Saints on mission to show the world

ANY notions that St Helens players are in Australia for a holiday were immediately dispelled when the team belted out their version of When the Saints Go Marching In after last week’s “trial” win in Wollongong.

This isn’t a team that has flown halfway across the world to simply make up the numbers with $100,000 on offer.

They are here to prove a point with everything on the line when they face the Panthers in a heavyweight bout in sweltering conditions in Sydney’s west for the World Club Challenge title.

“We’ve come here to win. We haven’t come all the way out here for any other reason, but at the same time, we know the challenge is huge,” St Helens coach Paul Wellens said.

“We’re as ready as we’ll ever be. For this team to win four in a row … there’s no group more deserving of the opportunity to come out here and test themselves against a side like Penrith.”

The Saints have dominated the Super League with fourstraight titles, but they’ve got one more mountain to conquer against the two-time defending NRL champions who have been on another level since the Covid break.

St Helens lost at home to the Roosters the last time the World Club Challenge was held in 2020, with only one English club getting the job done in the past 10 years.

James Roby brings more than 500 games of experience – including World Club Challenge appearances in 2007, 2015 and 2020 – and he says this team is ready to conquer Everest in what shapes as its final frontier.

“You could look it like that because this is another level that we have to go to,” he said.

“We’ve earned our reward again.”