Senior players to face Halifax in Benno's testimonial game (From St Helens Star)

Senior players to face Halifax in Benno's testimonial game

10:52am Thursday 21st January 2010

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SAINTS will field a strong team for Mike Bennett’s re-arranged testimonial game against Halifax on Friday night (8pm).

Most of the senior players who did not play at Widnes on Tuesday night will get a run out against last year’s Championship runners up – and some younger lads will double up.

The game will be the last warm-up for the senior squad ahead of the first Super League game against Hull on February 6.

And although Bennett will be making a cameo appearance for the last five minutes- having passed his head check and registered as a player - it promises to be a serious trial game for Mick Potter’s men.

The game will give fans a glimpse of how the half back pairing of Leon Pryce and Kyle Eastmond will shape this term.

It will also mark veteran prop Nick Fozzard’s return to Knowsley Road after joining in the off-season after experiencing mixed fortunes at Hull KR.

With Tuesday night’s squad playing so well – particularly youngsters Jonny Lomax, Gary Wheeler and Jamie Ellis – there will be pressure on those with numbers 1-13 on their backs this term.

Pleased with the way the young side played at Widnes, Potter said: It was a good hit out and enjoyable to watch.

“Both teams did some good things and that has given us something to work on in the next few weeks.

“The second half was a good test for us and thought some of the younger guys did really well for us.

“They played a lot more time than they would have done had we not had the bad weather.

“Lomax had a good game, as did Wheeler, but Sean Magennis deserves a mention because he has been out for more than 12 months with a bad knee and that was his first game back.

“He did really well and came up with some nice plays and defensively he was good for his first hit out. I am looking forward to watching more of him.

The only negative from the game, played in bitterly cold weather in front of 2,034 hard fans, was the injury sustained by young wing Tom Armstrong.

“I don’t think it is anything major but we will get him assessed and it could be anything from two to six weeks.”

The starting 13 on Friday is likely to include Paul Wellens, Ade Gardner, Matt Gidley, Leon Pryce, Kyle Eastmond, Nick Fozzard, James Roby, Tony Puletua and Jon Wilkin who sat out Tuesday’s game.

But Potter added: “There will be a couple of guys who will double up on Friday- mostly the younger guys who haven’t had a lot of Super League experience.

“Matty Ashurst only got 20 minutes against Widnes so he will play, as will Andrew Dixon and possibly Jack Bradbury.”

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