The most talked about game of the round, for all the wrong reasons, was the game selected by the BBC for free to air broadcast as St Helens played host to an Academy line-up from the Salford Red Devils who were seemingly trying to prove a point to the games administration.
The lowest shirt number in the Salford starting thirteen was twenty-seven with all thirteen selected starters unlikely to get another game in 2025 once their takeover paperwork is rubber stamped, much to the embarrassment of their fans.
Salford had a fifty-two-point start on the coupon and were expected to take a heavy beating as they selected their side under a restricted salary cap which included just three players on the substitutes bench, two of which were rumoured as unlikely to take the field in the eighty minutes.
Just under five minutes had passed when Morgan Knowles crashed the Salford line to ground for the opening try of the afternoon. Mark Percival kicked the conversion, the first of many opportunities that he would have in a long eighty minutes for the travelling supporters.
From the kick-off Saints went in again with Percival breaking downfield and using Sailor in support before Lewis Murphy sprinted down the left wing to score from thirty metres out. Percival’s kick dropped short of the cross bar as he attempted the conversion from the touchline.
On ten minutes Tristan Sailor went through a gap for the third St Helens try, Salford’s supporters’ worst fears were being realised. Percival hit the target again for 14-0. From the restart the ball went out on the full, Saits worked the ball downfield and Curtis Sironen crossed for the fourth. Percival’s third goal made it 22-0 with just fifteen minutes on the clock. It was already embarrassing.
It took five minutes for the next score, Harry Robertson fielding a Sailor grubber to the corner and spinning out of the tackle to ground. Percival added a fourth conversion, again from the touchline, for 28-0, Saints having a party.
On thirty-two, after a brief hiatus, normal service was resumed when Morgan Knowles took a pass on the halfway line and sprinted his way to the line to score under the sticks. Percival added the conversion, Saints with a 34-0 lead.
The seventh try came on thirty-seven, Robertson exploiting the overlap wide right to slide in at the corner for his second of the afternoon. Percival was off target, Saints taking a 38-0 lead into the sheds.
One hundred seconds after the restart Saints went through the forty with Kyle Feldt sliding over the line in the right corner. Percival was wide with the conversion attempt.
The Salford defence was almost non-existent as Jonny Lomax took a Robertson offload and ran straight through the broken Salford defence for the ninth try of the afternoon. This time Percival was on target and the scoreboard was back to its regular movements.
Welsby was the provider for Sailor to complete his brace with a run down the centre of the field for a simple thirty metre score under the sticks, the tenth Saints try of the game. It was Percival’s seventh goal of the game for a 54-0 scoreline.
Sailor stepped out of a tackle to complete his hat-trick on fifty-four minutes, galloping through a big gap in the defensive line to go in from twenty-five metres out. Percival added another touchline conversion for sixty unanswered points, the statisticians reaching for their record books.
Welsby was again the provider on sixty-five when he broke the line before finding a grateful Sailor in support to sprint fifty metres and score under the sticks, his fourth of the game and Saints twelfth. Percival’s conversion rate was up to 75%.
Percival got in on the try scoring action on seventy, to bring up the seventy for St Helens, as he coasted over on a big overlap left to amble to the line and dive over. Percival was wide left with his conversion from the touchline.
Joe Batchelor became the ninth Saints scorer on seventy-three as he took a Lomax pass and weaved through two poor attempted Salford tackles to score. Percival added the conversion, Saints one try away from the record Super League winning margin.
Three minutes from time George Delaney shrugged off an ankle tap and regained his feet to score from forty metres out. Percival added the conversion for a record winning margin in twenty-nine seasons of Super League as they eclipsed the previous highest margin of eighty.
From the moment that Paul Rowley named his side it was clear that this was always going to be a St Helens win, it was just a matter of by how much. Salford had the odd spell of decent defence but never looked dangerous in attack. Salford got what they deserved, and probably what they expected. There will be some very disappointed Salford fans, only Rowley will know whether his team selection was worthwhile in the long run.
St Helens: Welsby, Feldt (T), Robertson (2T), Percival (T, G 10/15), Murphy (T), Sailor (4T), Lomax (T), Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Sironen (T), Batchelor (T), Knowles (2T). Subs: Bell, Whitley, Wingfield, Delaney (T). 18th Man: Bennison.
Salford Red Devils: Connell, Fitzgerald, Wagstaffe, Coan, Murray, Morgan, Gatcliffe, Bardyel-Wells, Yates, Hope, Shields, Hutchings, Lagar. Subs: Bullock, Chan, Hellewell. 18th Man: .
Half-Time: 38-0.
Full-Time: 82-0.
Score Progression: 4-0, 6-0, 10-0, 14-0, 16-0, 20-0, 22-0, 26-0, 28-0, 32-0, 34-0, 38-0 : HT: 42-0, 46-0. 48-0, 52-0, 54-0, 58-0, 60-0, 64-0, 66-0, 70-0, 74-0, 76-0, 80-0, 82-0 :FT.
Lead Exchanges: St Helens.
Referee: Jack Smith.
