Kristian Woolf reaction; Messy ruck, Roby script and Hurrell impact

Q: A fantastic start but the game ebbed and flowed a bit at times?

KW: I thought our first half was very good.

We played some really good footy – as good or better than we have played all year.

But we fell away from what we were doing well in the first half, particularly in the first 15-20 minutes of the second half.

We probably let ourselves get a bit frustrated with what was going on in the ruck and the bit of spoiling that was going on in the game. We let ourselves get frustrated there.

But on the back of some really good carries from Tommy Makinson, Konrad Hurrell and Alex Walmsley, when he came back on, that got us back on the front foot and really turned the game back in our favour.

Once we did that and got back into what we were doing in the first half.

Q: Were the penalties conceded when Saints had the ball a sign of that frustration?

KW: You saw that with players getting up and pushing players off at the play the ball.

We have got to be better there – we can’t be doing that and have to be a bit smarter and more disciplined how to handle those situations.

But there is no doubt that the ruck was allowed to get really messy.

There was a sin bin there – and I thought the same bloke could have been sin-binned two or three times because there were a number of times he came in to spoil and came in late.

We have got to clean that area up but our blokes have to be smarter there and not let their frustrations get to them.

Q: For the second time this year Jack Welsby was sin binned for effectively stopping a quick restart 

KW: Jack  has to be a little smarter too. He got that wrong and has got that wrong a couple of times – but he is a young bloke and is going to learn from that.

I am not worried about his discipline one bit - he is a very disciplined person and player. He just has to be smarter on those occasions and he will be.

Q: And Jack Welsby's performance overall?

KW: Jack was great today and had a real influence on the game. When he is on the field he has a chance of making something happen every time he has the ball.

He is a very smart footy player. For a 20/21 year old bloke in terms of being a complete player he is probably the best I have ever dealt with and I have had the privilege of dealing with plenty of good players at that age.

Him, Jonny and Will Hopoate in that first half in particular with the way they combined and played together I thought it was a real show of what we will be able to do with those three going forward.

Q: Ben Davies back in his natural position - and a fine game?

KW: I though Ben Davies did a great job. It can’t be lost how many players we had missing  – blokes who have a big influence on the team, so to have people like Ben Davies, Jake Wingfield and Dan Norman coming in and all putting their hands up was important.

Ben Davies was great and came up with some big plays.

The try, his catch that he took under pressure and he defended realy well and his carry and quick play the ball earned us a penalty.

He got one thing wrong at the back end of the second half but outside of that he is getting better and better.

He was in his more natural position at left centre and the more games he gets – he has played eight games of Super League – and will only get better with every game and is certainly showing that he is a real Super League player.

Q: Some telling contributions from Konrad Hurrell?

KW: In that second half he put his hand up a couple of times and really just wanted to get us on the front foot with the way he wanted to put the ball under his wing and carry.

That is what he does best.

He has got a fair bit of skill and finesse to his game and if you look at the (first) try and the number has been able to put Tommy away for tries this year.

They are building a great little combination together and him putting his hand up to carry like that put the game back in our favour.

That was a big moment in the game.

Q: The game was suitably scripted for James Roby?

KW: He was great, playing 80 minutes – we have tried to avoid doing that too much this year.

It was 80 minutes like he always does – a nine out of 10 with everything that he does.

He nailed his pass and got his defence right every time and saved our butt a couple of times with a couple of loose balls that he dived on.

He also came up with a try saving tackle.

That is what he does so well – and that’s why he deserves all the accolades that he gets after 509 games and 455 Super League games and every one has looked similar.

That is why we are so proud to have him in our team.

Q: There was a key one on the hour mark when the scores were tight when he got on the end of Kenny-Dowall's inside ball?

KW: Those are big moments in the game and if you don’t quite get them right then the scoreboard is a bit different and you start to feel pressure.

That is what this group does so well and that James does so well.

The group are very much in his image – and when he does that, it is very much harder for others to not to.

Q: There was sense of distraction for James Roby - just business as usual?

KW: If anything he gets a little bit embarrassed by it.

He would prefer to go without it – but we had a presentation before the game for him and I got the sense he preferred it not to happen but could understand why it is.

He is such a humble bloke with all that he has achieved and all that he has done.

We can talk about the number of games, the championships he has won and influence he has had and everything else.

He is still so humble that it is hard for our blokes to get ahead of themselves when there’s a bloke leading from the front like.