1. Friday's game had all the hallmarks of being a run of the mill win at one stage – and had Saints been a bit sharper with their execution they would have been out of sight at half time.

But Wakefield are a handy side – and their monopoly of the ball, aided by penalties, allowed them to turn the game on its head in the third quarter.

It actually made for a fantastic game, and made Saints dig deep to pick themselves up off the floor.

I cannot see what there was not to like about that – entertainment wise.

It gave us some excellent tries and plenty of talking points.

Saints have set a high benchmark this year, but there is no divine right to win every game. And when you are on the top opposition will raise their game to take a scalp.

2. Saints’ first try was simplicity itself – from a scrum. It has to be the most criminally under-used ploy in the game - to put on the play straight from the scrum while five or six men are out of the way.

It may have looked basic – but the crispness of Saints’ passing ensured that Regan Grace was unstoppable when he hit the last ball.

3. There were a few grumbles about Ben Barba’s display afterwards – and a couple of mistakes, which led to two Wakefield tries, particularly stuck out before his substitution with a knee injury on the hour mark.

We knew all was not right when he had made a half break in the first half, shrugging off the tackle to pierce the line and then slowing down rather than putting on the afterburners.

He did, however, still contribute to Saints’ first three tries – with his precision on the hoof kick wide yielding the Danny Richardson score.

He looked understandably frustrated after being taken off, and why wouldn’t he? I’d much prefer a player to be bothered about not being able to give his best, rather than cry off at the earliest opportunity.

Coach Justin Holbrook explained afterwards that the star man had been nursing a knee injury.

In hindsight it probably would have been better had they made that change at half time – not least to save us from us guessing what was going through his head when he threw his wrist strapping away as he walked off.

There is enough depth in the squad to give Barba a week off playing to benefit his recovery ahead of the huge games to come.

As for the criticism, harsh, but even Mal Meninga was not immune from being knocked off the pedestal that the fans had put him on during 1984-85. Three months after delivering Saints' first trophy in seven years I can still hear one travelling fan at the Boulevard shouting the encouraging words "Do something Meninga, you fat pig!" But two months later he was a hero again as he signed off his season with a second trophy.

4. Ben Barba was subject of one controversy which Wakefield boss Chris Chester raised afterwards.

Chester felt that Barba kneeing/kicking the ball out of Joe Batchelor’s hand in the act of scoring was a penalty try and a possible yellow.

And he is right – if you don’t punish it, a precedent is set. We really don’t want that tactic being employed to stop tries.

5. One of Wakefield’s key strengths on Friday was the presence of David Fifita and Pauli Pauli, a pair of leviathans who terrorised the Saints defence requiring multiple bodies to stop them.

It does not just drain energy, particularly with an offload off the back of it, it pulls defenders out of shape.

As well as Saints’ pack has been playing – on this long, winning run, it maybe reminded us that we are still missing our own big destructive ball carrier Alex Walmsley. It was encouraging to hear his talk positively about his recovery. Fingers crossed on positive scan results at the end of this month.

6. The Catalans result against Castleford came as a massive wake-up to any Saints fans nonchalantly booking Wembley accommodation.

All of a sudden Catalans looks a tougher semi-final than Leeds. Since Josh Drinkwater arrived in Perpignan, the Dragons have direction.

That game is now shaping up to be a tough 80-minutes, and anything but the cakewalk the fans who greeted the draw with cries of “Que sera, sera…..”