ANOTHER big week at Saints, Dream team, England and Super League semi-final, Mike Critchley caught up with Justin Holbrook at Old Trafford.

MC: Does having seven players in the Dream Team reflect the year’s performance?

JH: It is a great recognition - I am proud to have so many represented in the Dream Team. It is a reward for how consistently well they have played all year.

To only lose four league games in a season has been brilliant and I am really happy with the last couple of weeks and with the smart way the boys have gone about it and we have still got some good results. It is shaping nicely for Thursday.

MC: The season has slowly but surely cranked back up again?.

JH: With us sitting so far ahead we had the luxury of planning for the end of the season to make sure we got it right.

After the Challenge Cup we were devastated and it took us time to get up from that, but I was OK with that because we had time on our side.

There was no quick fix, it was a slow build and the last few weeks we have got guys over their niggling injuries and been smart the way we went about it.

I could not be happier – we have everyone firing at the right end of the season. It comes down to who performs on the night but we are in the best position we can for it.

MC: You have a headache selection wise?

JH: It is going to be a tough selection, but I am fine with that. It is what we have needed.

We needed to give young guys some game time and they have really shown that they want to be in the side. It will be a tough decision to get our team right for Thursday.

MC: You also have a big call whether to use Theo Fages to break the game up or go with four forwards on the bench?

JH: It is and that is a hard one and none of them deserve to miss out, but this is a reflection on how consistent we have been all season. We are in the position where we can only play 17. There will be some disappointed boys.

MC: Apart from breaks and head knocks - the team has been consistently healthy.

JH: We have a great performance and medical staff who have done a great job.

Also it is a credit to how the players have managed themselves in a professional way, week-in, week-out. They look after themselves and we have had a great season so far - and want two more good games.

MC: The NRL Grand Final with your old club on Sunday showed that knock-out games are won by teams who are aggressive in defence and who get off their line. Saints have been good defensively, but that goes up a notch on Thursday.

JH: Definitely. It was great to watch the Roosters win the Grand Final on Sunday and was really happy for them knowing how hard the staff and players work. That was a great win off the back of some great defence and that is what we need.

MC: What lessons did you learn from the Challenge Cup semi?

JH: The preparation was good but we played poorly. We made six errors in the first 20 minutes and they did not make one.

We were chasing our tail the whole game. We learned a lot from that, to stay a bit calmer. We have been playing well since, but we can use that semi as motivation. It hurt at the time and still does now.

We want to make sure we get it right at the back end of Super League.