It was a good performance for a friendly. We were pretty physical up front and there were some good individual performances. We were a bit disjointed at times, but that seemed to be because we were trying to throw the ball around a bit more. The kicking game was good, too.

All of the old stagers played well. Roby only played 40 minutes, but was his usual dynamic self. All four of our main props (Brown used TP and LMS as rotation props, and then gave Walmsley about 15 mins at the end) were industrious, and I also think Wello deserves a mention, as he was excellent in attack and defence. Lance played hooker for the second half, and I thought he was very good.

It's clear that Manu is going to add an extra dimension to our attack, especially as our other players get used to anticipating his offloads. As mentioned above, he already seems to have a good understanding with Roby, which could do some real damage throughout the season.

Walmsley looks good, but a little raw. I reckon it'll be a year before we get the best out of him, partly because I think he could do with putting on a stone - he is a big lad and has a broad frame, but overall looks a little lean for a front rower. Given that he's only been a pro player for 12 months I'm sure that's something that'll sort itself out now that he'll be on a proper conditioning programme.

Joe Greenwood was very impressive in his stint. On his first carry he flattened a defender and went straight over the top of him, and he looked good defensively too. I suspect we'll see plenty of him this season.

My only concern from the match was that we looked shaky defensively on the right, where Gaskell and Turner were defending next to each other. Lauitiiti, in particular, had plenty of joy down that side. Gaskell also missed a fairly routine one-on-one tackle on Lee Smith for his try at the end. Not necessarily a major problem, but there definitely needs to be some work done on our communication down that channel.

Cracking game of Rugby League yesterday, really enjoyed it. Saints played well, once again we were superb defensively, especially on our goal line, and were really clinical with ball in hand. Out forwards laid the platform for and we looked a lot sharper this week than we did last week.

Individual wise, Josh Perry had a great game up front, and got really physical with Justin Poore in particular. He looks a lot fitter, and his performance on the field benefited because of that. He made great yardige from first reciever, and his workrate both with and without the ball was superb.

Sia was absolutly devastating yesterday and threatened every time he had the ball in his hands and was breaking the line at will. Roby had a cracking first half before being replaced by Hohoa, and his combination with Manu will be devastating througout the season. As I said, Lance played 9 yesterday and looked sharp, took his try superbly well.

Walmsley had another good game, although he does look a little bit lanky for a Super League prop. Hopefully that will have been acknowledged, and he will gain a couple of stone throughout the season. Having said that, he did ok when he came on which was good to see, and put in a decent shot on a Wakefield player. Obviously this is a huge step up for him, and I am sure he will benefit from a more professional environment, physically more than anything else.

Joe Greenwood impressed me a great deal once again, and carried the ball forward agressively and hit some cracking lines. His leg drive was extremely impressive, and he has a bit of pace about him and put in a belting tackle on a Wakefield player during the second half, absolutelly flattened him. I am expecting him to get a few opportunities throughout the season, and our front row looks to be extremely strong. We have 6 or 7 props competing for 4 spots in the 17, and they are all pushing each other that little bit further.

Gaskell had a decent game at 6, he put a cracking pass in for to Turner for one of Gardner's tries. Defensively we were good, but we did look a little bit vulnerable down the left hand side with Reece Lyne looking particularly dangerous playing centre for Wakefield. His kicking game was good, and him and Lomax seem to have a far greater understanding that's Lomax and Lance.

Thought it was great to see TP back, and he played well down the middle when he came on. Attendance wise, the figure given by Saints was 2,158, but I thought there were less than that to be honest. Plenty of room around me in W3 and throughout the West, whilst the seats in the South Stand looked practically empty to be honest. Anyway, as I said, it was a cracking game of Rugby League, and we are looking pretty good.

I can echo what has been said along with , I was entertained , it was a joy to see Saints play as we want to see them play , with a bit of flair , a couple of people around me said "this is like Saints of old" and it was in places!!

Only downside of our performance for me was the defence down our right side. Lynne made far too many breaks and was their main attacking threat. Turner and T-Mak need to tighten up down there, because better sides will punish us.

I think we're going to miss Shenny this season as his defence was his strength. Turner comes with a rep so far as defence goes. Aside from a tendency to come in from his wing, Makinson's defence hasn't been an issue. In fact he has sometimes put on some outstanding efforts at defence.

I think it'll more be the Gaskell / Turner combination that could be exposed rather than Turner / Makinson. However, Turner's slight problems in defence come from positioning, this can be coached out of him and I have no doubt Brown is capable of that. Turner if more than capable of tackling in the contact, it's just his positioning that could improve.

In the Huddersfield game Lomax defended well done the right side with Turner and Makinson. I was surprised to see him on the left, and Gaskell on the right on sunday.

Probably a case of testing combinations. I'd imagine long term Lomax will be on the right as he's the stronger defender. Gaskell will be on the left as Josh Jones is a very good defender and he'll have Manu inside him too.

Gaskell's defence was ropey when he came through in 2011, but he managed to improve it rapidly. Perhàps being out of the first team for so long has knocked him back, but hopefully he will improve again. I'm over the moon he's been reinstated as our #6.

I'm also very excited about young greenwood making a mark. Along with Sia and Manu, we all o a sudden have some real size in the back row.

I can't remember where I read it, but someone was talking about Sia and his big hits. Quite happy that they almost oblitorate the opposition, but it comes at a price as he leaves his flank exposed.

Sometimes when there is an overlap, it's not always the end men that have caused it.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that an aggresive tackle should be stopped to keep a solid line. An aggresive tackle can be very effective in causing errors in attack. But we should not always look at the gap left and blame those who have had to shuffle across.

It's a gamble and you need gambles to win anything big. But we also have to accept it will leave us exposed and breaks will happen.

While Lomax is an able tackler and a goo at "giving them the outside", his decision making in defence is often awful. If Turner's rep is deserved, perhaps they're better keeping them apart?

In the end, if it's our fringes where we are exposed then we have little to worry about. The quality of outside backs in SL is poor and the halves are not much better. If you don't get punched up the middle in the forwards then bar the odd couple of players, there is not much threat outwide.