Betfred Super League Round 19
Thursday 17 July 2025
Totally Wicked Stadium (8pm)
St Helens 4-16 Leigh Leopards
Adrian Lam’s Leopards keep re-writing the club’s history books.
This impressive win at the Totally Wicked Stadium was the club’s first at St Helens for 43 years and completed a memorable three-game sequence. Leopards have toppled the other three sides currently in Super League’s top four: Wigan Warriors, Hull KR and now Saints.
None of the Leopards players and many of the Leopards fans who travelled down the East Lancashire Road in impressive numbers would not have been born in October 1982 when Leigh, then reigning champions defeated Saints 19-10 at their old Knowsley Road ground.
Graham Worgan, Steve Donlan, Alf Wilkinson, and Eddie Hunter scored Leigh’s tries (then worth three points) that day; Steve Tomlinson kicked three goals and Donlan a drop-goal.
It’s a measure of just how accomplished a team Leopards have been become at the top level of the sport that this win came as hardly a shock. It was hard earned in a game of play-off intensity, but thoroughly deserved.
Joe Ofahengaue and Gareth O’Brien were Leigh’s point-scoring heroes.
Ofahengaue scored two tries and might have had four; O’Brien kicked four goals. Saints’ only reply was a last minute try in the corner by Harry Robertson.
Saints went into the game with five straight wins to their name including an impressive 6-0 victory at Leeds last time out. Their big pack posed plenty of problems and on a perfect evening for rugby, their lively and well organised backs always threatened danger, but the Leopards’ defence was magnificent.
Two O’Brien penalties separated the teams after an intense first half in which video referee was brought into action three times to rule out possible tries, including a disallowed score to Ofahengaue. Saints’ Owen Dagnall failed to apply a clean finish to Tristan Sailor’s kick while Leopards’ fullback Bailey Hodgson, again outstanding, was first to ground another dangerous moment behind his own line.
O’Brien broke the deadlock on 21 minutes after Moses Mbye was penalised for interference, then put another attempt wide after Kyle Feldt was whistled. Just on half-time O’Brien kicked his second penalty after Tesi Niu’s brilliant chase to haul Sailor behind his own line led to Saints kicking out the drop-out on the full.
The second half followed a similar pattern as the teams traded set for set, Leopards overworked at times to contain Saints’ big pack in which veteran Alex Walmsley was outstanding.
Ofahengaue scored the game’s first try on the hour, fastening onto O’Brien’s short pass to force his way under the posts for O’Brien to convert.
Just two minutes remained when Ofahengaue pounced on Feldt’s fumble from Lam’s kick to send the Leopards fans wild with delight.
Leopards were denied a notable ‘nilling’ of their opponents when Robertson went over in the right corner but by then their sixth win in their last seven games was being loudly celebrated by the visiting supporters.
Niu won the Sky Player of the Match for another dominant show in a team of heroes. Andrew Badrock, a 23rd minute HIA replacement for Keanan Brand, who suffered a badly broken nose, was another outstanding performer.
St Helens
Tristan Sailor; Kyle Feldt, Harry Robertson, Matt Whitley, Owen Dagnall; Jonny Lomax, Moses Mbye; Alex Walmsley, Jake Wingfield, George Delaney, Curtis Sironen, Matty Lees, Morgan Knowles
Bench:
Jon Bennison, Agnatius Paasi, George Whitby, Leon Cowen. 18th player: Jake Davies (not used)
Try: Robertson (79)
Goals: Feldt 0/ 1
Leopards
Bailey Hodgson; Keanan Brand, Umyla Hanley, Tesi Niu, Josh Charnley; Gareth O’Brien, Lachlan Lam; Owen Trout, Edwin Ipape, Joe Ofahengaue, Jack Hughes, Frankie Halton, Isaac Liu
Bench:
Andrew Badrock, Alec Tuitavake, Matt Davis, Ben McNamara. 18th player (not used) AJ Towse
Tries:
Ofahengaue (59, 78)
Goals:
O’Brien 4/ 5
Scoring sequence: 0-2, 0-4 (ht) 0-10, 0-16, 4-16
Referee: Chris Kendall; Touch judges: Warren Turley & Matty Lynn; Video referee: Jack Smith; M Com: Tony Brown; Reserve referee: P Brooke; Timekeeper: Peter Taberner
Attendance: 11,805
Penalty count: 5-6
GLDO: 2-1
