NATHAN Brown is looking forward to welcoming back James Roby, Paul Wellens and Francis Meli as he prepares his charges to face Huddersfield tomorrow (Sunday).
The trio will return from injury and provide an instant boost to a side seeking its second win in a fortnight.
But Saints Head Coach has warned his team that they need to do better as a group rather than relying on returning players.
“On Saturday, Warrington did the damage in the first 25 minutes and were defensively better too,” he said. “We didn’t help ourselves with our defence and we made it easy for them. We had a good 60 minutes against Leeds but our first 30 against Warrington wasn’t good enough. We did well to pull it back to 12-10 and 30-22 but we need to be making it harder for the opposition to get that far ahead.
“We are getting players back but it is down to individual players to gain that consistency. We gave Warrington far too much time and space. We showed character in the second half and for 25 minutes we were the better side but we gave ourselves far too much to do. The last five minutes of the first half just wasn’t good enough. We can take some credit for hanging on in there but we have to be doing it from the start. We’ve been allowing sides to get across the try line too easily.”
James Roby and Paul Wellens are available for Monday’s clash alongside Francis Meli who is clear from suspension. Lance Hohaia is improving but is a doubt for the trip to Huddersfield because of a bad caulk.
“Robes would have played last week but had a virus,” Brown added. “He wasn’t worth the risk. We’ve had a long period of pain in the last few weeks and we didn’t want to open him up to more injury.”
Saints travel to Huddersfield on Monday for a match-up with one of the form teams in the competition.
The Giants lie second in the competition and have won four of their last five.
“When they have all of their good players playing, and are fit, they are hard to beat,” Brown continued. “When we lost to them earlier in the season we did not appear physically at all. We were too standoffish and when you are like that you get what you get.
“I had three-and-a-half years there and enjoyed my time. I still get on well with the fans and the backroom staff. I want them to do well, as long as Saints do better of course. The key to coaching is bringing in the right players and I knew they would be fine. It will be a tough match.”