Wellens cannot fault depleted Saints after Cup loss
After Percival came off, Saints were forced to deploy 18th man James Bell for the remainder of the tie as they put in a creditable performance under the circumstances.They have felt the impact of HIAs more than most teams of late however, as they arrived at the Halliwell Jones Stadium without centre Harry Robertson who also failed an assessment in their narrow win at Catalans.Despite his absence and their loss of personnel at Warrington, Wellens was pragmatic about his side's fortunes and wants them to press ahead with their season."We have to deal with the circumstances, there's no point whinging and moaning about it," Wellens added."Obviously we'll come away from this game and find some solutions. We're light particularly in the outside backs at the moment."It's like what championship teams do and all championship teams have to handle those situations and that's what we're going to need to do."
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Ospreys agree St Helen's lease as Bridgend host 2025-26 games
Ospreys have agreed to finalise a long-term lease at St Helen's in Swansea with home games for the upcoming season being played in July 2024, Ospreys announced they would move from the Stadium to the smaller St Helen's ground during the 2025–26 Swansea rugby venue needs redevelopment and the initial plan was to play the first home game at St Helen's in December have now decided to play 11 scheduled home matches at the Brewery Field in Bridgend for the new season, with the first game staged in Swansea at the start of the 2026-27 announcement comes as the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) is considering cutting the number of professional sides from four to two. 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Our plan is to still start the redevelopment in September and people will be able to see work is going on."We wouldn't start that work if we weren't confident we were going to be playing there."Bradley outlined why the original plan had altered."We've looked at the [St Helens] redevelopment and plans have changed as we've been doing them, principally around the permanent south stand," said Bradley."When we looked at the timing of how long that would take, it's six to eight months."We had a choice of being in for December with a partly finished ground or leaving it for the beginning of the following season. We have opted to do that second option."You get one chance to make a first impression. Our first impression will now be two stands, a terrace with a roof and permanent south stand with fantastic facilities."Bradley explained why they were relocating home games to Bridgend for the season rather than playing matches in Swansea."We looked at staying at the Stadium but unfortunately about half of our fixtures clash with Swansea City," said Bradley."Even if we had wanted to do that, it would have meant playing half our games there and half somewhere else."We have taken the decision it's better to have certainty of playing them in one place and Bridgend have been fantastically accommodating." Hoping for backing of Ospreys fans Bradley hopes Ospreys supporters back the decision for one season in Bridgend with season tickets now available."I hope there won't be a backlash and fans understand what we are trying to do is create a fantastic experience for them when they come to St Helen's," said Bradley."It's going to be two thirds of a season later than we had hoped, but hopefully it will make up for that by being so good when they arrive."Before that, we hope fans get behind us and support us at the Brewery Field."Bridgend have previously hosted individual Ospreys matches rather than a full campaign and facilities will need to be upgraded with more seating and disabled provisions improved."There's a big difference between one-off games and planning to be there for the whole season," said Bradley."We've had conversations with the Bridgend management and what we want to do is leave a legacy. "Rather than just pay rent, we'd like to help improve the facilities for rugby in Bridgend for the foreseeable future." Swansea support Plans to redevelop St Helen's were officially approved earlier this month when Swansea council's planning committee voted unanimously in one includes a new 3G pitch, fan zone and stands to accommodate up to 8,000 spectators, while phase two will add a training facility and says Swansea Council have backed the decision to delay their first game at St Helen's and are aware Welsh rugby's situation, with about £4m needed to redevelop the ground."They have been amazing and their support has made this possible," said Bradley."The council have made it clear we are talking about public money and there are safeguards you have to have in place."We agree and have had those conversations with them but the conversations we have been focusing on is the St Helen's redevelopment and bright future we hope we have got here. "It's an incredible place and every time you come here you can feel the history of the place. We feel humbled to be taking a leading role in the next part." 'Confident of Ospreys future' Ospreys and Scarlets have both announced ambitious plans at a time when there are major questions over their future existence. Ospreys' proposals for their new ground was followed by Scarlets revealing new investors. The WRU will provide their "optimal solution" in the next week which will be followed by a six-week consultation before a final decision which is expected in October."We will be working with them [WRU] to try and work out what the best way forward for Welsh rugby is," said Bradley."That's the big priority and our priority is what is best for Ospreys."Ospreys and Scarlets could be battling to be the west Wales side in the new order with Bradley remaining upbeat about the future. "We are the most successful region and our investment in St Helen's is a statement of genuine intent," said Bradley."It's one of the things that is always the case, people running clubs always know a little bit more about what is going on."I'm not implying I know what the answer is going to be, but I do feel confident about our future."Having professional rugby continuing in Swansea is our plan."Scarlets fans and local politicians objected to Swansea council passing the St Helen's plans despite the matter being in a different local authority. When asked whether it was a fight for survival between Ospreys and Scarlets, Bradley responded: "We try to control the controllables."My job is to make the Ospreys as good as I can and put us in the best possible position for a long-term future at St Helen's in Swansea."WRU chief executive Abi Tierney suggested if an Ospreys and Scarlets merger could not be agreed, the decision could be put out to tender."There are two key things for us, and we have to bear in mind the eye on the prize is making Welsh rugby better," said Bradley."How you achieve that with a team in the west of Wales, if that's what it ends up being, is slightly secondary to doing what is best for national and club teams."The means by which it happens isn't as important as the end result. As long as it's us, of course!"
