ALL of the Saints squad, bar new import Joseph Paulo and internationals Luke Thompson, Tommy Makinson, Jonny Lomax, Mark Percival and Theo Fages, are now back in pre-season training.

And after the previous year’s World Cup made inroads into their 2018 preparation, with the squad only getting together in mid-December, prop Kyle Amor believes this time around there will be benefits.

He said: “It’s always nice to get back in with everybody and at this stage, compared to last year, we have a lot more players in too.

“It’s good to get everyone in and get back to work. We want to start the season well and all the hard work starts now.

“Every player does something different in the off-season, whether it is the Aussie lads heading back home, or taking a family holiday to rest up mentally and physically.

“At this stage last season we hadn’t had a lot of time off with the World Cup so it’s good to have that rest and we’re now looking forward to getting working.

“This is the time of the season when the stepping stones are put in place for what comes after Christmas and that big fixture at the end of January.

“It’s a very important four or five weeks for us as we look to get as much load in our legs as possible.

“That will get us ready for the tough work that follows after that.”