St Helens 48 Huddersfield Giants 6: Gulf in class underlined to leave all-Yorkshire bottom six

Only four points separated Huddersfield and St Helens in the table going into the Magic Weekend clash but they appear to be going in different directions.

Whereas the Giants have lost five of their last six games after the drubbing in Newcastle, Saints are looking more like the team that have had the Super League trophy under lock and key since 2019.

The four-time defending champions produced arguably their best performance of the season to back up Ian Watson's pre-match assessment that they remain the team to beat despite sitting outside the top six at the time.

The comprehensive victory on Tyneside – which featured four Tommy Makinson tries – saw Paul Wellens' side take Hull KR's place in the play-off positions, leaving an all-Yorkshire bottom six at the halfway mark of the campaign.

Huddersfield made huge strides last year but appear to be going backwards after suffering an eighth defeat in 13 games.

Fresh from a first win in five against Castleford Tigers, the ninth-placed Giants made the perfect start when former St Helens pair Theo Fages and Kevin Naiqama combined to break the deadlock on seven minutes.

Fages kicked in behind and Naiqama was in the right place to finish after Jake Bibby failed to touch the ball down.

But that was as good as it got for the Giants as St Helens scored 48 unanswered points to inflict a heaviest defeat of the season on Watson's men.

Crucially, Saints quickly wiped out Huddersfield's advantage through Konrad Hurrell after the Giants failed to deal with Lewis Dodd's high kick.

St Helens went in front for the first time at the end of the first quarter when Mark Percival finished off a fine team move – and the world club champions never looked like relinquishing their lead.

The Giants found themselves under the pump after Luke Yates saw yellow for a cannonball tackle on Makinson and eventually buckled just as their captain was about to return from his 10-minute stint in the sin bin.

Huddersfield were not helped by the loss of prop Joe Greenwood to a head injury following a collision with Alex Walmsley.

Makinson scored the try that broke the Giants' resolve after a quick shift to the right.

Huddersfield were only 16-6 behind at the break but the scoreline quickly got away from them as St Helens flexed their muscles with three tries in little over 10 minutes at the start of the second half.

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook took Dodd's inside ball to power his way over and Makinson finished in the corner after being harshly denied by a forward pass moments earlier before Hurrell crashed in for his second.

Makinson completed his hat-trick just before the hour mark courtesy of fast hands and had a fourth at the end of another crisp attack.

Saints saved the best for last as Jack Welsby broke from deep and found Makinson who put Joey Lussick over with a no-look flick pass.

St Helens: Welsby, Makinson, Hurrell, Percival, Ritson, Lomax, Dodd, Walmsley, Roby, Lees, Sironen, Batchelor, Bell. Substitutes: Mata'utia, Lussick, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Paasi.

Huddersfield Giants: Lolohea, Bibby, Marsters, Naiqama, Senior, Connor, Fages, Hill, Peats, English, Cudjoe, McQueen, Yates. Substitutes: Milner, Ikahihifo, Rushton, Greenwood.

Referee: Marcus Griffiths.