Megan Wellens
Digital Sports Journalist @MegWellensX
St Helens 40-0 Catalans Dragons: George Whitby hat-trick gives Saints much-needed Super League win
Three tries from George Whitby plus efforts from Deon Cross, Alex Walmsley, Tristan Sailor and Lewis Murphy ended Saints' losing streak; Sky Sports will again show every game of Super League live this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live
Last Updated: 16/05/25 6:04am
A George Whitby hat-trick helped St Helens to a much-needed and dominant 40-0 victory over Catalans Dragons at the Totally Wicked Stadium in Round 11 of the Betfred Super League.
With both sides needing to win the game after poor runs, the hosts were the team with all the control and laid down a marker, with 18-year-old Whitby scoring 24 of their points.
St Helens had a dominant lead at the half-time break through four converted tries, Whitby going over twice and Alex Walmsley and Deon Cross also touching down for a 24-0 advantage.
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It was then the turn of the Saints wingers to get on the scoreboard in the second half, Tristan Sailor and Lewis Murphy going over, with Whitby sliding in for his third to round out the scoring.
St Helens move up to fourth in the Super League table and end a three-match losing streak, while Catalans remain down in seventh and out of the play-off places.
Young Whitby the star as Saints bounce back
Only three minutes had gone when Saints shifted it through hands and Jack Welsby sent a late pass to Sailor, allowing the winger to use his speed to break downfield, with young half-back Whitby backing him up to go over before converting his own effort for a 6-0 lead.
The home team were dominating possession and it took only five minutes to extend their advantage, Walmsley barrelling over from short range and Whitby once again adding the extras for a 12-0 lead.
Catalans then got their opportunity to chance their arm in the middle period of the half and challenged St Helens to stand up in defence, but those in the 'red v' did just that while being aided by error-strewn sets from the Dragons.
With just four minutes of the first half remaining, St Helens went over once again after a huge Agnatius Paasi hit put them on top to send it through hands for Cross to walk in on his home debut for his hometown club, Whitby precise with the boot once again.
Catalans were just waiting for the break to arrive, but, with under a minute remaining on the clock, Saints found some more life, Welsby's reverse pass being gathered by Mark Percival, who cut back and found Whitby to go over for his second try, the conversion accurate once again for a dominant 24-0 lead at half-time.
St Helens came out for the second half and dominated possession for the opening 10 minutes, finally getting their reward again after 13 minutes as Percival backed himself and then sent a delightful flick pass out to Sailor to tap down on the edge, Whitby converting this time from the touchline.
It was then the turn of the other edge to strike, Murphy flying over in acrobatic style. However, it did bring an end to Whitby's perfect night with the boot as he could not add the extras.
That did not matter too much, though, as he then provided more points as he slid in for his hat-trick, Walmsley popping up the pass for him to round off a brilliant individual display and an emphatic 40-0 win for his side.
Whitby: As a St Helens boy this is a dream | 'He has potential to go to top'
Whitby, who turns 19 on Saturday, has only played seven games for St Helens but he has already made quite the impression, starring in his half-back role.
Indeed, even he could not quite believe he had gone over for three tries and scored a whopping 24 points in total, his accuracy with the boot working wonders once again.
"We kept it simple today and that really worked for us. It's great to get back to winning ways," he told Sky Sports.
"We just needed to go back to being direct and going through the front door. I got some good tries off the back of that, it was a really good collective performance so I am proud of the boys.
"I am lost for words and it hasn't quite sunk in yet. What an atmosphere and the fans are singing loud and proud. That is all we can ask for.
"For me as a St Helens boy, that just makes it extra special."
Head coach Paul Wellens was full of praise for Whitby and believes he has what it takes to go all the way.
"Whitby does the simple things really well. He is growing in confidence week by week and he looks very much at home in a Saints jersey," Wellens said.
"He's a real, natural rugby league player, I cannot tell you how much of a nice lad he is, how grounded he is. He comes to training wanting to work hard and improve, if he continues to do that for the rest of his career, he has the potential to go to the top of the game."
Wellens: Important to snap losing streak | McNamara: I couldn't believe mistakes
St Helens head coach Paul Wellens speaking to Sky Sports:
"It was important for us to snap that losing streak. For a number of weeks I've been saying I didn't feel like we were too far away, I felt we had a performance like that in us.
"We had four or five training sessions to really implement some stuff that worked really well for us tonight. I really liked the look of what the players did.
"I'm relieved, I'm relieved for the players because I know how much they care and how frustrated they have been. I'm also relieved for the spectators.
"A lot has been said over the last couple of weeks since Magic. The one thing I asked the supporters for this week was to get behind the team. The team came to play and the supporters responded. That is my biggest take home."
Catalans Dragons head coach Steve McNamara speaking to Sky Sports:
"When you start the way we started, conceding two tries early, it's difficult. When you complete at less than 70 per cent, that's difficult. When you give five penalties away when you play the ball incorrectly, that makes things difficult.
"We had 17 fewer sets than them because of the infringements we made, so you get what you get. We came ready to play but to do that to ourselves makes it nearly impossible and we end up with a 40-0 scoreline.
"No [I couldn't believe the mistakes]. In the middle of the half we were in the fight, in the battle. But we compounded those errors with some horrible decisions in defence that cost you points against a quick team like Saints. We're going to have to lick our wounds on this one, it's been a tough schedule but we will get up and go again."
Sky Sports will again show every game of Super League live this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+ via the red button.
