IN scoring one try, having a hand in six others and marshalling a defensive line that remained intact Saints full back Lachlan Coote once again showed his value as both an individual and team player.

Coote had big boots to fill when he first arrived at Saints, but 18 rounds in we have had a steady string of consistently high quality displays to complemented the halves and created a sackful of opportunities on the flanks that nobody pines for his predecessor.

Friday night’s display in the 38-2 win over Huddersfield was no exception.

Up in support to open the scoring after Alex Walmsley had bumped off the tackle to offload to Theo Fages to pierce the line and then turning provider for the first of two carbon copy cut-out passes wide for Tommy Makinson to cross in the corner, Coote was top of the class.

Makinson would go on to complete his hat-trick - a deserved reward for the early work he had done with his hard carries.

Jonny Lomax crossed twice, including his 100th career try. in a game in which even the Huddersfield coach Simon Woolford described it as men against boys.

In other stand out performances Morgan Knowles again enhanced his reputation at a back row forward who is strong on both sides of the ball.

He was everywhere - particularly being good at those little extras with the kick pressure, racing to the loose balls and he certainly let Huddersfield’s half Oliver Russell know he was in a game when he rattled him with a monster tackle on 10 minutes.

With five of the players who missed the defeat in London back in action, admittedly with three more dropping out, Saints were always in control against a bedraggled Giants side that have blown hot and cold all year.

Saints were stronger in all departments, even if the intensity of the game dropped when the competitive aspect fizzled out.

Had they been a bit more clinical, Saints could have racked up another half dozen scores - but it did not matter in the grand scheme of things.

The victory, with Warrington’s defeat at Hull KR, restored Saints six-point advantage at the Super League summit.

With a favourable for and against and a 10-point lead over third-placed Hull FC, Saints would need a monumental collapse in the last 11 rounds to fail to finish the top two.

Looking at the fixture card - it could mean that Justin Holbrook will continue to identify games where he wants to take players out of the firing line to keep them fresh for the business end games.