“THE win at Leeds was last week and now we have to build and move on”.
That was the message from Royce Simmons as Saints prepare to face Bradford Bulls this Friday.
Whilst the Club is buzzing after the 30-16 victory, it’s back to business this week and trying to secure Saints’ first win at their temporary home in Widnes.
“We enjoyed the win and have taken a lot of positives from it, but now we have to move on,” he said. “We can’t say we have beaten Leeds so we are back on track. We have to build some form now and that means our attitude has to be spot on.
“It was a good win considering Jonny Lomax only had two run outs with us. Pre-season we were training with him in the centres and and at full back too. But he was away with England Knights for most of last week and we only had two sessions.
“I spoke with him the night before training and tried to give him some easy options. But he wanted to play the way we have been training and he handled it pretty well.
“He knew he wasn’t going to get everything right, but did it with speed and energy. When he had any doubts over what to do he pinned his ears back and had a go at the line.
“Both the young half-backs did well and shared their roles. Paul Wellens also came in there too and a lot more input into the game than he is used to.
“It was Lee Gaskell and Jonny’s first run out together since the under 18s and the more they play, the better they will be.”
He continued: “One of the main plusses was how we handled disappointments in the match. We spoke about this during the week and after their forward pass try we reacted positively and got better.
“The same happened when Josh Perry was called for striping – we got on with it and reacted well.
“We were embarrassed by our performance the week before and we performed well… but we have to do the same this week.
“Last week is done now and we’re back at home and haven’t been as good as what we like.”
Saints should welcome Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Jon Wilkin and Sia Soliola into the side but have a doubt with Josh Perry who has a shoulder injury.
Paul Clough won’t play after the injury he sustained at Headingley.
“It’s good to have them back. Jon has come through well and thankfully it wasn’t a significant tear of his calf.
“Sia did the right thing when he went over on his ankle at training. He went home and stayed up all night icing it. He did that off his own back and it has probably saved him a week on the back end.
“Bradford played well last week and got a good win. Their defence was good too against Castleford who have scored a lot of points. They had good speed on the line too. It will be a tough match.”
Tickets for the game are still on sale from the Saints Town Centre store, by calling 01744 455 052 or by clicking here.
