St Helens have been playing at play off intensity for a couple of weeks now. Part of me thinks that puts them at an advantage in the play offs, I’m also hoping they burn out (can’t see it though)

I was fearing this game v Leigh but agree with a lot of comments. It’s exactly what we need.

Hopefully we'll turn up on Friday with the same attitude we had against Cats and Leeds for that matter, if we do and Leigh turn us over then fair play to them

ATEOTD, there has to come a time when it doesn't matter if Saints are "in playoff form", gearing up for another title tilt or whatever else people want to say.

If we're going to be successful, then WE need to find a way to win. We need to be playing playoff footy etc. Catalan away was us putting a marker down and, quite simply, going to Leigh and wrapping up the LLS, with all the benefits it brings, has to be another.

To be frank, over the last few years I'd say we've choked more than we've delivered. We now need to start delivering.

It's as simple as that.

Our defence recently has been extremely good. We've either nulled teams or kept them to the odd try. If we can do this against Leigh by keeping them to 1-2 tries then we can remain vonfident.

That said, weather this week looks pretty crap I think, so a wet pitch could turn the game into an arm wrestle and ultimately a closer scoreline.

I think in recent years we haven’t choked but we were just not good enough. Earlier in season I thought we had very little chance of winning the GF. Now I think we may have a chance but still think Saints will land the GF honours because they have shown repeatedly that they can deliver when the pressure is on and because they have the better and more experienced players in playoffs.
If we beat Leyth on Friday then maybe we are maturing as a team and we may possibly go on to land the GF. If we lose then we probably have to beat Wire, Saints/Catalan and Catalan/Saints in 3 consecutive weeks and I think that will be beyond us even if we don’t get anymore injuries or suspensions.
I’m a little worried how French will perform when the intensity reaches much higher levels and for me Mago still isn’t good enough or potentially fit enough when he comes up against Saints or Catalan when it’s hey lads hey.
On the plus side Smith is by some margin the best playmaker in competition, Field looks particularly good at the moment and confidence within the club must be exceptionally high at the moment.

Hopefully I’m underestimating where we are as a squad but I still think that we might fall short when it really counts. Maybe the losses at Wakefield, Newcastle and the CCSF are blurring my thoughts too much and maybe we really have turned the corner.