St Helens display ‘shows backing for Wellens ‘

Australian import Tristan Sailor says St Helens’ comprehensive Super League win over Catalans Dragons is evidence Saints are playing for head coach Paul Wellens.

Pressure has ramped up on club legend Wellens after a sticky patch form-wise which saw Saints lose to rivals Wigan, Warrington and old foes Leeds.

But Sailor was one of the stars as they tore into the Dragons on Thursday night, Saints scoring seven tries without reply in a 40-0 thrashing as teenage half-back George Whitby picked up a hat-trick.

“It takes a lot of resilience to get through what he was copping and our performances – he cops the brunt of it,” Sailor told BBC 5 Sports Extra.

“We’re always behind Paul and I think it shows his resilience has reflected on us, and hopefully we can keep that moving forward.

“We’ve obviously had a bit of a rough start, had a few close losses and for the past couple of weeks haven’t been at our best but the boys were awesome.

One of the conundrums Wellens has had to deal with this season has been involving all of his pivot options in a system that complements the team, with Sailor, Whitby, captain Jonny Lomax and Jack Welsby all flitting between positions in a bid to find the right rhythm.

Thursday’s move to the wing, a position Sailor has covered before, brought the best out of the former Brisbane Broncos and St George Illawarra flier, and allowed Welsby, Lomax and Whitby the space to create in the spine.

“I loved it, one of my strengths is that I can play a lot of positions and sometimes dynamic-wise you have to move to fit in,” Sailor added.

“It worked really well, I enjoyed getting to run the ball and do a lot of talking.