SAINTS full back Jonny Lomax had an outstanding return to rugby league after spending the two lengthy spells on the sidelines with serious knee injuries.

Two tries on his return against Leeds in March was just a prelude to a fine 2016 campaign which culminated in an England debut in the Four Nations.

And after overcoming the dark times, demons and doubts that he would ever play again, Lomax adopted a philosophy to make sure he enjoyed his time on the field, and it paid off.

St Helens Star sports editor Mike Critchley caught up with Lomax to ask him about last year, England and what he expects for Super League XXII.

MC: After a tough two years, the last 10 months must have gone better than you could have even dreamt?

JL: “I went through some dark times and began to question less my ability but more my body.

“If I got back to being fit then I would have a chance but there were times when I thought I may not get to that.

“Luckily I did and I have got to thank the people at the club and those who have looked after me to get me back on the field.

“When you go through such a long period of injury and you are there every day it is draining on yourself, not physically more mentally, to keep getting up and going but being stuck between the same four walls while everyone else is on the field doing what they love and enjoy.

“So I made sure the closer as I got closer to playing I thought, ‘well I am going to enjoy this rather than be nervous and be anxious’.

“Having done all the hard work I made sure that I was going to enjoy every game and training session and took as if it was the last.

“I had not beat my head against the wall and listened to a lot of rubbish for nothing.

“The close-knit support group helped - that is my girlfriend, family and really close friends.”

MC: The England call-up for the Four Nations was the cherry on top.

JL: “For me coming back after injury I never thought at the beginning of the year that it was even a goal of mine to even come into consideration for England.

“I just wanted to get back to playing and just enjoy myself.

“When you are you enjoying your rugby you tend to play a bit better.”

MC: People have always seen your attacking attributes from full back, but how happy are you now with the way your defence and organisation has developed?

JL: “The experience of sorting out my numbers definitely comes with time.

“The longer you stay at the back the more composed you become.

“Your talking becomes more composed, more calming and steady rather than trying to shout and point people.

“When you first go there you know where you want people to go, but how you do it is all a bit rushed and panicked.

“You want to have a calming effect on your defensive line and it definitely helped me having been a half back because you think how you would attack and look at the numbers.

“It is about trying to dictate where the key point of attack is and trying to break it down to get the numbers in the correct place to deal with their main attacking threat.

“If you do that, then you have generally done your job without having to actually defend something.”

MC: A new half back pairing and new strike centre, that gives you a new spine fresh attacking options to get used to. How is that going?

JL: “It will be about getting used to how each other play.

“This year for myself there will be a new right centre combination with Ryan Morgan coming in, which is also a big thing for myself.

“It is not just about the 6 and 7 combination for myself and getting the ball, it is what I do outside of that and putting them in the right position in certain attacking scenarios.

“The time will benefit us and it will come. It is about knowing what moves Theo likes, and what Matty and Ryan like too.

“I have played with Mark Percival for a while now and it is about learning what each other likes and what works best for us as a unit and what works best as a team.

“Ryan has come in and looks really sharp in training and we all know what Percy can do.

“Myself and Ryan have clicked well and we play sort of similar, which is good going forward. It is about those fine details.”

MC: Near and yet so far in recent years, what will be the key to getting there in 2017?

JL: “We have got to keep building in the right direction and working hard for each other.

“There will be days where the opposition might be better, but for us it is the cutting out of the smaller errors, or the odd silly penalty.

“If you look at the Warrington semi, it might sound bitter, we had two or maybe three dodgy calls.

“But Warrington put themselves in those positions. Hats off to them, that is what you have got to do “We have just got to do the fundamentals well and the one per centers which can often go unnoticed but are very often the difference.

“The games are not won on single plays, they are won in the build ups to the single play that breaks the camel’s back.

“Everything has a knock on effect in this game so we need to be as good as we can.”