St Helens head coach Paul Wellens admitted he and his team need to do some “soul searching” after a tough 32-18 loss to Warrington Wolves in round nine of Super League.

After a poor opening 20 minutes of the game, St Helens rallied to bring the scoreline to 16-14 at half-time, trailing by just two points and looking like the team on top.

However, they quickly conceded in the second half as Matty Ashton went over for his hat-trick, Rodrick Tai and Matt Dufty then going over as they romped to the win.

The second half in particular was a showing of sloppy defence from Saints, making it 15 losses in a row against Super League’s top sides since they beat Wigan Warriors in the Good Friday derby in 2024.

Now, Wellens believes he and the players need to take a look at the intent with which they turned up for the game, the St Helens native bemused by his team moving away from their usually effective defensive systems.

“I think I will be (deep in thought) for some time to be honest,” Wellens said.

“It is obviously disappointing and not just the result but the performance.

“Some soul searching needs to be done both individually and collectively because that is not of the standard. That is way off the standard we need to hit.

“I am responsible for the results and performances of this team and I have never once shied away from that.

“For the second game in a row we have started a game really sloppily and coughed up cheap possession but I can’t keep talking about that, we have to fix it up.

“We have done so much work throughout pre-season and the early rounds trying to implement things to improve our attack.

“But if you are going to get the opportunity to attack you need to A) Keep hold of the ball and B) Turn up with a defensive attitude and resilience to earn the right to play and we did neither of those tonight and it needs to be better.

“I thought our edge defence was poor but because people were coming out of our defensive system, I can’t for the life of me think why.

“We showed last week and numerous times that when we get up together and stay connected we are a very difficult team to break down.

“But not only did we come out of the line we also missed the basic one-on-ones and at this level you just cannot do it.”

While conceding quickly in the second half is always a blow, the manner in which St Helens defended Ashton’s third try was a “worrying sign” for Wellens, indicating a lack of “effort” from individuals within his team.

Indeed, Wellens is aware of the level of criticism that his side’s performance will be getting but revealed he has grown a “thick skin” in the 18 months he has been in charge.

“It was just so frustrating because we had shown great character to get ourselves back into the game especially having been so poor for the first 15 or so minutes,” Wellens added.

“Then we conceded really softly again after half-time.

“It is a worrying sign because we had spoken at half-time about starting the second half strongly but I am not so sure that, first of all, as a collective, and certain individuals within our team tonight, came to play tonight with the right amount of intent.

“One of the things I have learnt to do over the last 18 months is grow a thick skin.

“I know a lot of people are going to be upset and disappointed, but I don’t get caught up in that anymore.

“I get caught up in the performance of the team, the individuals in it, and working hard to help them improve and us all improve.”

Super League – Round Nine

Thurs April 24: Warrington 32-18 St Helens
Fri April 25: Leeds vs Hull KR – 8pm
Sat April 26: Huddersfield vs Castleford – 3pm
Sat April 26: Salford vs Leigh – 5.30pm – exclusively live on Sky Sports
Sat April 26: Catalans vs Wakefield – 5.30pm
Sun April 27: Hull FC vs Wigan – 3pm

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.