KEIRON Cunningham paid tribute to his team after their dominant win over Wigan which took them to the top of the Super League. The Star’s Mike Critchley asked the questions.

MC: The town is experiencing quite an afterglow from Wigan, but I take it the players and coaches had to switch back to next game straight away?

KC: We try and get the review done and dusted as early as we can.

I was in at half past five on Saturday morning because the 19s were playing at noon and had to get my video done before watching them.

Everyone had a smile on their faces and enjoyed a good weekend, sitting back in the sun, watching the other teams knock hell out of each other.

MC: Has that added another notch on to Langtree Park’s history?

KC: When you move into a new stadium you are always building your tradition and each one that you win like that goes in the history books.

It is still not Knowsley Road but we are not far off.

MC: Physically, have we seen a transformation in this Saints team this past 18 months and it is now noticeable in the Wigan games?

KC: You see it in all the big games we play – and you have your Gregs, Tommos and Andres and all the kids who have now got past 20 games and become a bit more seasoned. It is good for the club.

MC: Wigan errors did not just happen by accident or through human error.

KC: We completed 95 per cent in the second half which is virtually faultless. We ground them down and forced a lot of errors.

You make your own luck in rugby league and if you have not got six or seven blokes chasing a ball you don’t get the bounce of the ball, or Matty Bowen takes it clean.

If you look at the players in the frame there are a lot of numbers around Bowen. People are working hard off the ball.

KC: From Wigan’s first try, Saints starting winning that contest by the way they kicked, chased and controlled the game. How did you see it?

MC: I read one match report which said we were out on our feet just before half time, and for me personally half time could not have come quick enough for Wigan.

We were going to score and we put the ball on the floor and they went full length.

We were in a dominant position from 17 minutes and for roughly 60 minutes we did nothing but turn the screw and and keep turning it.

We were kicking on play two sometimes and backing our defence. That grinds a team down into making errors.

I could see how the needle was swinging because our energy was really high because had a lot of possession.

We were the better team and fair play to Waney, he rang me on Saturday and said ‘well done and as much as it gripes me to say it you were the better team’.

It won’t be the last we will hear from Wigan and we are definitely going to play them again this season at some point and hopefully we will do as well as we did.

MC: Was that what you call a captain’s knock from Jon Wilkin?

KC: He has been brilliant. He has his enemies who are quick to bag him when he is playing at seven.

He’s a back rower who doesn’t want to play there, but who do you put there?

He does a super job – he was outstanding and he led from the front again. He just competes hard for 80 minutes.

The more you have got like that, the better you are going to be.

MC: The aftermath of the incident that left him with a cut head seemed to fire him up without losing his cool.

KC: It was good to see and he is really coming of age. People questioned why I gave Wilko the captaincy. If you see every big game this year he has led by example and has been at the forefront of everything we have done well, and epitomises where I want this club to go.

MC: Travis Burns has bought into the Saints v Wigan derby. He knows what it is about now.

KC: He loves it. He has stitches and his back is bent out of place but I have never seen anybody with that many bumps and bruises have as big a smile on his face on Saturday.

He’s been involved in the Hull derbies and was definitely up for this one at the weekend.

He came through a bit of adversity too, he has been sick and his young daughter was rushed into hospital on the day of the game.

Travis turned up and competed hard.

His daughter has been back in hospital but is on the mend. It was a worrying time on Friday, but he was a true professional.

He had the choice not to play, but he was determined to go out there and not let his teammates down and he did a stellar job with all that at the back of his mind.

It could have quite easily affected him, but it didn’t – he turned in a great performance and then went over to see his daughter in hospital straight after the match.

MC: Scott Moore has had a few chances in the game, what have you made of the way he has started at Castleford?

KC: He had a crack over in Australia and he's back here taking his chance. I'm good friends with Scott and worked closely with him at Saints and always thought he had the makings of one of the best nines in the competition.

I think Daryl Powell is getting the best out of him and he is playing some really good rugby.

He had big boots to fill in Daryl Clark, who left a bit of a legacy at Cas, but he's doing a great job there.

MC: Increasingly it's looking like a great bit of business bringing Shannon over?

KC: As soon as Jonny went down and Wello got injured there was only one person I wanted to bring in. Lance Hohaia retiring enabled me to do something. We looked everywhere else but Shannon McDonnell was perfect. He fits and knows our system. We have worked hard with him and he's doing stuff that he's probably not done for a long time. It's paying off on the field. He's been outstanding.

He's a great little defensive player and turning into a great attacking player too.