SO the curtain rises on the new rugby league season this week – and it’s great to see so much optimism among Saints fans.

Too many seasons have started in recent years with fans grumbling over topics ranging from playing style, to recruitment, the coach, cladding and stadium naming rights.

But there is in air of positivity this time around. And Justin Holbrook, the Australian coach brought in midway through last season, has a lot do with that.

Both articulate and passionate, Holbrook seems to get the Saints way and his vision off the field, where he has been keen to see the players take a greater involvement in the community, and on it – where he is an advocate of free flowing attacking rugby – has won favour with supporters.

With former NRL star Ben Barba now looking fit and ready for his first full season in the red vee, you can see why the Saints fans are excited.

The opening clash against Castleford will be intriguing and has the potential to be exhilarating.

Cas fell at the final hurdle last year – but their sparkling brand of rugby in 2017 was a reminder that attacking ambition and moving the ball with pace and panache offers greater value to the spectator than the ‘biff and bash’ one-dimensional rugby that some feel the sport has become too consumed with.

Of course there has been some enthralling games in recent years and, as the Saints coach pointed out this week, contests don’t necessarily have to be high scoring to be entertaining or absorbing. But the sport, which is woven into this town’s fabric, must deliver imagination over predictability if it is to prevent audiences drifting to other forms of entertainment.

My hope is that many clubs follow the lead of Cas and look to play with more freedom and adventure.

The signs were there for Saints towards the back end of last season – and there seems to be an understanding from the club that being true to those traditions is what the paying public demands.

Of course everyone wants silverware too and striking that balance between flair and success isn’t easy. But Saints teams of the past have done it (the club did not earn the nickname the Entertainers for nothing), so I guess, that’s the challenge.