SO we’ve got a date at the Jungle on Saturday in the sixth round of the Challenge Cup.

Obviously people are going to talk about last season’s fixture with Castleford in the same competition, which saw Saints suffer a 53-10 loss...but what a difference a year makes!

It was Castleford running high at the top of the table then - but now we’re the team leading from the front, and firm favourites going into this do or die fixture.

Cas are fifth in the Betfred Super League after a mixed first two months of the season, and will need a massive improvement on last week’s dubbing by Hull FC if they have any hopes of staying on the road to Wembley.

The Tigers are certainly going to miss their chief organizer Luke Gale who has been ruled out for three months with a fractured kneecap, and this no doubt had a bearing on that result last weekend.

However, Castleford still have an abundance of talent in their ranks so Saints must prepare for the best Tigers team.

Saints themselves will be looking for an improved performance at the Jungle following a flat performance in their home win against the struggling Catalan Dragons on Thursday.

These games are sometimes hard to be at your best against a struggling team, who bring very few fans. Most importantly we gained the two points and continue to lead the way.

Saints have now chalked up 454, the best attack in SL, and 76 more than second placed Wigan Warriors, but I’m sure more pleasing to Justin Holbrook and his staff also have the best defensive record with only 164 points conceded.

It was great to see skipper James Roby back against the Dragons following his recovery from a rib injury.

Robes is always leading from the front. Not a massive talker for a captain, but a leader who does his talking with his performances, consistently at the highest standard be it on defence or attack.

A massive boost ahead of Saints assault on the Challenge Cup, looking to pick up the historic trophy for the first time since 2008....my very last game!

As well as Robes return, it was great to see Ben Barba named in the 19 man squad v the Dragons, although I never expected him to play.

I’m sure this will not be the case this weekend. He will be looking to carry the outstanding form his has shown in the Betfred Super League into the start of the cup competition.

As predicted in my column last week, nothing changed in the league table top three following Wigan and Warrington claiming good wins to continue the chase. Warrington coming from behind with an impressive 33-22 win at Headingley, with youngster Harvey Livett claiming a hat-trick.

Wigan putting in a clinical performance keeping the Salford Red Devils pointless in a 30-0 win at the DW Stadium.

Finally, I want to give a special mention to one of our exciting young talents at Saints, Regan Grace. Regan who burst onto the scene last season with that outstanding performance away at Wigan. He has by no means had everything easy since, but continues to work hard on his game.

I do like a winger who is prepared to back themselves...and Regan certainly does that. He has blistering pace and certainly knows his way to the try line, but also has a great work ethic when doing the hard yards! With him and, for me the best winger in Super League Tommy Makinson, Saints are blessed with born finishers on the edges - and it’s great to see the current team enjoying playing with the attacking flair that is synonymous with Saints.

Let’s hope this is the case this Saturday and we are ‘Kings of the Jungle’ and in the hat for the next round draw. I am backing a Saints win by ten or more (6/5 at Betfred) and Warrington to join them in the bag with a 30 points or more win over the Canadian Championship outfit Toronto Wolfpack (5/2 at Betfred).