Jonny’s magic helps send Saints to the Grand Final
JONNY LOMAX stuck the knife into Salford to leave defending champions St Helens 80 minutes away from Super League immortality.
The England scrum-half (below) was outstanding throughout as Kristian Woolf ’s side proved too strong for a Salford side who have emerged as a respected force this season.
Two first-half tries from forward Joe Batchelor laid the platform for this impressive win but the architect was Lomax, who had a hand in all three of their tries.
Now Saints will face a Leeds Rhinos side with whom they share the record of three consecutive Grand Final victories, the men from Headingley having achieved the feat between 2007 and 2009.
The fact that Leeds beat St Helens in all three of those games – and have won four title deciders against them – adds intrigue to next Saturday’s clash at Old Trafford.
But if Saints win, then they will stand alone as the greatest team in Super League history, with no side ever having won four Grand Finals on the spin. Woolf, who is leaving at the end of the season to return to Australia to take up an assistant coaching role with new NRL outfit the Dolphins, is backing his men to write themselves into the history books in his final game in charge.
He said: “I thought Jonny was great and had a real influence on the game.
“People talk about who are the best scrum-halves or stand-offs in Super League, but I don’t think Jonny gets enough recognition for how good he is.
“I think he would be an outstanding
NRL player and, as a team, we’ve got the class to beat anyone.
“Grand Final weeks are fun, they’re exciting, you have butterflies in your stomach, but we need to enjoy it.
“I can’t thank the fans enough for the way they have supported me and my family. I’ve got to say the same about the players too. This is the fourth successive Grand Final and they will have played a different team every season.
“That shows you how hard it is to get there, let alone win when you get there. It’s going to be a cracking game against Leeds on the big stage.”
Salford, already missing key playmaker Brodie Croft with a head injury, saw influential hooker Andy Ackers forced off with a concussion inside the opening exchanges.
The hosts, with prop Matty Lees leading their monstrous pack in the absence of injured England star Alex Walmsley, dominated the first half.
Batchelor, one of several England World Cup hopefuls in Saints’ squad, scored twice from Lomax kicks and also had two other efforts ruled out.
Batchelor’s first-half converted double and a Lomax drop-goal gave Saints a 13-6 lead, with Kallum Watkins replying for Salford when he finished a fine flowing move before the break.
After the restart, Ryan Brierley finished off a delightful breakaway to bring the Red Devils back within a point in the second half.
But Saints full-back Jon Bennison touched down late on to ensure the job was done for Saints, who had England World Cup hopeful Morgan Knowles sin-binned for an ugly challenge on Chris Atkin.
That could see Knowles banned for the Grand Final if he is cited for the offence but Woolf said: “I would be flabbergasted if anything came of that.”
Saints had winger Tommy Makinson sin-binned for a professional foul in denying Tim Lafai a tryscoring opportunity and Salford coach Rowley felt his side could have been awarded a penalty try.
Boss Rowley said: “Maybe, if we had Ackers and Brodie Croft in there, it could have been different.
“But we fell just short and that’s heartbreaking. “Overall we didn’t throw enough at Saints and we weren’t as clinical as weeks gone by. You can’t question the character, though.”