Paul Wellens Q&A on points from Saints win at Huddersfield

The Star’s Mike Critchley asked the questions.

MC: You needed a few members of your pack to step up after losing Sione Mata’utia so early?

PW: For Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, at 37 years of age and 350 Saints games in, to go out there and perform the way he did was not just admirable but there was real quality around his game as well.

And then Matty Lees performance was one of the best you are likely to see in Super League.

There was never any time during the game where I am looking at Matty thinking I would have to give him a rest.

It is a sign of his fitness levels and professionalism to keep going in a game like that - it was an incredible performance.

MC: Matty Lees did not appear to change the tempo of his game any, which is remarkable given he ended up staying out there for the full 80.

PW: The original plan was James Roby coming off around 30 and Joey Lussick jumping on like last week.

But what I had to do was keep some interchanges up my sleeve so I could maybe rotate middles on and off and give them a break.

That was the original plan around Matty - but every time I looked for the evidence on the field for who needed a rest, Matt’s name never sprang to mind as his energy levels were incredible.

I don’t mention James Roby there as we all take for granted that he just goes out there and does his business, but he did nearly 70 minutes in the middle.

I was happy with every player with how tough they played - but particularly those guys who played through the middle.

Then you look at James Bell had to move to an edge, as well. He was playing 13 in the absence of Morgan Knowles and Jake Wingfield - so that was further disruption there.

MC: They pinned you back for a lot of long spells in the game - it appeared tough to make any headway at times.

PW: Yes, they did but we kind of prepared for that in the week.

Huddersfield are the sort of team that likes to get to the end of their sets, they are very patient and methodical with the way they go about things so we knew it was going to be a tough grind of a game, similar to theirs the week before against Wigan.

I credit our players there for having the right mindset and toughness to commit to that type of game and come up with the right result at the end come the final.

MC: Saints game has been built on early momentum, getting a roll on from play one onwards - are you finding this aspect tougher at the start of this season?

PW: It is getting tougher, and it is always the case when teams look at the way you play and try and do something about it.

Committing players to the tackle around our better ball carriers is one of the things they are doing. The challenge for us is to commit to who we are and carry on doing the good things we do, but also find some subtle difference where we can counteract that when it does happen.

MC: It felt like a lot of the game was spent in the Saints end - on those occasions when you were in the Giants half was there something that needed doing better to build more pressure at their end?

PW: We need to show a bit more patience. We look like a team that wants to get down there and post points.

And when we do that we maybe move the ball when it does not need to be moved and look for opportunities when they don’t present themselves.

It is a learn for us moving forward, but that is a positive one for me because what we have is a team that cares and wants to improve.

We just need to be a bit more patient and always like the phrase 'less is more'.

When we are at our best the points will come without us going out to try and search for them.

For us as a team it about getting that balance right as a team at this moment in time.