PAUL Wellens believes St Helens’ gritty 6-0 win over Leeds Rhinos was more of a statement to themselves rather than anyone else after they moved up to third in the Betfred Super League.
A 15th-minute try from 19-year-old three-quarter Owen Dangall, his fifth of the season, and a penalty goal from Jonny Lomax proved enough to ensure Saints continued their winning run over the Rhinos at AMT Headingley which stretches back to 2017.
The 10-time Super League champions’ fifth win on the bounce came despite them losing hookers Daryl Clark and Jake Burns to injury during the match, and Agnatius Paasi being sin-binned late on, but head coach Wellens was only concerned about what it meant for his team rather than wanting to clap back at the critics from earlier in the campaign.
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.@Saints1890 make that 7 wins in a row at Headingley! 🤝#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/TKsxtyeySg
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 11, 2025
“I think statements are for other people to think about, it’s a statement to ourselves as to where we’re going as a team,” Wellens told Sky Sports.
“There is so much in there we need to improve on like the way we manage the game at times, but the overriding message is we’ve got a really tough team who are playing for each other and that’s a solid thing to build off.
“Something we speak about and in training, something we work on is dealing with adversity. You never know when it’s going to come your way and you just have to react to it and get on with it.
“What I’m proud of as well is we defended well, but we didn’t have everything go our way either.”
Dagnall backs him self for @Saints1890 and makes sure he gets over that line! 🫡#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/h82yFTaCUI
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) July 11, 2025
The win saw Saints move above Leigh Leopards, who host Super League leaders Hull KR on Saturday afternoon, and vanquished opponents Leeds in what is now becoming a congested play-off race behind the top two.
Their defensive work was underlined by prop Matty Lees putting in 58 tackles, per Stats Perform, while playing the full 80 minutes in front row which helped earn him the player of the match award.
“We just keep turning up for each other,” Lees, who also carried for 74 metres, told Sky Sports.
“I think this performance has been building for the last couple of weeks.
“We were doing it tough halfway through the year, but I think we’ve turned the corner now.
“It’s not only the performance, it’s the effort we’re all giving each other, it’s outstanding.”