SAINTS make what will be their last lengthy journey of the season on Sunday with their second trip of the year to top-six seeking Hull FC.

With loop fixtures throwing extra journeys to Hull and Toulouse this year, and cup trips up to Cumbria and France, Saints have spent longer on the road this year.

After this weekend the furthest the team and their supporters will have to travel will be Wigan on a now confirmed date of 26 August - and hopefully Old Trafford on 24 September.

St Helens Star:

Last time Saints travelled to Hull’s MKM Stadium the weather conditions could not have been further from the current heatwave - with icy sleet making for tough conditions.

Woolf expects the desperate Hull FC side to bring their A game despite their injuries.

He said: “It has been tough for them and they are another team that has been missing a number of key players and showing signs of fatigue. They have had it tough in recent times as well.

“But what you can’t go away from is that they are a team that still has a chance of making the six and are in a desperate situation and they are going to play their best game.

“They are at home and it is a case of now or never for them and that is how we need to prepare just as desperately as they do.”

Saints are four points clear of Wigan with five games to play - and Woolf's men simply need to keep finding ways to win to secure their first target of a top two finish that brings a home semi and one game from Old Trafford.

The objective after that would be the first League Leaders Shield since 2019.

After the trip to Hull, Saints are at home to Hull KR, then journey to Wigan before wrapping up the regular campaign with homes against Wakefield and Toulouse. 

Woolf says his players enjoy the trip to Hull - scene of their famous 2020 Grand Final success.

Woolf said: "Hull is a place that our blokes really enjoy going to – it is a long trip, but it is an opportunity to get together as a team and do that for the last time this year in terms of the longer travel.

"They will enjoy that aspect of it to and there are no dramas there, but looking forward to a few games at home.

"Every time we get home it has felt like a long time away."