St Helens have announced head coach Paul Wellens is to depart the club following the recent conclusion of their 2025 season.
The 45-year-old was a club legend during his playing career and made 495 appearances for Saints before joining the coaching staff in 2015.
After moving into the head coach role for 2023, Wellens immediately guided Saints to a stunning win over Penrith Panthers in Australia to claim the World Club Challenge, but did not manage to continue the domestic dominance established under Justin Holbrook and Kristian Woolf before him.
He leaves the club having steered Saints to the Super League play-off semi-finals, during which they pulled off an incredible last-minute win against Leeds Rhinos at the eliminator stage before being well beaten by Hull KR on Saturday.
Chairman Eamonn McManus said Wellens had been a “supreme ambassador” for the club and parting company with him was “the most difficult decision”.
Wellens told the club website: “Whilst I’m naturally disappointed my time at the club will be coming to an end, I also respect that decision and would like to thank Eamonn for his honesty in what I know would have been an extremely difficult conversation.
“We have developed a close working relationship for the best part of 25 years, and despite the difficult nature of such discussions, our friendship remains very much intact.”
Wellens unable to keep Saints flying
Wellens served as assistant coach to Holbrook and Woolf during a period of unprecedented success for the club as they won four successive Super League Grand Finals between 2019 and 2022, as well as the Challenge Cup in 2021.
He took over from Woolf following the 2022 season and went on to sign a contract extension with the club in 2024 to remain for the 2025 campaign.
During his time as head coach, however, Saints were dethroned by rivals Wigan Warriors, who began a period of dominance of their own during his tenure.
In 2023, Saints fell short of retaining their Super League title for a fifth successive season, eventually finishing third and missing out on the League Leaders’ Shield on points difference following a remarkable regular season campaign.
Their post-season hopes were ended by a 12-6 defeat at Catalans Dragons in the semi-final.
By comparison, 2024 was a difficult season for the club as Saints struggled with a large number of injuries and rarely looked in contention to win silverware.
They claimed the final play-off berth with a sixth-placed finish and pushed Sam Burgess’ Warrington all the way in their eliminator game before succumbing to a dramatic 23-22 reverse.
Despite an impressive start to this season, during which they scored a cumulative 166 points in their opening three games and conceded just six, their form tailed off around the midway point of the season and they eventually finished fifth.
They showed grit to come back and stun Leeds at Headingley in their first play-off game but could not pull off a surprise win at Hull KR in the semi-final.
