St Helens stare at historic playoff absence after Hull FC defeat deepens decline
St Helens, the most successful club in Super League history, are on course to miss the playoffs for the first time in more than 60 years. With five rounds of the 2026 season remaining, they sit four points adrift of the top six — the cutoff for postseason rugby — after a 32-18 home defeat to Hull FC on 6 August The Guardian Love Rugby League.
For a club that has spent decades at the summit of English rugby league, the scale of the fall is striking. St Helens won four consecutive Super League titles between 2019 and 2022 and beat Australia's Penrith Panthers in the World Club Challenge in 2023, a match that pits the Super League champions against the NRL premiers. They have been crowned Super League champions a record 10 times The Guardian.
The 2026 season has been a grind from the start. St Helens did not record their first league win until around late February Instagram. Results have rarely settled into a consistent rhythm since, and the campaign has already cost one head coach his job.
Paul Rowley, formerly in charge at Salford, was appointed over the winter of 2025-26 but was sacked in July after eight months in the role. The decision was made by Abi Ekoku, who had become the club's chief executive a few months earlier and now carries the responsibility of finding a replacement The Guardian.
St Helens are expected to look to Australia for their next appointment, targeting an assistant coach from the NRL in a move that mirrors their 2019 hiring of Justin Holbrook — the man who launched that run of four straight titles. Playmaker Jackson Hastings, a former Super League Man of Steel (the league's player-of-the-year award), is likely to leave the club after an underwhelming season The Guardian.
Former St Helens forward Jon Wilkin said in August 2026 that a gap has opened between the club and its supporters, and that the priority must be retaining the fanbase through this lean period The Guardian.
The Super League elimination play-offs are scheduled for 26-27 September, with the semi-finals on 3 October and the Grand Final later in October. Fixtures released last November included Wolves v St Helens among the postseason schedule Rugby League Commercial. Whether the first-placed playoff fixture listing was drawn up with optimism or simply by rotation, St Helens now need a late-season surge just to qualify.
There is a flicker of promise lower down the club's structure. St Helens' academy side finished top of their table with 11 wins from 12 in the regular season and hosted Hull FC in the academy playoffs Rugby League Commercial. Whether that conveyor belt of young talent can replenish the senior squad quickly enough is a question the next head coach will inherit.
For now, the club that once set the standard finds itself chasing the pack.
