SAINTS may go into Saturday’s Grand Final against reigning champions Wigan as massive underdogs – but it is a tag that has not done them any harm this past two months.

Nathan Brown, in charge of the club for the last time after citing family reasons for announcing his shock return to Australia, says his side go into the tussle with plenty of self-belief despite critics continuing to doubt that they can do it without their injured pivots.

Although Saints have won plenty in their glittering history, a victory at Old Trafford would be the stuff of dreams and surpass all other achievements.

In his regular Star Q&A column this week, Brown spells out the belief that the senior players have passed on to the playing group, married to the enthusiasm and effort of a great group of young players has been the key to stopping 2014 going off the cliff once the injuries struck.

After treading water for a couple of seasons, when they struggled to come to terms with the loss of some real giants of the game, Saints are winning again and at last look like they have put the blocks in place to advance further.

So from a rugby point of view, Brown’s decision to leave, with a year left on his contract, seemed a surprise.

But Brown explained that family reasons outweigh his desire to see two years’ hard work at Langtree Park bear fruit.

Brown said: “It is just family. I don’t have a job to go back to there.

“It is just the right time to go.

"From a pure rugby and business point of view I would be staying at St Helens.

“If you advertise this job tomorrow – apart from the blokes who have jobs coaching in the NRL and maybe the guys at Wigan, Warrington and Leeds – there is not a single coach who would not want to coach at St Helens.

“Every other coach would give their right arm to be here.

“They would plead to come here because it is a great job, the chairman is good to work for, as is Rushy as CEO.

“The club has a huge supporter base, it owns its own ground and it’s a great place to work.

“But nothing is more important than your family and I have been here six years.”

Former hooker Brown, who retired early as a player due to a serious neck injury, took the coaching reins at St George Illawarra in the NRL for six years.

He joined Saints ahead of 2013 after a four-year stint at Huddersfield and in that time has overseen some big changes.

However, despite being on the verge of big things at Saints Brown spelled out the difficulties often overlooked faced by those working 12,000 miles from home.

“My son is nearly four years old and my mum and dad don’t even know him.

“My wife’s best friends are her sisters and although she can talk to them on Skype it is not the same.

“It has been six years and it is time to go.

“It was easy decision because it was right for us as a family, but from a rugby point of view it probably looks ridiculous,” he said.

Although the team that Brown has moulded and shaped could upset the odds and send him home with Grand Final success at the top of his CV as he surveys the job market, the Saints boss already believes the team are winners regardless.

And, no matter what happens on Saturday night, he will be on the plane home later this month with a sense of satisfaction that he has moved the club on.

“At the end of the day Eamonn, Keiron and Rushy brought me here to do what has been done.My task was to move a lot of people out and make some hard calls and re-build the squad using younger players from within the system.

“And if they were not there we had to go and buy them and that job has been done now and next year we have more good players in and more younger ones coming through.

“If you look at Mark Percival, Adam Swift, Luke Thompson and Greg Richards and what they will be like when they get more experience.

“They have got such huge futures and so have Josh Jones and Tommy Makinson, too, they are all so young. Then you look at Big Alex Walmsley, who at 23 is young for a front rower. The growth of the squad is huge.

“I was brought here to rebuild St Helens – and now they are back at Old Trafford, having won the League Leaders Shield with three players missing, I have done my bit,” he said.

Saints chairman Eamonn McManus paid tribute but again spelled out the emphasis for now is on Saturday.

“Nathan has done a great job in rebuilding the St Helens squad over the past two seasons and we are very strongly positioned indeed for the future.

“The club’s focus is now entirely on winning the Grand Final at Old Trafford on Saturday. We are confident and the team is looking forward to this game with absolute determination and focus. As it is Nathan’s last game in charge, there is even more to play for and the motivation levels are even higher,”

he said.