AFTER having to dig deep into the reserves and Academy during the past injury-hit couple of months - suddenly coach Paul Wellens has choices.
Some of those selection decisions are more straightforward than others, with centre Mark Percival slotting back in after a five-week absence with an Achilles injury.
Percival replaced NRL import Waqa Blake in the centres - with the strong-running Widnesian bringing his combination of direct hard carries, attacking strike, an offload game and tough defence to underline how badly he has been missed.
With Saints well-blessed in the back row, even without for now Curtis Sironen, Sione Mata'utia continues to hold down the other centre spot and has brought solidity to that edge.
As such it is difficult to see a way back for Blake, whose underwhelming and lethargic displays have often been punctuated by gaffes such as in the matches against Leigh, Hull KR and latterly Warrington.
With Tommy Makinson slotting into his right wing berth, Wellens opted for Jon Bennison over Blake or Tee Ritson for the left wing spot.
And the 22-year-old Runcornian repaid that faith by grabbing a hat-trick to effectively secure that spot for the remainder of this campaign.
Wellens said: “I mentioned last week that Jon was a frustrated individual because he wasn't getting in the team and he wasn't getting opportunities.
“I really did stress with him that he had to be patient and it's not an easy team to get into and a couple weeks ago, he got his opportunity and he took it with both hands and that needs rewarding.
“And obviously he's gone out there tonight and done another great job.”
But there is an even more interesting selection headache developing for Wellens in the spine, given what happened in the Castleford game while Moses Mbye was serving his one-match suspension.
The versatile NRL half or nine had been flitting between the two roles in the period when Saints were at times missing Lewis Dodd, Jack Welsby, Jonny Lomax and Daryl Clark.
Latterly Mbye was partnering Lomax in the halves, where his booming kicking game was an asset when trying to play a containing game.
But Lewis Dodd slipped back into the seven role – and taking on board the obvious caveat about the nature of the opposition – the soon-to-be departing Widnes struck up a fine rapport with Welsby and Lomax.
There was enough there to say Dodd should be in the saddle for the remainder of this campaign – and the hope will be he signs off in style by showing us the skillset that made him such an exciting prospect when breaking through.
Of the half back combination Wellens said: “I thought we showed a bit of fluidity with the ball and credit to the halves there.
“Lewis has come back into the team after a period of time out, Jack has been out for a period of time too, but they really looked like they were working together and working together well out there, which made us look us look really threatening at times.”
Slipping into a key role, but under the radar somewhat, during this injury crisis period in Clark’s absence has been understudy hooker Jake Burns – who has featured in the last seven Super League games and has started the last three.
The two tries he scored at the start of that run, against Hull in early August, and the opener against Castleford last Friday underline everything that the 24-year-old is all about.
Burns is a player who has done it the hard way to earn a place with the senior Saints squad, rather than a seamless Academy graduation, but is now reaping the rewards.
His boundless enthusiasm and willingness to chase everything are qualities that have earned him the respect of the seniors around him, whilst encouraging those youngster on a similar pathway to the first team.
On Burns’ enthusiasm Wellens said: “That's the sole reason why he ended up getting a full time opportunity in the first place because he came up and trained and we're like ‘this kid's got a level of enthusiasm that's kind of unmatched, really’.
“And so it was a no brainer to have him around us because the rest of the lads looked him and said he's the type of player that we want to be around.”
But has he done enough to keep his spot ahead of the more experienced Mbye?
Should Saints stay injury free then expect the only significant change to be the return of Sironen, who was the side's best forward for much of the year.
He would be an automatic pick provided he is fit enough to take the field.
One further point, the silver lining within the dark injury cloud of 2024 has been that it has added depth to the squad - and should they be needed the likes of Noah Stephens, Harry Robertson and Jonny Vaughan will continue to push hard for a place and step up if needed in the business end.
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