Paul Wellens has cast doubt on whether Saturday evening’s defeat to Hull KR was his final game as head coach of St Helens.
The Saints’ quest to reach the Super League Grand Final came to a disappointing end as they were beaten 20-12 by league leaders Hull KR, who progressed to Old Trafford for the second successive season.
Wellens is now officially off-contract and there has been no discussion or admission publicly about whether or not he will stay in post for a fourth season in 2026, or whether he will step aside and leave the club.
He was asked the question by Sky Sports post-match, but was hesitant to give a concrete answer.
He said: “It’s not something I want to get too caught up in right now. We’ve a number of players who’ve given a lot for this club who are playing their last game and I’d like the focus to be on those.”
When asked and pushed on whether he wanted to be the coach, Wellens said: “We’ll have those discussions moving forward.”
It was an answer which did not inspire confidence in the prospect of Wellens continuing next year, and former Saints star Jon Wilkin admitted that Wellens’ response spoke volumes about the doubt concerning his future.
When referencing Wellens’ comments, Wilkin said: “That’s the answer in itself, isn’t it. One of the greatest players the club has ever had and the treatment of this process has to be careful.”
On the game itself as well as the season in general, Wellens admitted it was a bruising one to dissect and that the Saints players had to learn from the experience.
He said: “It’s been a real learning experience and we know when we step away we’ll think we’ve learned a lot this year. We’ll learn those lessons and move on but we weren’t quite as good as we need to be tonight and we need to improve.”