Ready for the Challenge

Ready for the Challenge

By Paul Sculthorpe St Helens and Lions star

Leeds impressed me at the weekend when they beat us at Knowsley Road - they look at lot more solid this year than they have done in the past.

They made some excellent signings over the winter - the arrival of Dave Furner from Wigan has certainly stiffened them up and Gary Connolly has impressed me as well.

St Helens will have to be at our best if we expect to stand any chance of beating Leeds in Saturday's Challenge Cup semi-final.

Did we learn anything from that defeat? I think we learnt more about our own team than we did about the Rhinos.

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Leeds did nothing out of the blue to surprise us - they played how we expected them to, how they have been doing all season.

They like to bulldozer teams with their big pack and then they shift the ball to players like Chris McKenna and Keith Senior who can cause serious damage.

But on Saturday, St Helens just did not throw anything back at them in attack to test them.

We defended well and the coaches were pleased with that part of our game.

Their tries came from two kicks, one interception and one spectacular 80-metre score for Wayne McDonald.

But it was in attack where we let ourselves down. We didn't throw anything at them.

People have always said that the most impressive part of St Helens' game is our attacking play.

We won't be worrying about revenge on Saturday

But that is the area where we have let ourselves down over the last two weeks, losing to both Huddersfield and Leeds.

We have been switching off in games, letting our concentration waver. And it has cost us.

In the big games the most important thing is field position and putting pressure on the opposition.

That is something we will have to get right on Saturday in the Challenge Cup.

We will not be thinking back to last week's defeat, worrying about revenge. It's all about the 80 minutes, what happens on the day.

The McAlpine Stadium is a pitch that suits our style of play - it is a big, wide field that is always well maintained.

It will be a superb atmosphere with a sell-out crowd - expect a fantastic match.