TRISTAN Sailor is relishing the free role given to him by head coach Paul Wellens after helping St Helens end their three-game losing streak on Thursday night.
The Saints stormed back to winning ways with a 40-0 victory over an abject Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League Round 11 opener at Totally Wicked Stadium, with 18-year-old halfback George Whitby grabbing the headlines after scoring a hat-trick of tries.
Sailor, now out on the wing after playing in the halves and at fullback earlier in the season, was among the try-scorers as well, but has been allowed the freedom to get more involved by Wellens rather that just staying out wide.
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The @Saints1890 add another through Sailor 👏#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/FFXbdZ2vlZ
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) May 15, 2025
“That was one good thing,” Sailor told BBC Five Live Sports Extra. “Tom Trbojevic has done it [for New South Wales] in Origin where he plays on the edge but can roam through a little bit, so it was really good.
“I sort of had that role and could utilise it to support the boys and get them some one-on-ones if possible.
“I really loved it, I think it was awesome. One of my strengths is I can play multiple positions and it just shows dynamics-wise sometimes you’ve got to move to fit in.
“It worked really well, everyone was awesome and I enjoyed playing on the wing outside [centre Mark Percival], just getting to run the ball and do a lot of talking.”
Sailor’s time at St Helens since joining from Brisbane Broncos in the off-season has not quite hit the heights of his first Super League appearance where he ran in four tries and earned player of the match in the 82-0 win over a depleted Salford Red Devils team.
After playing at stand-off up to the Betfred Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat to Warrington Wolves, the 26-year-old moved to the No 1 role for four games as part of a reshuffle by Wellens, but on Thursday was put out wide with the return of Jonny Lomax in the halves and Jack Welsby moving back to fullback.
It was, via Rugby League Project, Sailor’s first start on the wing since Round 25 of the 2019 NRL season when he lined up there for St George Illawarra Dragons in a win over Gold Coast Titans, but as well as scoring a try against Catalans he provided an assist, and made five tacke busts and three clean breaks while covering 121 metres with an average gain of eight metres according to Opta’s stats.
The win moved St Helens back up to fourth in Super League ahead of the remaining Round 11 fixtures, and Sailor praised the resilience of under-pressure boss Wellens showed during recent weeks.
“I’m so happy for him,” Sailor said. “It takes a lot of resilience to get through what he was copping and our performances, he cops the brunt of it.
“We’re always behind Wello 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 we really found a rhythm there and the boys were awesome – George Whitby three tries and Percy on the edge doing his thing.”