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redfiona99Game 26 was Saints away at Huddersfield, which Saints won (https://www.saintsrlfc.com/matches/2024/first-team/huddersfield-giants-v-saints-2024-09-01/?swcfpc=1)
The biggest news to my mind was Morgan Knowles coming back. I was not alone in this opinion - https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/24556400.morgan-knowles-brought-saints-return/
The St. Helens Star, a biased source I grant, said, "He missed the best part of three months with a groin issue – a period that coincided with the beginning of Saints’ picking up other injuries and then subsequent run of defeats." (https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/24556400.morgan-knowles-brought-saints-return/)
It also points out he then missed 3 games due to a ban for a high tackle.
Saints lost 7 of the 11 games Knowles missed.
The really terrifying thing is that 2024 was Knowles's 10th year with Saints. Time flies, eh?
While the game was a victory for Saints, it also highlighted a worrying trend for yellow cards (although I forgive Noah Stephens entirely).
Bennison having to do the kicks reassured me in the "there is another" with regards to kicks if Percival is off the pitch.
None of match-specific pictures are all that interesting so I'll move on to the season to date diagrams.
Seeing Bennison shoot up the "who scores for Saints?" diagram after just one game shows how important the kicker is.
Robertson is now on the list after scoring his first ever try for Saints. Overall 24 different players have scored either a try or conversion for Saints in 2024.
When do Saints score?
Who is present when Saints score?
The matrix of who is present when Saints score is interesting:
Normally it would go darkest (most often together) in the bottom right hand corner and paler (less often together) as it moves up and to the left.
This time, that pattern happens but then there's a suddenly dark border along the top and left which consists of Whitley, Bennison and Batchelor, suggesting Saints score when they are on the pitch together. Which makes some sort of sense because Batchelor definitely missed some matches with an injury.
The equivalent network graph is slightly different again.
It's interesting that two ways of presenting the same data give subtly different results.
There's no real changes to the pattern of the "who scores against Saints" diagram so I haven't included it.
The last 10 minutes of the game is still when Saints are most vulnerable.
Blake also leads the "who is present when Saints concede?" chart
The matrix diagram of who is present together when Saints concede is not as pretty as it was after game 25 (https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/saints-ahoy-game-25-and-the-2024-season-to-date/). It think it's because the "curls" of more often together in the mid-section are less well defined than they were last time.
Unlike the "who is present when Saints score?" matrix and network graphs, the concession network graph mostly matches the matrix diagram.
I am now wondering whether the darker swirls in the matrix chart are those players who are in the intermediate group in the network graph.
The biggest news to my mind was Morgan Knowles coming back. I was not alone in this opinion - https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/24556400.morgan-knowles-brought-saints-return/
The St. Helens Star, a biased source I grant, said, "He missed the best part of three months with a groin issue – a period that coincided with the beginning of Saints’ picking up other injuries and then subsequent run of defeats." (https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/sport/24556400.morgan-knowles-brought-saints-return/)
It also points out he then missed 3 games due to a ban for a high tackle.
Saints lost 7 of the 11 games Knowles missed.
The really terrifying thing is that 2024 was Knowles's 10th year with Saints. Time flies, eh?
While the game was a victory for Saints, it also highlighted a worrying trend for yellow cards (although I forgive Noah Stephens entirely).
Bennison having to do the kicks reassured me in the "there is another" with regards to kicks if Percival is off the pitch.
None of match-specific pictures are all that interesting so I'll move on to the season to date diagrams.
Seeing Bennison shoot up the "who scores for Saints?" diagram after just one game shows how important the kicker is.
Robertson is now on the list after scoring his first ever try for Saints. Overall 24 different players have scored either a try or conversion for Saints in 2024.
When do Saints score?
Who is present when Saints score?
The matrix of who is present when Saints score is interesting:
Normally it would go darkest (most often together) in the bottom right hand corner and paler (less often together) as it moves up and to the left.
This time, that pattern happens but then there's a suddenly dark border along the top and left which consists of Whitley, Bennison and Batchelor, suggesting Saints score when they are on the pitch together. Which makes some sort of sense because Batchelor definitely missed some matches with an injury.
The equivalent network graph is slightly different again.
It's interesting that two ways of presenting the same data give subtly different results.
There's no real changes to the pattern of the "who scores against Saints" diagram so I haven't included it.
The last 10 minutes of the game is still when Saints are most vulnerable.
Blake also leads the "who is present when Saints concede?" chart
The matrix diagram of who is present together when Saints concede is not as pretty as it was after game 25 (https://fulltimesportsfan.wordpress.com/2025/06/11/saints-ahoy-game-25-and-the-2024-season-to-date/). It think it's because the "curls" of more often together in the mid-section are less well defined than they were last time.
Unlike the "who is present when Saints score?" matrix and network graphs, the concession network graph mostly matches the matrix diagram.
I am now wondering whether the darker swirls in the matrix chart are those players who are in the intermediate group in the network graph.
