Super League: St Helens expecting 'war of attrition' in Catalans Dragons semi-final

Paul Wellens is chasing a fifth consecutive Super League Grand Final win for St Helens

St Helens boss Paul Wellens says he expects a war of attrition when they face Catalans Dragons in their Super League semi-final on Friday.

Wellens' side beat Warrington Wolves in their play-off eliminator last week to set up a trip to Perpignan.

Saints are chasing a fifth Grand Final win in succession.

"There's going to be battles all over the park. It's one we have to prepare really well for," Wellens told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"That [attrition] is what we're going to get and that's what we're going to give. We've played each other enough in the past few years to know how both teams play.

"If you look at all the successful teams [in the] past, you need a pretty strong forward pack to lay the foundations for your success.

"That's what Catalans have but it's also what we have too. There's going to be a key battle up front because both teams can strike out wide as well."

Catalans boss Steve McNamara is also expecting a fight to reach 14 October's Grand Final despite having home advantage, given St Helens' strength and experience.

"Lots of the big games we've won on defence and this week will be no different," he said.

"They've been the champions for the past four years. Their record is there to be seen. They don't have to prove anything to anybody.

"They are what they are as a club, they're the current world club champions. But we're confident. We've earned the right to get a home semi-final this year."

'We're experienced and we're ready'

Steve McNamara has led Catalans Dragons to the play-offs in each of the past four Super League seasons

McNamara's Catalans side led the chase to the League Leaders' Shield for much of the season before tailing off heading into the final few games of the regular season.

With the race to first place finely poised in a three-way tie with St Helens and Wigan Warriors, Les Dracs eventually finished second and earned themselves a home semi-final and a week off.

A strong 2023 campaign has come after McNamara transformed the club's fortunes in recent years having led them to the Grand Final in 2021, while they lost to Leeds in the eliminator last season.

"For French rugby league and the Catalan people it's important. Without a doubt we understand the responsibility around that and we try and represent French rugby league as well as we can week in week out," McNamara continued.

"It's great to show some consistency over the past four seasons with finishing in the top four and being the top two this year to give ourselves a great opportunity.

"We've had two home semi-finals, last year which we didn't get right and the year before that we did. We've had good experience and we're ready.

"For a team that travels so much throughout the season, you've got to remember that we've done about 16 or 17 trips to England this year which is phenomenal."

The end of the road - but for which Super League legend?

Catalans' Sam Tomkins (left) and St Helens' Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook (centre) and James Roby (right) are all due to retire at the end of the 2023 Super League season

Friday will herald more than just the end of one team's shot at being champions for 2023.

At least one Super League legend's career will reach its conclusion as Catalans' talisman Sam Tomkins and St Helens pair Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook and James Roby prepare to call time on their careers at the end of the season.

Tomkins, 34, and Roby, 37, in particular have been at the peak of success in the modern Super League era, with the pair winning a total of nine Grand Finals between them and three Man of Steel awards.

"I decided that I was retiring earlier this year. Every week people have said 'oh it's your last time' doing something. None of them have really mattered but this one does," Tomkins said.

"We've got a big challenge ahead, and it's a big game, but hopefully it's one of two games."

A high octane meeting is expected between two of Super League's most formidable packs, but Wellens believes it is testament to the skill of the retiring trio that they are all in the frame to lead their sides to glory despite being well into their 30s.

"Whatever happens on Friday, a legend of Super League will retire. We just hope it's not ours," Wellens added.

"It's a mark of a really top world class player that the older they get, they don't become any less influential even though they don't move the same as they used to.

"What good players and intelligent players have a tendency to do is adapt their game and modify their game to be equally as effective while not physically at the same level as they were when they were 19, 20 or 21 and that's only natural."

• Super League Show - watch and catch-up here