POWERHOUSE packman Atelea Vea wants to bury the disappointment of the Challenge Cup exit by helping Saints have a proper tilt at the Super League.

Fourth in the table, and only two points adrift of the leading pack of three, Saints enter a block of games that will allow an honest appraisal of their chances for the rest of the campaign.

And the 29-year-old former London Bronco back row is confident the players can learn from the pain of their cup exit and have a genuine crack at regaining the title they won in 2014.

Reflecting on that awful cup loss to Hull, Vea said: “It was tough. Last year I came in new to the team and got the gist of how big the Challenge Cup occasion was.

“Having that understanding this year I knew what was at stake.

“The worst thing is you don’t want to let people down.

"When you come off at the end of a game like that you see your coaches, your partners and the fans who are there hurting. You don’t want to feel as though you have let people down.

“That loss is massive, we had a couple of days to think about it and I have had my sulk, but we got closure from it with the team chat in the week building up to the Salford game.

“As hard as it is, we just have to bury it as it is and move forwards, but looking what is ahead now we have to put that in the back pocket and look ahead.”

One of the biggest worries arising from the game was the manner in which Saints’ pack was bested by the Hull six, with the Black and Whites constantly winning the collision and allowing their dummy half Danny Houghton to cause mayhem.

Vea says that the bitter experience stung pack and that no doubt contributed to a huge improvement by the big men last week against Salford.

“We in the forwards talked about what happened, it hurts because we know what we are capable of, we just have to pick it up and get back on to what we do.

“There are heaps of things we have got to take out and move forward. We have the opportunity to turn things around, that’s a massive chance for us to fix some things.

“The coaches here know what they are talking about – it is not just what they know, it is what they have done. It is a lesson for us, you can’t go through something as bad as that defeat and not take something from it,” he said.

Apart from the team bouncing back with a response, Vea has a more personal hope – one of putting together a run without injury.

Vea impressed in the red vee after joining from Broncos ahead of the 2015 campaign but then he suffered a shoulder injury that side-lined him for four months.

He had no sooner recovered from that blow, when he was side-lined again, this time with a medial knee ligament injury, but came back before the end of the campaign

And this year again, Vea missed a spell around Easter, but now the Tongan international is hoping for a spell where he is not looking at the treatment table or rehab.

“You just wouldn’t wish injuries on anyone. I have just been in the gym where I saw Tommy Makinson doing his rehab. I have just come through mine with Jonny Lomax; it is tough and mentally challenging but I just hope this is my clear run now.

“I just want to string a few games together and get some form and play without thinking about injury.

“It has been frustrating, but I am in great hands because the conditioning staff here are excellent. They have got me back after a shoulder before the timeframe. The physios and trainers have got me fit. It is a credit to them that I am back on the field,” he said.

The former Cronulla, Melbourne Storm and St George-Illawarra NRL player is just about getting back up to match fitness after his most recent lay-off.

“Once I get some air in my lungs and string some games together, hopefully I can play with some form. My lungs are not quite there – I play by best footy when I am able to have a laugh,” he said.

A degree of ring-rust contributed to Vea getting turned inside out by Jimmy Keinhorst on his first game back after a five-match absence against Leeds.

“Jimmy had me, I was filthy with that afterwards and watched it back with Jamahl (Lolesi) who does a lot of work on that. I felt terrible about that – it was like he had pulled my pants down good and proper, but had good feet and he beat me good and proper,” he said.

Signed for a two years, with an option on the third, Vea is settled in the town and has now been joined by his partner Caitlin after spending a year 12,000 miles apart.

“Caitlin is over here now and is working as a supply teacher, working all about the area. She is really enjoying it and said the kids she teaches are well behaved too – which surprised me when I look at some of the boys here,” he joked.