Saints coach expects tough battle

Wigan and St Helens meet at Old Trafford on Saturday

Saints coach Ian Millward has the comfort of knowing his side have thrashed their Grand Final opponents Wigan en route to Saturday's showpiece at Old Trafford.

But the Australian stresses the convincing win which gave his reigning Super League champions their place in the final has little bearing on where the trophy will end up.

Speaking as his side prepared for the derby meeting, he said: "It will all come down to the 80 minutes and who performs on the day."

And he doesn't believe his side will be able to repeat the 54-16 drubbing they subjected their opponents to.

The Olympics have finished, and there is no rugby league being played back home at the moment so they are crying out for it

  Saints coach Ian Millward

"I don't think we'll see that. It would be nice - it would be good to enjoy part of the game, but no, Wigan just had an off night and I think Saturday will be much tougher than that."

Millward is also refusing to be swayed by any psychology being dished out by his Wigan counterpart that Saints are favourites for the final - and said considering Wigan's budget it is only fitting they are in the Grand Final.

While rugby league may enjoy a mainly parochial following in Britain, Millward expects there to be massive interest in the Grand Final in his home country, due to several factors.

"The Olympics have finished, and there is no rugby league being played back home at the moment so they are crying out for it.

"There are also several very talented Australians playing for Wigan. In fact, we are the only Premier League side not to have an Aussie playing for us."

Although there is traditionally intense rivalry between the two sides, Millward believes his players need no extra motivation going into the final.

Wigan were very good, they were awesome - they were at their home ground and they did a tremendous job

  Ian Millward on his side's opponents

"The motivation for us is to show mentally and physically we are a very good team," he explained.

"We also want to back up what we achieved last year. I think it has been an extraordinary effort to make the Grand Final considering our squad is not as strong as it was last year.

"We are down in terms of numbers and the competition has improved by 10 or 15 percent so to go back to where we were last year is a tremendous achievement for the players."

Millward started off his road to Old Trafford with Leigh in the Northern Ford Premiership before moving to Saint Helens after just one match of the current season.

"My brief was to get back to winning ways and get a few things back on course and hopefully our players have the right desire.

Awesome

"Our aim when I started was to make the five. What we did was changed our goals a bit with six or seven weeks to go.

"We aimed to finish top of the league but unfortunately Wigan beat us to that in the last game.

"So our aim then, when we started the next stage of the competition with five teams, was to finish top of that league. That is our third aim and we're on course for that.

Asked about his views on Wigan's match against Bradford he admitted: "Wigan were very good, they were awesome - they were at their home ground and they did a tremendous job.

St Helens may have suffered a defeat at the hands of Wigan in the last match of the season, but Millward believes the stakes will be completely different on Saturday night.