SAINTS coach Justin Holbrook gave an appraisal of the team and some individual performances, when the Star’s Mike Critchley caught up with him this week.

MC: What have you picked up in review?

JH: I have watched it twice and I was really happy to come away with the win - there were some really big efforts from a number of players which contributed to that win.

MC: What do you make of Belle Vue as a place to play?

JH: It is the fourth time I have been there and they are always similar. We have had some close wins there.

They are games where you think you feel like you are in control of the game but you never really are.

But credit to the players

First 20 in complete control then the minute you put in a poor kick or drop a ball and next minute you are on your own line for 10-15 minutes. That is when they are so dangerous because they have so many big guys who keep the ball alive so they are difficult to hold out.

In the middle of the second half where they had four or five sets on our try line and we went up the other end and scored.

That was a huge impact on the game.

For us to find they energy to go after them when we got the ball was a huge credit to their attitude.

St Helens Star:

MC: You watched from the sidelines, rather than the stand, do you pick up much in the way of banter?

JH: I really like Wakefield. I can see how difficult it is to play there but I think it is fantastic - although you don't want to go there every second week but the fact that it is one of those old style grounds where the crowd play a part.

Everything about it is difficult but if you prepare that way and accept that you come away with the win.

That win was as good as the week before for me.

It is easy to get up for Wigan, but to get up against Wakey - a tough place to go and not a lot of excitement, was a huge effort for the playing group.

There will be plenty of teams that will go there and not get a won this year.

St Helens Star:

MC: Did you expect golden point with two to go?

JH: I always thought we could come up with the try because we put in some good inroads. We really lifted late in the game like we did against Wigan.

We just missed a drop goal but Morgan Knowles and James Roby chased so hard to keep them on their own line. When we were in that last set I was really confident that we were good enough to come up with the try.

St Helens Star:

MC: Who do you single out as individuals for praise?

JH: I thought Morgan Knowles and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook were our best. Morgan got though so much work ­— to play 80 minutes and he was there to knock grubber kicks dead, dive on loose balls and chase the field goal that kept them a metre out from their line.

He got through so much work, and obviously Robes, Jonny Lomax and Regan Grace were fantastic too.

Reegs was not really happy with his performance against Wigan but came out on Sunday and did everything right for us.

He came up with some big tackles earlier in the game and in that last set he came up with it he made that 30-40 metre break. I was really happy.

We have a lot of self belief in the playing group and that is for a reason - to cover for each other when we are not having the best of days.

We that the week before with Reegs, and maybe a little bit on Sunday with Lachlan. He had a mixed day, but we know how great a player he is and he still had a hand in a number of our tries.

St Helens Star:

It was windy and hard for kicking but he was disappointed by his own standards.

It is tricky place to play full stop, without it blowing a gale. It was a good experience for the new players to play in that hostile environment but to come away with a win.

We can do talking in the week to prepare for it, but until you actually play in a game like that the boys you don’t know. They have a much better appreciation of how well you have to play to win there.

MC: Defence overall was very good, but they picked the right edge apart three times. Is there something there that needs fixing up?

JH: You can give Wakefield some credit; they were a threat with the ball and Jacob Miller is an outstanding player.

On the flip side we were disjointed at times and had a good look at the video to fix some things up there before we play Leeds.

The good thing was we scrambled well and defused situations that could have been worse.

Everybody knows how good a player he already is and how good a player he is going to be.

He has been our best trainer in pre-season and has transferred that on to the field.

It allows players like Dom Peyroux and Joseph Paulo time to get match fit and games under their belt and time to get into the season,

When you have got guys like Morgan Knowles that can keep going the way he can it just really helps our other boys in the team to get fitter.

To play the way he does at such a young age, 22, is tremendous.

St Helens Star:

MC: Two games in are you happy with team knitting together, particularly the halves with Lachlan Coote?

JH: I am happy with how we have started, in particular those boys so there is no need to look to change that.

As for the bench we will play around with that last spot but Kyle Amor is doing a good job there at the moment. We have a number of options with guys who are keen to get a game over the next few weeks.

So we will probably rotate that one, but I am happy with how we have started and we will get better with our combinations as the year goes on.

We know we have to get better and we will.

MC: How does training carry on with it being a blank weekend?

JH: It is not ideal having the week off now I would rather keep playing but it is being forced upon us.

We will have a normal week and wrap it up with a training game against the Roosters instead of the usual captain's run.