THE Star’s Mike Critchley caught up with head coach Justin Holbrook at the training ground on Tuesday for the weekly Q&A.

MC: Does the appointment of your successor bring it home even more that your time here is nearly up?

JH: Some people are asking me if I am excited by going back – and I say not yet because this is the most exciting part of the year.

We have done all the hard yards, just one round to go and them the finals are around the corner. And I cant wait.

MC: The lads will be asking you about Kristian Woolf - what do you tell them?

JH: I have heard nothing but good reports on him as a person and as a coach, so I think the club is in great hands and he’ll do a great job.

Every coach brings something slightly different, but the club is in a great spot here and has some great staff and great players, so it is an easy post to step into.

It is good to know that the club is in a great place when I move on.

MC: The team didn’t need to get out of first gear against Huddersfield - but nevertheless some aspects will have brought benefits?

JH: It was a good performance and it will have helped get some players match fitness again. That was the main thing. Huddersfield had a lot of players out but we still had to play because they can be hard games to get up for. We got on with it and that is your main thing.

It was important for Big Al, Cootey, Robes and Morgan Knowles - the four who went into Wembley having not played much in five weeks.

They are getting match fit now, with one regular game to go and we are hitting the finals in a good spot. I thought all of our forwards played we’ll last week.

Cootey was tremendous - he is a fantastic player and it was great to get him back out there to get games under belt before the finals.

MC: Great pace from Morgan Knowles for the try but did you have a word with him about the dive?

JH: Yes, (pauses and smiles) and I told him there was no need to dive so early!

MC: Do some aspects of the attack – passes hitting the ground or going to the wrong man - concern you?

JH: Huddersfield had a lot out so there were opportunities that we don’t get against the better sides on their day so it was a combination of things. It is something we have got to improve on this next few weeks.

MC: With losing Mark Percival early on, it worked out ok having James Bentley on bench. Does that give you food for thought for selection - given he can cover centre, second row and spell Robes?

JH: He is so versatile and he has played well every time he has played for us, proving pretty important off the bench.

MC: Was Joseph Paulo injured or left out?

JH: We are just trying to get him up to speed. He had a slight hamstring strain a couple of weeks ago at Warrington – and so it is a case of some conditioning.

MC: The fans have given tremendous support since the Wembley disappointment?

JH: The week before against Cas we had to try and get ourselves up after disappointment of Wembley. All we were doing was defending but the crowd were still roaring and that made a huge difference.

Sure, we want to play an entertaining style – but to have them support the boys like that played a big part in a hard fought win. We are going to need them again in the semi final, we have done a great job at home but it is another step up in a couple of weeks.

MC: You mentioned the club being in a good spot earlier, that is across the board, with the 19s going well too?

JH: They are doing so well and Derek Traynor and the academy staff and the players deserve a lot of credit.

The last four or five weeks they have only had 15 or 16 players which is a tremendous effort, not just to do that but to be winning games.

They will go into Thursday’s semi this week with only 16. It is not ideal but they have handled it really well

In Lewis Dodd they have a tremendous player who has been doing terrific for them, guiding them round and he has a great future ahead of him.