Super League: St Helens 48-6 Wakefield Trinity

James Roby led by example with some crucial scores to get Saints rolling

Tommy Makinson ran in a hat-trick as champions St Helens recorded a ninth straight Super League win with victory over bottom side Wakefield Trinity.

Kristian Woolf's side set the tone in the first half, racking up a 30-0 lead thanks to two from James Roby, a treble for Makinson and an Alex Walmsley try.

Regan Grace got the first points after the break but Innes Senior's intercept score put Wakefield on the board.

Lewis Dodd and Kevin Naiqama tries emphatically put the game to bed.

Saints were given a rude awakening in the first of two meetings in as many weeks last time out, going 12-0 down before coming to their senses to beat a dogged Trinity.

Yet there was to be no such purple patch for Chris Chester's side, who were blown away by a ferocious forward pack guided by Walmsley and backed up by back-rowers such as Morgan Knowles.

Talismanic Roby scored early tries, as Saints crisp handling and ruck speed created space on the back of forward punch, and Makinson and Grace finished their tries in typically spectacular fashion.

Dodd's try was his first in professional rugby league and brought a smile to coach Woolf in the stands.

Loanee Senior's intercept was one of the few bright spots for Wakefield, who never dropped their heads but were never able to impose themselves on a dominant Saints.

Eddie Battye, Kelepi Tanginoa and Josh Wood got through plenty of work, despite the battle up front going against them.

St Helens head coach Kristian Woolf:

"There was a bit of a different feel through week. You could see we had learned our lessons from last week and in the first half played we some really good footy.

"Tommy has a terrific ability to finish tries. He finds a way to get over the line but the thing I was most impressed about was the way he carried the ball and got us on the front foot.

"I really rate Lewis Dodd as a player and it was nice to give him a run. He looked like he belongs."

Wakefield head coach Chris Chester:

"I need to have a look at that first half. We spoke all week about trying to do a job on (Alex) Walmsley and he caused us some damage.

"We were a bit soft through the middle third. They were a lot tougher than us and ran harder than us.

"The game was lost at half-time and it sums our season up. We're consistently inconsistent. We showed last week that we can compete but we came up with an inept performance tonight."

St Helens: Coote; Makinson, Naiqama, Welsby, Grace; Lomax, Fages; Welsby, Roby, Lees. Bentley, Taia, Knowles

Interchanges: Peyroux, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Amor, Dodd

Wakefield: Walker; Senior, Lyne, Croft, Johnstone; Hampshire, Jowitt; Green, Wood, Kopczak, Ashurst, Tanginoa, Westerman

Interchanges: Fifita, Navarrete, Batchelor, Battye

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