MORGAN Knowles made a big impact on his return to the Saints side in Sunday’s crucial 18-10 win over Huddersfield which maintains their push for a play-off spot.

The international loose forward, who is now remarkably into his 10th season in the red vee, has endured a frustrating 2024 playing just 14 of Saints’ 26 league and cup games so far.

He missed the best part of three months with a groin issue – a period that coincided with the beginning of Saints’ picking up other injuries and then subsequent run of defeats.

Saints lost five of those nine early summer games when Knowles was sidelined with injury – and even more frustrating was two further defeats when he was banned for a high tackle on his second match back against Salford in early August.

Although he was cramping up at the end, Knowles certainly made a strong contribution on both sides of the ball – with his often-overlooked passing game being central to Saints’ early shape.

When asked for an assessment of the England loose forward’s contribution on return, coach Paul Wellens said: “We get a lot of movement in and around Morgan Knowles and he's so effective because he's a really strong carrier of the ball and attracts defenders because of that.

“But then he can use his pass, whether it's his short ball or out the back to the halves.

“He’s got a great skill set there. It doesn't only improve us defensively, but also offensively and he's one of the, it not the, most respected players in the group given the way he plays the game and how tough he is.”

Some of Knowles’ early work in tandem with prop Alex Walmsley caught the eye, with his slipping of the short ball to the supporting prop after sucking in defenders proving effective.

But in defence, not only did he back up Matty Lees in leading the defensive line – but he almost evoked the spirit of his superman dive from his memorable try-saving tackle against Salford some years ago when seeking to stop Giants’ first try.

“Morgan’s efforts to try and stop Elliot Wallis on the left was something I just love seeing from our players,” Wellens said “That's a lost cause, but Morgan Knowles is prepared to chase lost causes. That's something we have got to hang our hat on moving forward as well.”