SAINTS boss Kristian Woolf has explained why the club was concerned about this week’s now cancelled trip to play Catalans Dragons in Perpignan.

It is academic now, given the rest of the regular season has been curtailed, but at one stage on Tuesday it was looking pretty messy with the Dragons claiming Saints were refusing to travel and their president asked for a 24-0 forfeiture similar to the one Warrington received from Salford.

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At that stage Dragons were not just desperate for a win, having lost to Salford on Monday, they were in need of completing the fixture as they were still below the 15-game threshold to qualify for the then top-four.

The Dragons had also been stung by some of the criticism thrown their way about unfulfilled fixtures, when the reasons for those not taking place were not of their making.

READ: Recap on how the season now works>

That 15-game rule has now been waived due to the changes to the top six play-off.

However, Saints explained the reasons behind the concerns they raised ahead of the fixture.

Woolf said: “We did raise some concerns but to say we refused to go is incorrect.

“Those concerns are valid given that both countries were going into lockdown, the bubble that we live in and we have to abide by, and going to airports and travelling with people who don’t live in our bubble.

“Our concern was the health and safety of our players and making sure we had those players in finals footy in a short period of time.

“We obviously had to ask some questions based on those things. But at the end of the day those questions were taking out of our hands because the competition became compromised.

“And the RFL/Super League had to make a decision.

“We have to look after our players and the families they go back to.”