8)	20:00	10,781	Sky Sports	[26]

2015 squad statistics[edit]

• Appearances and Points include (Super League, Challenge Cup and Play-offs) as of 24 July 2015.

No	Player	Position	Age	Previous Club	Apps	Tries	Goals	DG	Points
1	Jonny Lomax	Fullback	24	St Helens Academy	5	0	0	0	0
2	Thomas Makinson	Winger	23	St Helens Academy	19	17	22	0	112
3	Jordan Turner	Centre	26	Hull F.C.	23	15	0	1	61
4	Josh Jones	Centre	21	St Helens Academy	21	2	0	0	8
5	Adam Swift	Wing	21	St Helens Academy	26	16	0	0	64
6	Travis Burns	Stand off	31	Hull Kingston Rovers	23	3	28	0	68
7	Luke Walsh	Scrum half	27	Penrith Panthers	11	4	16	2	50
8	Mose Masoe	Prop	25	Penrith Panthers	26	2	0	0	8
9	James Roby	Hooker	29	St Helens Academy	22	1	0	0	4
10	Kyle Amor	Prop	27	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	24	2	0	0	8
11	Atelea Vea	Second row	28	London Broncos	9	3	0	0	12
12	(c) Jon Wilkin	Second row	32	Hull Kingston Rovers	20	4	0	1	17
13	Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook	Loose forward	29	London Broncos	24	6	0	0	24
14	Alex Walmsley	Prop	24	Batley Bulldogs	25	2	0	0	8
15	Mark Flanagan	Second row	27	Wests Tigers	21	2	0	0	8
16	Lance Hohaia	Scrum half	31	New Zealand Warriors	8	2	0	0	8
17	Mark Percival	Centre	20	St Helens Academy	17	9	27	0	90
18	Luke Thompson	Prop	19	St Helens Academy	17	2	0	0	8
19	Greg Richards	Prop	20	St Helens Academy	22	0	0	0	0
20	Paul Wellens	Fullback	35	St Helens Academy	4	1	0	0	4
21	Joe Greenwood	Prop	21	St Helens Academy	14	8	0	0	32
22	Matty Dawson	Wing	24	Huddersfield Giants	13	2	0	0	8
23	Jordan Hand	Second row	21	St Helens Academy	0	0	0	0	0
24	Andre Savelio	Prop	20	St Helens Academy	21	2	0	0	8
26	Lewis Charnock	Stand off	20	St Helens Academy	4	2	5	0	18
27	Dave Hewitt	Stand off	20	St Helens Academy	0	0	0	0	0
28	Jack Ashworth	Second row	20	St Helens Academy	1	0	0	0	0
29	Olly Davies	Second row	20	St Helens Academy	1	0	0	0	0
30	Matty Fleming	Centre	20	St Helens Academy	6	1	0	0	4
31	Matty Fozard	Hooker	20	St Helens Academy	0	0	0	0	0
32	Matthew Haggarty		20	St Helens Academy	0	0	0	0	0
33	Ricky Bailey		20	St Helens Academy	1	0	0	0	0
34	Shannon McDonnell	Fullback	27	Wests Tigers	8	5	0	0	20
35	Morgan Knowles		20	St Helens Academy	1	0	0	0	0
36	Danny Richardson		20	St Helens Academy	0	0	0	0	0
37	Adam Quinlan	Fullback	22	St. George Illawarra Dragons	3	4	0	0	16

= Injured = Suspended

Standings[edit]

Regular season[edit]

The 2015 Super League season will see teams play every other team twice each, once home and once away, whilst playing one team for a third time at the Magic Weekend, which is a bonus round. After 23 games the league table is frozen and the teams are split up into 2 of the 3 "Super 8's". Teams finishing in the top 8 will go on to contest "Super League" and will all retain a place in the 2016 competition, as they go on to play 7 more games each, as they compete for a place in the Grand Final. Teams finishing in the bottom four (9-12) will be put alongside the top 4 teams from the 2015 Championship, in "The Qualifiers" Super 8 group. Where these teams will reset their season standings to 0 and also play 7 extra games each, as they attempt to earn a place in the 2016 Super League competition.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Leeds Rhinos	23	16	1	6	758	477	+281	33	Super League Super 8s
2	St Helens	23	16	0	7	598	436	+162	32
3	Wigan Warriors	23	15	1	7	589	413	+176	31
4	Huddersfield Giants	23	13	2	8	538	394	+144	28
5	Castleford Tigers	23	13	0	10	547	505	+42	26
6	Warrington Wolves	23	12	0	11	552	456	+96	24
7	Hull F.C.	23	11	0	12	452	484	−32	22
8	Catalans Dragons	23	9	2	12	561	574	−13	20
9	Widnes Vikings	23	9	1	13	518	565	−47	19	The Qualifiers
10	Hull Kingston Rovers	23	9	0	14	534	646	−112	18
11	Salford City Reds	23	8	1	14	447	617	−170	17
12	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	23	3	0	20	402	929	−527	6

Super 8's[edit]

• Super League

The Super League Super 8's sees the top 8 teams from the Super League play 7 games each. Each team's points are carried over and after the 7 additional games, the top 4 teams will contest the playoff semi finals with the team in 1st hosting the team in 4th, and the team finishing 2nd hosting the 3rd placed team; the winners of these semi finals will contest the Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford. Teams finishing 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th after the 7 additional games will take no further part in the 2015 season and will play in Super League again in 2016.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Leeds Rhinos (L, C)	30	20	1	9	944	650	+294	41	Semi-finals
2	Wigan Warriors	30	20	1	9	798	530	+268	41
3	Huddersfield Giants	30	18	2	10	750	534	+216	38
4	St Helens	30	19	0	11	766	624	+142	38
5	Castleford Tigers	30	16	0	14	731	746	−15	32
6	Warrington Wolves	30	15	0	15	714	636	+78	30
7	Catalans Dragons	30	13	2	15	739	770	−31	28
8	Hull F.C.	30	12	0	18	620	716	−96	24

#	Home	Score	Away	Match Information
				Date and time(Local)	Venue	Referee	Attendance
Semi-finals
SF1	Leeds Rhinos	0 – 0	St. Helens	2 October, 20:00 BST	Headingley Carnegie Stadium
SF2	Wigan Warriors	0 – 0	Huddersfield Giants	1 October, 20:00 BST	DW Stadium
GRAND FINAL
F	Winner SF1	0 – 0	Winner SF2	10 October, 18:00 BST	Old Trafford, Manchester

2015 Tetley's Challenge Cup Fixtures\Results[edit]

Date	Competition	Rnd	Vs	H/A	Venue	R	Score	Tries	Goals	KO	Att	TV	Report
15/05/2015	Challenge Cup	Round 6	York City Knights	H	Langtree Park	W	46-6	Swift (3), Makinson (4), Percival, Flanagan	Makinson (3), Charnock (2)	20:00	3,271	N/A	[27]
28/06/2015	Challenge Cup	Quarter-final	Widnes Vikings	H	Langtree Park	W	36-20	Swift, Percival (2), Dawson, Amor, Turner	Percival (6)	16:00	8,806	BBC Sport	[28]
31/07/2015	Challenge Cup	Semi-final	Leeds Rhinos	N	Halliwell Jones Stadium	L	24-14	Percival (2), Savelio	Walsh	20:00	11,107	BBC Sport

References[edit]