How Super League’s greatest empire unravelled

It is February 2023 and St Helens RFC have carved out a special slice of rugby league history. Lewis Dodd’s golden point extra-time drop goal sealed a sensational 13-12 victory over the Penrith Panthers, arguably one of the greatest club sides of all time, in the NRL heavyweights’ own backyard Down Under. After an unprecedented run of four successive Super League titles between 2019 and 2022, and despite the departure of their coach Kristian Woolf, with club legend Paul Wellens in charge, the future looked bright for the Red Vee. Fast forward 41 months, and the situation and mood in this rugby league-obsessed town are far bleaker. After Wellens was dumped from his position last October, despite getting Saints one victory away from a place in the Grand Final, former Salford coach Paul Rowley was drafted in. The ex-England international was seen at the time as the man who could bring an attacking style of rugby back to St Helens as they looked to reclaim their place at the top. Paul Rowley lasted just 19 Super League games (Photo: PA) But Rowley lasted just nine months, and 19 Super League games, before he was ruthlessly axed. One of the shortest coaching tenures in Saints’ 153-year history ended stunningly less than 36 hours before a derby game against bitter rivals Wigan Warriors. Wigan went on to easily win that match 38-16. Bizarrely, St Helens tried to spin Rowley’s exit by stating that he had “stepped down”. Chairman Eamonn McManus has made no further comment and Rowley did not respond when contacted by The i Paper, but according to numerous sources the 51-year-old was sacked. A combination of fan unhappiness, player unrest and a run of embarrassing defeats was enough to see him removed. However, the malaise doesn’t end there. Most alarmingly perhaps, on 24 July, Saints published their 2025 annual report, revealing an operating loss of £3,459,277 and net liabilities of almost £2.9m, as it services £2.6m of government loans secured following the Covid-19 pandemic while home attendances remain flat. With a horrendous injury count to contend with, the club in serious threat of missing the play-offs for the first time, a clutch of long-serving staff departing and their player recruitment and retention also under scrutiny, the question is how did it go so wrong in less than four years? St Helens ‘unbothered about maximising success’ St Helens won four straight Super League titles from 2019 to 2022 (Photo: Getty) To former Great Britain international Brian Carney, St Helens rested on their laurels during their golden run and have failed to adapt to the demands of modern professional sport away from the field. “St Helens’ four titles in a row was the greatest run by any club in the Super League era,” the Sky Sports pundit says. “So they deserve enormous credit for what they achieved. A lot of planning must go into that on the field. But off the field they seemed completely unprepared and unbothered about maximising success if it came. “Success came, and as far I’m aware, there has been no significant lift in the profile of St Helens, particularly nationally. You hear clubs talk about being culturally relevant, about being ‘cool’ – there appears, from my perspective, either an ambivalence or a steadfast refusal to move in that direction. “You win four titles in a row and you’d think you become the highest profile club in the country. I don’t think that’s happened. It’s been and gone for Saints, and they don’t appear to have maximised that in any meaningful way. “It’s so disappointing on so many levels, because what they did on the field was so remarkable. It’s difficult to understand why more wasn’t made of such an extraordinary period.” A loss of identity The disconnect is growing at St Helens (Photo: Getty) Many St Helens supporters agree and believe the club has taken its eye off the ball. They are concerned, and with good reason. A significant number point to an academy that has missed out on some of the best young talent around, poor decisions in the transfer market, “terrible” merchandise and an overall lack of transparency. “The club has lost its way relationship-wise with its fans,” a supporter of three decades, who declined to be named, told The i Paper. “The general theme is we’ve been slow to act, reactive rather than proactive and this season could be the same. When the new coach is appointed, what’s left player-wise? How long is there for a new coach to assess who goes, moving contracted lads on and targeting attainable players in the NRL?” Other clubs have also smelled weakness at the BrewDog Stadium this year and exploited it. After Wigan battered St Helens 32-0 in the Challenge Cup semi-final in May, Warriors boss Matty Peet claimed the club had “lost its identity” – as damning an assessment of Saints’ fall from grace as you will find. Then, in June, Wakefield Trinity confirmed publicly that they had a bid for Saints’ supremely talented youngster Harry Robertson turned down. But St Helens went public with their fury over this news, claiming they had received no contact from Wakefield on Robertson and reported the matter to the Rugby Football League. It was another bad look for the club and Carney adds: “This is a sticky period they’re going through; there’s no doubt about that. There’s a vulnerability now about St Helens we never thought possible.” Issues beyond the dugout The club is now searching in Australia for a new coach, but the issues are more widespread than just in the dugout. “A lot of the problems stem from the top,” Saints supporter Gary Lucas says. “Standards have massively dropped off on all levels. There seems to be a separation between club and fans again. “Justin Holbrook brought everything together and that now seems lost. Recruitment has been lazy… Wellens was and is a club legend, but he was drastically let down in recruitment.” Read more Exclusive: Super League club asks for £50,000 bailout John Davidson: Rugby league in Wales is on the brink of extinction Critics and advocates alike would describe St Helens as a club behind the times, insular and merely content with its place in its local area. While its rivals are playing in Paris, Las Vegas and Dublin, and pushing for new audiences, Saints have twice knocked back the opportunity to play in “Sin City” as part of the NRL’s global charge. As one long-timer watcher of the club put it to The i Paper this week: “It is apt that St Helens’ boardroom has no windows.”