Cunningham answers: coach talks Burns tackle, the meaning of derby, warrior Wello and his admiration of Shaun Wane

MC: With regards to the tackle on Travis Burns, you did not make a song and dance about it afterwards. Why was that?

KC: I just don’t think it is my place to point out things that the disciplinary committee will pick up on. It is a tough game and genuinely the kid (James Green) is a nice kid. I know Rovers coach Chris Chester does not teach his players to do anything malicious, so it would be wrong for me to put targets on people’s heads. I think the kid (Green) was quite humiliated by what he had done.

MC: Burns’ injury and then James Roby going off had a massive impact on the way the game was played.

KC: I still think we had a lot of chances to win the game comfortably. After watching it back, on another night, when my halves were firing a bit more, we would have been 18-0 up after 12 minutes.

It was not an effort thing – the players tried their hearts out. Losing Robes really hurt us, we missed his direction. He could have pulled us out of it.

MC: Saints had plenty of time on the Rovers line, what went wrong?

KC: It was basically the options that we took, which has never been an issue for us. We showed the team and sat our halves down afterwards.

It was a really emotional night for Burnsy and he wanted to do so well on his return, but he tried to solve things on his own, which is understandable. He is a very competitive kid and he got a real tough time all night.

At one point I think someone had him in a reverse choke hold, but he did not respond. He wanted to do well – when he is composed he generally makes the right selections. I think it had a knock effect with Wilko and it just didn’t help us.

I am proud of what they did to have the resilience to get back in the game there after being so far behind deserves credit. Hull KR defended well so deserve their pat on the back.

MC: Is Saints v Wigan just the sort of fixture you want to pick everyone up?

KC: Of course it is. I’d love a fully fit squad, as would Shaun Wane, but there’s no better game to get back on the horse than a Wigan game.

The Saints v Wigan derby is renowned for being a scintillating fixture – and if you look back in history you can pull out some crackers.

I have got a young squad, who relish these conditions, so we are looking forward to it.

MC: You have played in plenty of these, you know what they are all about. What is so special about Saints and Wigan?

KC: It is the history of the fixture. It genuinely is the only derby in the competition because it was the only one given the title by Lord Derby. Everyone else pinched it off us.

It means so much to the town because we border Wigan and a lot of families are split. You are brought up with that passion of playing against Wigan and vice versa. You see how passionate Waney is about beating Saints. I am just the same about my club.

MC: Shaun Wane has been a surprise as a coach. Some observers assumed he would flounder and not adapt after Michael Maguire went home.

KC: That goes to show something. People assume that Australians are the best but I knew from the start that he would be a smart coach. Having that passion and enthusiasm for your home town is important. Maguire was a good coach, but I don’t think he understood Super League.

Shaun Wane is a great coach and to bring that enthusiasm, with that education that he has got, is only good for Super League. If you look what Wigan are doing, they have evolved again and changed the way they are playing.

They struggled with it to start with this year – but having got more players back it looks like they are firing on all cylinders and against Wakefield it looked like the penny has finally dropped with the way he wants them to play.

It is going to be a daunting game for us – but we are no slouches and I would like to think we are good on both sides of the ball too. It is going to be a good game.

He has won all those trophies and all people want to do is slag him off. I think he is a great coach and if he had been an Australian winning the double he’d have been praised more. Winning the double in this era is no mean feat and not may have done that. I was the first person on the phone to congratulate him.

MC: After the Grand Final last year the sport – and Wigan in particular – had some pretty open wounds which the wider press exploited. Saints could have jumped on that too, but instead the club offered its biggest rival an olive branch.

KC: It is like we are step brothers – we are both fighting for the same cause. As clubs and compatriots we have a duty of care for this game. We are the leaders in this game and everyone looks up at us. We have a duty to look after this game.

We had bad press over this incident from some who did not know what a rugby ball looks like. Every rugby league player will hold his hand up and say I have done something stupid. As a player I did stupid things but it was probably away at Rochdale or in a game that didn’t matter.

Ben Flower did his on a world stage, in the Grand Final. He is a super kid, a great professional and a lovely guy.

Waney speaks highly of him and says he is still hurting until this day, as would any of my players of they had done something ridiculous.

Emotion takes control of you – he reacted to an occasion and that was magnified because of where it was.

For us it was forgotten after the game, if anything it was the press who tried to make something of it. The sooner Ben is back playing the better.

MC: Easter is tough at the best of times, but what is the plan with all the injuries affecting your selection?

KC: I am going to try and play my best squad in the three games over a short turnaround.

We are hopeful on Wello. He has not had great news from the specialiist regarding his body. He may be old but he is a warrior and will try an push through it.

And if he can be fit we are happy to have him on board because he offers the team a lot. He is always going to compete hard because he cares and tries his heart out with everything he does, sometimes to his detriment. He pushes on with injuries that no one else would play with, but he is a tough old boot and he wants to see the season out.