Saints boss Keiron Cunningham believes Huddersfield Giants centre Joe Wardle is good enough to be playing at the highest international level.
And he’s warned his players that if they don’t get to grips with the likes of last season’s Huddersfield Player of the Year and the mercurial Danny Brough, then St Helens could suffer a third straight Super 8s defeat in tonight’s Langtree Park clash.
Although Saints have completed the League double over the Giants this season, just four points have separated the sides in the two duels.
Cunningham’s side won 11-8 at the John Smith’s Stadium in April and then needed a late Luke Walsh drop goal to triumph 35-34 at Langtree Park five weeks ago, with the Saints head coach expecting another closely-contested encounter tonight.
“Huddersfield are a real good side,” said Cunningham. “They have a big pack and lots of strike over the field.
“Joe Wardle is one of my favourite players and he deserves an international call-up. He is a back-rower who adds so much venom to the side, while Danny Brough is underrated, too, and is one of the best organisers and kickers in the comp.
“They are a well-organised and well-drilled side. It is always a tussle with them that goes down to the finest of margins.”
And after suffering last week’s shock 32-22 home defeat to Hull FC, Cunningham is expecting a response from his players.
“It’s been a tough week,” he added. “It never gets any easier watching a defeat and when your players don’t perform to their standards.
“A lot of things can come out of a defeat, though ,and you can learn more from those experiences than when you win.
“It gave me the chance to get a good look at the players who want to stand up and graft and, to be fair I probably didn’t praise some of them after the game.
“There were a few that really busted their backsides for me and wanted to win as they do week in, week out. It is the guys who didn’t do that, and finding out why they didn’t and discovering their motives now and to the end of the year.
“There were a few home truths as I really expected the players to rise to the occasion on Friday and have a crack. But I thought we just did enough in the first half. Hull had a go in the second to see how we would respond and we didn’t. That lack of response concerned me. We had a real tough day at training on Monday and we will see what happens.”
