Was the 46-4 ‘stroll’ against Salford on Sunday the right sort of preparation for such a big and important game as Wigan tomorrow night?

Ask me on Saturday morning, because at the moment I don’t really know.

But it was a 40-point win and we’ve taken some confidence from the manner of that win.

And, arguably, the biggest thing about the game is that everyone came through the game healthy.

Having said that, I wasn’t 100% satisfied with what I saw.

No disrespect to Salford, but it is about time that when we’ve got our foot on the throat of an opponent we learn to snap some necks, if that’s the phrase.

In other words, we’ve got to be more ruthless and start putting sides to the sword when we’re in a position  to do so.

That’s something that’s clearly still missing from our game.

You mention everyone emerged from the Salford game unscathed. How big a positive is that at this late stage of a season when injuries can so often have such a negative effect?

It’s massive, and it’s a case of having to take full advantage of that fact.

Apart from Pete Aspinall (ankle) and Stu Fielden (knee) everyone else was able to take a full part in training, including Shaun Lunt and Jason Chan.

Shaun (ankle) and Jason (bicep) have obviously both been sidelined by injury, but were able to play a full part in training yesterday.

In fact, we had 29 training, and that’s just what you want.

For the most part, we have been a pretty healthy squad, with Channy being a big exception. He’s missed about 20 weeks this year with a knee injury and then the torn bicep.

And again I can’t praise our medical and conditioning staff more highly for that. Their role this year has been absolutely tremendous.

The way they have kept everyone happy and managed everyone’s health has been fantastic.

We’re fortunate to have such an exceptional team as ours at our disposal.

Wigan also look like they’re going to be in good shape for tomorrow’s game. Is that something you’ve focused on?

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t taken a look at what they’re doing.

Over the past month, they’ve had an unsettled team, and that’s been reflected in their performances and  their results.

Sam Tomkins has hardly played in that time, while Sean O’Loughlin is also just returning from injury.

They also rested Liam Farrell and Pat Richards against Hull KR last Friday, but everyone expects them to be back this week.

So, all in all, it promises to be a great game between two very strong sides.

We’re all pretty excited about going over there.

You’ve already beaten Wigan at home this season. Does that count for much tomorrow night?

Not directly.

But the fact we did win that day does add to our confidence that we can beat the good teams in big games – and they don’t come much bigger than this.

In that game earlier in the season, we defended very, very well because we gave them a lot of ball.

So to keep Wigan to 10 points that day was a great achievement, but we know we can’t afford a repeat over at the DW Stadium.

That game did, however, show that we’re a good team, both defensively and offensively, and if we bring both parts of our game to the party we’ll give ourselves an excellent chance.

Our confidence is high, we know we’re a good team, and we’re looking forward to proving that again tomorrow night.

Finally, what did you think of Nathan Brown’s criticism at the RFL’s apparent lack of action in trying to protect playmakers after Gareth O’Brien was knocked-out during St Helens’ win at Catalan?

He’s right.

It was a point I was trying to make after Robbo got knocked out at Hull the other week.

The difference was the choice of words Browny used to make his point, compared with what I said at the time!

He probably won’t get a fine for the way he criticised the officials, while I ended up copping a £500 (£250 of which was suspended) fine for letting my emotions get in the way and choosing a wrong word.

But there’s no doubt that the challenge on O’Brien was dangerous contact and a cheap shot.

We don’t want to see things like that in our game, and that’s what both Browny and myself were saying.

It really is a serious issue that needs addressing as quickly as possible.