Wello Q&A: Strong Saints, Wigan, LMS an Curtis Sironen

MC: I can’t recall the last time Saints could name 1-17 in the matchday squad?

PW: It has been some time since the squad has looked as healthy as it does right now.

I think what is important – and I've said this to the players on numerous occasions – is that the names on teamsheets don’t win rugby league games. It’s what players go on there and do in committing to strong and disciplined actions.

I think that's what you saw at the weekend from the team at Magic and that's where we're going to have to be really good again because we know we're coming up against the team this week that have been wounded last week in terms of performance, so are they going to be very keen to make amends and we're well aware of that?

MC: Does Wigan’s poor Magic defeat make them a more dangerous side to face given that they will want to respond?

PW: Wigan are a quality side but that was a poor result at the weekend.

When I was watching that you know that teams like Wigan with experienced players in their ranks, like Liam Farrell and Sam Powell, will very quickly recognise that they had a drop in standards at Magic and they will be very keen to fix that up.

We expect them to be really coming at us at the weekend to try and make amends for that.

Add on to that the fact that it is a derby and there is no extra motivation needed for a player."

MC: Contrasting fortunes at Magic but there’s something about the Derby that is a leveller?

PW: They are always generally quite tense close affairs. As you saw on Good Friday it was quite frantic at times.

Handling those situations and managing those moments in those games is crucial.

I thought on Good Friday Wigan got the better of those small moments and off the back of that it had a bearing on the result on the day.

We have to harness the fact that we have come off the back of a great performance at Magic but also know that we need to be back it up on Friday because there’s a team coming over the hill who wil be very keen to back on track as well.

It is going to be a great occasion and all the players already know the importance of it.

MC: or somebody like Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook – at 37 – is he playing like somebody can see the finishing line and wants to crash through it or is he somebody who wants to give it another go? Or do also have to factor in freshening up the team?

PW: There's a lot of things to consider there. But first and foremost is where Louie is at physically and mentally.

Those discussions will be had in time. At the weekend he was excellent off the bench, as was Agnatius Paasi and Sione Mata’utia. You want your interchange middles to go out there and make an impact and all three did that, as did Joey Lussick.

So it's probably the most pleased I have been with the interchange performance in some time. You don't want the (bench) to just carry on with the game, you want to inject themselves and all did that.

MC: When Curtis Sironen first signed, it was two year plus the option of another one and he said he wanted to earn that extension. The way he's been playing – with the physicality and those nice slipped passes - has been impressive.

PW: He’s been fantastic and I think he's really developed as a player since he has come to the club.

He’s very meticulous in his preparation and the way he looks after his body and all the different things like that. All the different things that professional entails, but what matters most is when they go out on the field to perform.

Curtis has been doing that really well, and doing something different.

There's not many 6 foot six, backrowers with a skill set like his knocking around.

So we're delighted that he came to the club and sees this as the sort of place where he would like to further his rugby.

He is a huge part of what we are trying to achieve here and a huge part of our success last year.

He has all the potential, if not already there, to be the best part of this competition.