St Helens boss Paul Wellens hailed Jack Welsby as a “coach’s dream” as the England star turned from villain to hero in a thrilling win against Warrington.
The champions threw away a 12-6 interval lead when Matty Ashton raced in an 80m intercept try off Welsby’s ill-conceived pass at the start of the second half. Revved-up Warrington went on to surge 20-12 ahead in a thrilling contest but the gifted full-back Welsby, 22, eventually came good. He helped set up the brilliant Jonny Lomax’s try and then stepped through to create Lewis Dodd’s vital score in the 66th minute.
St Helens - struggling so much early on this year - now leapfrog their gutted rivals to jump into third spot. And Wellens enthused: “Jack’s a coach’s dream. He was disappointed with that pass but what I like about him is that when he does something like that he doesn’t walk around sulking for 10 to 15 minutes.
