Whitby hat-trick as Saints hammer Catalans

Betfred Super League

St Helens (24) 40

Tries: Whitby (3), Walmsley, Cross, Sailor, Murphy Goals: Whitby (6)

Catalans (0) 0

Teenager George Whitby's 24-point haul led a sparkling St Helens to a one-sided win over play-off rivals Catalans Dragons.

The stand-off, who turns 19 on Saturday, scored a hat-trick of tries and kicked six conversions from seven attempts as Saints eased the pressure on coach Paul Wellens with a display that had echoes of their 2022 Grand Final-winning campaign.

Alex Walmsley, Deon Cross, Tristan Sailor and Lewis Murphy also crossed the line to secure only the Red V's third win in the past eight Super League games.

Defeat shines another spotlight on the future of Catalans coach Steve McNamara, who has now suffered three consecutive defeats and faces an RFL investigation following comments he made following last weekend's Challenge Cup semi-final loss to Hull Kingston Rovers.

The two opposing coaches badly needed a win at the Totally Wicked Stadium after inauspicious starts to a campaign in which both clubs had an eye on challenging for a top two spot, but which has brought real underachievement so far.

The Dragons have had better form recently, going into the game with five wins from their previous seven, but it was Saints who got off to a flying start as Mark Percival's pass and Sailor's acceleration split the defence for Whitby to go over within two minutes.

Six minutes later Saints hammered away at the line again and prop Walmsley powered over to leave Catalans reeling.

The French outfit cleared their heads and applied pressure but a series of basic errors, including an awful five errors at the play-the-ball, and some determined Saints defence, kept them out.

Saints finished the half in style as former Salford Red Devils centre Cross marked his home debut with a try and the last move of the first period saw Jack Welsby's delicious reverse pass send Percival through to set up Whitby for another.

With a comfortable lead and Catalans looking increasingly ragged, the home side could afford to entertain, and another sublime piece of work from Percival, slipping the ball out of the back of his hand, sent Sailor over in the corner.

Murphy produced an acrobatic finish to another scintillating Saints move and Whitby had the last say, grabbing a sharp Walmsley offload to race over for his first Super League treble.

'He's a brilliant young man' - Wellens

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens told BBC Radio Merseyside:

"I've sensed for a number of weeks there was a performance around the corner but we got that tonight and I can't credit the players enough.

"There has been a lot of heat on all of us for the last seven to 10 days. You have a choice of how to react to that and what the team has done really well is come together.

"We looked dangerous in attack and solid in defence and that's a pretty good starting point for any game of rugby.

[On Whitby] "He's 19 on Saturday and the way he plays the game, the maturity he has for such a young man, in a position with such responsibility, is first-class.

"We always knew he was capable of that but the way he's taken to life in the first team has been exceptional. He's a brilliant young man and he comes in every single day with a real thirst and a determination to want to improve."

Catalans Dragons coach Steve McNamara:

"When you start like that, you concede two tries in the first 10 minutes against a team that are pretty dangerous, you give them confidence.

"Then you compound that with a less than 70% completion rate, five play-the-ball errors, giving penalties away – on the back of what we've been through the last couple of weeks – it's not going to work.

"We got the scoreline we deserved. Simple as that."

St Helens: Welsby, Sailor, Cross, Percival, Murphy, Whitby, Lomax, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, C. Sironen, Whitley, Knowles

Interchanges: Mbye, Paasi, Wingfield, Delaney

Catalans: Aispuro-Bichet, Yaha, Laguerre, Smith, Cotric, Keary, Fages, Satae, Da Costa, Navarette, Seguier, B. Sironen, Partington

Interchanges: Romano, Pangai Jr, Sims, Dezaria

Referee: Liam Moore.