SAINTS supporters at the club’s pre-season friendly against Hull got an early taste of what loose forward Joseph Paulo will bring.

The experienced former Cronulla packman showed his handling skills and was not afraid to mix things up in the middle and play what he sees.

Those skills will be needed when Saints try to unlock champions Wigan on the opening day of the season.

He said: “We are not there yet but we are slowly learning more about each other and building that chemistry every time we train.

“The Wigan game is a good way to test ourselves and see where we are heading.

“I guess Wigan are the benchmark and they are the champions for a reason, in the last five years they have had a fair bit of success.

“For us maybe St Helens were a bit unfortunate to get so close last year, we’ll see how the season pans out.”

One of three new NRL players, Paulo has settled well and says he has picked up how strong the town’s love of the Saints is, with fans counting down the days to the season start.

“People have been coming up to us, even up to my wife, saying ‘not long now’.

“It shows how proud every on is in this community and what this team means to the town of St Helens.

“It is pretty cool to be part of that and gets you more buzzing.

“It is the feeling that you that you might be one of 17 people on the field, but there’s a whole town and community behind you off it.”

The volume of the crowds in England is one of the big things he is looking forward to experiencing

He said: “One of the most exciting parts of playing Super League is the atmosphere.

“You hear how vocal the crowds are, even just watching on TV.”