WINGMAN Tommy Makinson grabbed the Magic headlines with his four tries in Saints’ outstanding 48-6 win over Huddersfield but he was swift to pay tribute to the brains at 1, 6, 7 that helped open up the Giants defence.
Four one-handed finishes in the corner – and it would have been five had one not harshly been chalked off for a forward pass – caught the eye in a dazzling display.
Makinson said: “I think you saw the class of Lomax, Dodd and Welsby out there today.
“When they play like that - and you've got the likes of Joe Batchelor and Konrad Hurrell on an edge, you get walk-in tries for your wingers - and I was the beneficiary of that.
“It is all down to practice. We have got a great coaching team, but we've got to go and deliver.
“On the training pitch we train like we play and we trained all week with confidence, knowing that we can come and perform whatever the result is, whether it's one-nil or 48-6.
“All week it's been building – you see the combinations and today is the result of that.”
In years to come, when Makinson eventually hangs up his boots, he will be able to put quite a highlights reel of his time at Magic – from his match-saving crash tackle against Warrington in 2015 to the doggedly unstoppable length of the field effort against Hull FC in Justin Holbrook’s first game in 2017.
Now he has a few more to add in, with his record-breaking haul, not least the pass to Lussick that will be remembered for as long as Tommy Martyn’s to Peter Shiels from 2002.
But Makinson wants to use this as a springboard as Saints climb their way up the table – starting with next week’s derby against the wounded Wigan Warriors.
“It's felt good all week, we’ve been building, we feel fresh and feel good and it is a good result - but it is just one result and we want to build and get better.
“We have still got room to get better as well, so we are looking forward to the challenge ahead.
“I think this result breeds energy. That's what I think we've been lacking for the first half of the year in our performances - we've not consistently performed at a level that we know we can do, whether that's energy or whatever but things have just not clicked.
“We have performed well for 80 minutes today and shown what we can do but we don't get ahead of ourselves at this club.
“We know that it comes with hard work. In my game there are games when you can glide through and score two and think you have played well, but the reality of it is you have got to get your complete game right.
“When you get your game right - that's when all of us are up there with the best players,” Makinson.
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