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It ended not so much with a bang, but with a whimper. One of rugby league’s most extraordinary streaks has felt as though it was coming to an inevitable end for quite some time but as it transpired, St Helens’ 64-year run of making the playoffs ultimately concluded in a manner that summarises their fall from grace.
You have to go back to 1962 to find an end-of-season playoff series that did not include one of rugby league’s true heavyweight clubs. In the Super League era, they have won 10 titles and were champions of the world as recently as 2023. But this, sadly, is a shadow of that side – and indeed that club.
They have been outsiders all season long for the playoffs, and their hopes were emphatically ended here against a team who themselves have genuine Old Trafford aspirations. Without over a dozen first-team players, Saints’ defensive frailties that have plagued them all season were exposed brutally yet again to ensure they will finish seventh. History for all the wrong reasons.
But this was just as significant a night for Leigh as it was for St Helens. These two teams have been on contrasting journeys in recent years with Saints slowly slipping away from being the best team in the world, and the Leopards rising year-on-year to become a genuine Super League threat in 2026. They scored eight tries, four in each half, to blow Saints away in crucial moments and book their playoff spot. They could yet finish fourth and get home advantage in the opening week should they beat Wakefield next Friday. After a slow start, Leigh look genuine contenders.
“We’ve got to rely on other teams winning over the weekend and then it’s still mathematically a chance,” their coach, Adrian Lam, said. “But we would have taken this a third of the way through the season so I’ve got to appreciate that.” His side were far too good when it mattered here, with their attack in devastating form all evening.
Super League’s all-time top try-scorer, Josh Charnley, opened the scoring with his 281st career try – and celebrated by signing a fake contract extension which was officially announced in the stadium moments later. David Armstrong doubled the lead soon after. There was a brief flurry of resistance from Saints but tries for Jacob Douglas and Tristan Sailor proved a false dawn. They collapsed again as half-time approached, with two more Leigh tries making it 24-10.
From there, it always felt unlikely at best that Saints could keep their season alive going into next weekend. “The group are very disappointed but they should be proud,” their interim coach, Eamon O’Carroll said. “The scoreline blew out but there were some St Helens traits in there. But there needs to be changes now.”
Those changes will be headlined by the arrival of the Australia coach, Kevin Walters, in 2027 – and he has plenty to work on based on this display. Leigh put the result beyond doubt as the hour mark approached when the outstanding Umyla Hanley scoring his second after Edwin Ipape barged over from close range.
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By then, it was merely a case of how many Leigh would win by. The answer was a resounding 38, as Jacob Alick-Wiencke exposed more timid St Helens defending before Robbie Mulhern strode through to score late on with the kind of ease that has been too common a sight in Saints’ play this season.
Sport is cyclical, and history suggests St Helens will be a force again. But there is a major rebuild ahead that suggests that return to the top table is some way off. For the first time in over a generation, the Saints will watch the playoffs with the rest of us as spectators.
