Paul Rowley Q&A ahead of Super League opener at Warrington

MC: Happy to start with a bang so you know where you are straight away rather than easing in?

PR: You just take what comes your way, whichever way you look at it, it's a challenge and Super League's so difficult.

There's no easy fixtures, it's hard to benchmark who's good, who's bad and all that sort of stuff. It's certainly exciting, it's good for everybody, whets the appetite, doesn't it?

I'm a pretty ‘take it as it comes’ sort of person, so we're looking forward to it.

Once we knew what the fixture was we were just locked in and everybody's looking forward to it.

David Klemmer of St Helens (Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

MC: You have mentioned how long the season is, but is it important to sort of set a tone for that first game?

PR: Yeah, of course. I think momentum and confidence are huge in sport, aren't they?

Everybody will say the same things.

If they win, it's great. If they lose, it won’t define us - everybody will say that.

So our attention is on going to Warrington and putting up a great performance and hopefully getting a victory off the back of that.

So that's just the sole focus.

I don't think we should worry too much about what's the day after.

We're just focused on getting the job done.

MC: Warrington's had a bit of a hoodoo over Saints this last two years - it's a seven game losing run.

I know you got a win against Warrington last year with Salford, but Saints have struggled this last couple of seasons against them. Is there any sort of mental block there or does it help the fact that you have got a lot of new players who've not suffered this?

PR: Yeah, I mean if you keep writing about things like that then we'll start getting mental blocks. (he joked).

So, I didn't know anything like that, so I'll keep my mind fresh. Only joking, but no, we're all good and we've got a clear mindset.

Matty Lees of St Helens is tackled by Dom Wear of Workington (Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

MC: With Matty out - because he does a particular role in that team - that way he aggressively leads that line, who have you sort of got in mind to sort of take that on?

PR: They'll have to share that load, and that's for them to them individuals to step up and take that on and own all that extra bit of workload or aggressive nature that Matty brings.

But there's only one Matty and nobody needs to try and be Matty, but add a little bit, maybe 5% or 10% to their game, their work ethic and their aggression and combined we can get the job done.

MC: He's your captain. Who do hand the armband over to in this 10-12 weeks then?

PR: Well, we've got several leaders in the club.

We've got a leadership group and we'll talk about that.

You'll just have to wait and see on that one.

But it's no real big dramas to the group.

We know who gets us around the park and everybody, like I said before, knows their role.

We'll deal with that when we need to.

MC: With the way the season's shortened by a week or so, there's no respite this year week to week, but is there a real excitement this year amongst the playing group about what you're going to attack.

PR: 100 per cent. I think everybody's enjoyed pre-season and there's a real togetherness and a willingness to learn, educate, try new things and on the back of all that and the back of the way that they're communicating together and working together, there's a real sense of belief.

So most clubs will say the same thing, but I'm here to witness firsthand that our boys are in a good place and they're working hard together and that's the key word, they're doing it together.

They're enjoying each other's company and they're keeping each other accountable as well.

So all the signs are there for a successful year.

We just need a little bit of lady luck to jump on board with us as well, and we'll see where we can get.

MC: I'll just pick up something that I missed out at Friday's night post match, but Jake Davies' performance. I thought he had a really good stint for his second game for Saints and for such a young lad to break in shows there's a good future there for him?

PR: He did great when he came on and during pre-season he's really stood up with the lads there as well.

And, he's just one of many, many youngsters that hopefully Saints will continue to bring through, and that'll be the cornerstone of success for years to come.

I thought Jake was fantastic.

MC: I know it's not the forefront of your mind, but any thoughts on the Challenge Cup draw, Cas away?

PR: No, I'm straight down the line with anything like that, so I think I'll always try and digest it real quick and think about how we attack it in a positive mindset.

So, again, we'll attack it in a positive mindset, but we know Castleford - certainly on their own patch – will be enthused about hosting in St Helens on that day.

But we'll be equally enthused and we want a strong cup run.

So, it's as simple as that.

We're optimistic and we're confident.