Jon Wilkin stunned by Paul Wellens’ plight at St Helens

Most of these questions have been about the attack in St Helens and how sharp they can be at times with their methodical approach, something most teams have been able to defend against.

This was evident in the fact that, from the Saints’ first eleven games, they only averaged 16.375 points against teams outside the bottom three. In contrast, in games against the last three, the Saints had scored an average of nearly 53 points.

The win against Leeds shattered that as they took 40 points to go top of Super League and take some of that pressure off Paul Wellens, however, will lead to a new contract for the St Helens boss, out of contract at the end of the season. ?

Should Paul Wellens be handed a new deal at St Helens?

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Jon Wilkin certainly seems to think his fellow former St Helens captain has done enough to earn a new contract despite the pressure, claiming the pressure is simply a privilege of the job.

Speaking ahead of the game on Sky Sports, he said: “I find it strange that it hasn’t been discussed in the public forum. You’d think they’d be there, but we don’t know the conversations.

“It might be well behind the scenes and it just hasn’t been talked about, but the fact remains, if you’re the head coach at St Helens then you’re under pressure all the time. He will be under as much pressure now as he was when he started.”

Wilkin would even suggest the pressure is about to increase even more as he challenged Wellens to win the new deal by re-establishing St Helens as a dominant team to beat alongside Matt Peet’s Wigan.

He suggested: “The biggest period of his coaching career is the next three months. For me, I need to see them go from second with a pack of teams, to being up there with Wigan and Saints going top.

“He’s got to push for the next 12 weeks to be in that situation because it just calms all the murmurs that the fans who have any doubts and any doubts the club have about him.”

The weight of the Saints head coaching gig

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As one of the most successful clubs in English Rugby League, there will always be pressure on the St Helens job. This goes for all dominant teams as Rohan Smith is finding out right now with call-ups that he is not up to such a big club.

If Paul Wellens goes another year without silverware, then those conversations might even start regarding him, such is the expectation at that club.

That despite being a club legend on the pitch, he still has a lot to prove off the pitch as a manager. One man who found that out was Keiron Cunningham, another former St Helens captain who was sacked despite being at the club for 24 years as a player and manager.

When asked why there would be doubts about Wellens’ future as head coach of St Helens, Wilkin pointed to Cunningham, arguing: “There’s a statue of Keiron Cunningham there, who’s a club legend. Of course there will be a comparison.

“It makes sense to have a comparison. The fans don’t understand the difference and detail that Paul has put into his coaching career.

“I will say this, he is a fantastic young coach and he should be given time, but sport is not sentimental, is it? We know that.”

Does that mean that the longer the wait for contract news, the more the pressure valve increases?