SAINTS’ only Dream Team member Matty Lees admits that this year has been a hugely challenging one for an injury-ravaged squad - one that is reflected in their league position.
And he said one of the lowest points came in early August, when it looked like the wheels were coming back on after the injury-hit side had recovered from five defeats in a row.
But their subsequent loss of more key players meant the side only just limped over the finishing line just above Catalans on points difference and one win above Leeds Rhinos.
Lees explained: “The worst (part of the year) came after we scraped a Golden Point win over Salford and I went home thinking ‘we're going to go somewhere here now’.
“And then we rocked up the training on Monday and three more key players had significant long term injuries, all five to six week injuries, and that just knocked us down again.”
In that case it was Mark Percival, Daryl Clark and Lewis Dodd – plus a suspension for Morgan Knowles. And then the following week they lost influential packman Curtis Sironen with a calf injury he has yet to return from.
“You try and pick yourselves back up, but there's always been somebody each week but we've learned to deal with it towards the back end of the year.
“But it has been a difficult middle of the year – 100 per cent.”
The sixth-placed finish means they have a mountain to climb in the play-offs, if they win at Warrington they will travel to Wigan in the following week’s semi-final.
The industrious England prop knows the scale of the task facing the side against a team that has already beaten them three times this season.
“I think we're ready for that bit of change and that bit of pressure,” Lees said.
“We're going in as underdogs, but we've put a lot of pressure on ourselves to perform.
“It's weird saying ‘underdogs’ because every year I've played in the first team we've always been favourites, and that now that's finally changed.
“It’s a really tough challenge facing us - we've got extremely good Warrington side in front of us who are probably the best they have been in the last few years, led by Sam Burgess. He'll take another level in these playoffs.
“It's going to be our toughest challenge yet.
“Hopefully we can string everything together we have learned the last few weeks and try and get a win against them on Saturday.”
Saints have very much been written off this year, even by the club’s own fans who cannot envisage the tide turning so late in the campaign.
Others, who were around the play-offs 10 years ago, are maybe channelling their inner-2014 for inspiration when a similarly unfancied and injury decimated side took out the title.
The Saints crop of 2024 are not ready to throw in the towel, and the positive talk in camp is about making history.
Lees said: “It's a new challenge for us and we've talked about potentially winning it from six and what an achievement that would be. That's sort of a challenge we've set for ourselves.
“It's been a challenging year for us and the team are disappointed, as well as the club, in finishing sixth.
“But you can only work with what we've got. We just need to give it our all now and see where we end up.”
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