Paul Wellens: St Helens head coach fined £2,000 for post-match comments after Leigh cup loss

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens guided the club to a third-placed finish in Super League in his first season in charge of the club

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens has been fined £2,000 for a breach of operational rules following their Challenge Cup semi-final defeat by Leigh Leopards in July.

Wellens accused the RFL of failing to protect players in an interview with BBC Radio Merseyside after the match.

£1,000 of the fine has been suspended until the end of the 2024 campaign.

His comments following the defeat were found to have breached rules on conduct and standards, the RFL said.

Wellens criticised the RFL and match review panel after Agnatius Paasi and Alex Walmsley suffered long-term injuries during the cup defeat.

The pair were both tackled by John Asiata, however the Leigh captain was not charged by the match review panel in the days following the tie.

Paasi missed the rest of the season with a serious knee injury and Walmsley missed much of the rest of the campaign with a lesser knee injury but managed three appearances off the bench later in 2023.

Wellens also criticised the way in which the procedure was dealt with in comparison to St Helens back-rower Morgan Knowles, who received a five-game ban for injuring Wigan Warriors' Mike Cooper earlier in the season.

In July, the RFL responded that they had been consistent in their approach.

"Criticisms of both the Match Review Panel and the RFL, and language used in relation to tackles to the head, were considered to be detrimental both to the game and the RFL's Compliance function, and ultimately to have brought the game into disrepute," the RFL added in a statement.