A FEW eyebrows were raised when St Helens allowed highly-respected duo Lee Gilmour to join the Giants and Sean Long to move to Hull FC.

And their heavy opening-night home defeat to Long’s new club appeared to support the widely-held view that allowing players of such note to depart could be a recipe for disaster.

But since then, Saints have slowly been getting into the groove, with big away wins at Bradford Bulls and Catalans Dragons.

A defeat at Hull KR earlier in the month temporarily knocked Mick Potter’s men out of their stride before they hit back with their most impressive victory of the season, last Friday’s 28-18 home win over Warrington Wolves in front of a capacity 17,500 Knowsley Road crowd.

With the likes of Keiron Cunningham, Leon Pryce, James Graham and James Roby ready to lead the way, Saints, of course, should never be underestimated.

And the emergence of Kyle Eastmond, who was the man-of-the-match against the Wolves, brings genuine excitement.

MICK POTTER is in his second season as head coach of St Helens and is desperate to guide them back to silverware after the club failed to win a trophy in 2009.

His success at Catalans Dragons, where he led them to the 2007 Challenge Cup final and a third-place Super League finish a year later, suggests he is more than capable of restoring Saints to the pinnacle of the sport.

An astute tactician, the Australian has shown outstanding leadership skills since the very early days of his playing career in the NRL.

KYLE EASTMOND emerged as a true star of Super League last season and has been charged with the task of filling the void left by fellow scrum half Sean Long’s departure to Hull FC.

Fortunately for Saints, the 20-year-old is already rising to the challenge on the back of starring for England in last season’s Gillette Four Nations series.

He played in each of England’s four fixtures, starting three of those at scrum half, including the final defeat against Australia.

He is an electrifying talent whose running style and clinical finishing have drawn comparisons with Jason Robinson.