Saints win at Castleford to make it two from two

Betfred Super League

Castleford (6) 6

Tries: Namo Goals: Hoy

St Helens (14) 46

With a dominant victory over Castleford Tigers, St Helens added two wins out of two to the 2025 Super League season.

In addition to Warrington Wolves and Hull KR, they also scored nine tries in the Mend-A-Hose Jungle, which puts them at the top of the table in terms of points.

Joe Batchelor, Kyle Feldt and Jonny Lomax crossed in the opening 15 minutes to take control, while Agnatius Paasi, Harry Robertson with two, Alex Walmsley, Jack Welsby and Jon Bennison all scored in the second half to wrap up the two points.

And it was the visitors, who had already scored three tries before the quarter-hour mark, who completely dominated the proceedings in the opening moments.

After a slick Saints move, Welsby’s short pass made it possible for Batchelor to crash over from short range for the opener. Former North Queensland Cowboys winger Feldt finished the game with a strong one-handed effort before Lomax finished his kick on Mark Bennison.

When Papua New Guinea prop Namo crossed the line for the first try this season, St Helens had to score almost 30 minutes before the game was over.

Even though Saints started the second half in the same blistering manner as the first, the gap was only eight points at the break, stifling any chance of a comeback.

After the Tigers’ offensive extended their lead, Paasi couldn’t stop them as they held on for a number of sets.

Teenager center Robertson then made a second During a faint that broke three defenders, giving him the opportunity to cut inside and find the line, and prop Walmsley was compensated for a night of strong carries with one of his own.

However, they held on to their lead and won three more tries to cap the evening.

With the final move of the game, winger Bennison scored the ninth and final try after Robertson grabbed a second after Welsby made a fine pass, before the full-back switched from being the try-scorer.

St. Helens are out to rebound this year after finishing in a subpar sixth place in 2024, and their attack is beginning to show very positive things.

The true tests are still to come against them at Wakefield Trinity on Saturday, though they only faced amateurs West Hull in the cup and a second-string Salford Red Devils last week.

Danny McGuire, the head coach of the Castleford Tigers, said:

“I believed we were OK for five or ten minutes, but we were still soft the rest.”

” I can’t really see that many positives. We’ve gone backwards again and our challenge is to find some consistency.

“I just feel that when it gets tough and really starts to bite, we’re not able to do our job properly”.

Paul Wellens, the head coach of St. Helens, told BBC Radio Merseyside:

“I am pleased with that performance. Particularly since this is their first home game of the season, it’s never an easy place to travel.

Some of our young people had never before encountered it, so we handled it really well, especially in those first 20 minutes.

Interchanges: Griffin, Hodson, Mustapha, Namo.

St Helens: Welsby, Feldt, Robertson, Percival, Bennison, Sailor, Lomax, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Knowles.

Interchanges: Whitley, Passi, Wingfield, Delaney.