Potter's defensive delight

Saints coach pleased with success built on solid foundations

Last updated: 19th September 2009

Potter's defensive delight

Potter: Impressed by his side's steel

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Mick Potter acclaimed St Helens' defensive qualities after their 15-2 play-off victory over Huddersfield Giants on Saturday.

Tries from Tony Puletua, Leon Pryce and Francis Meli in the first 20 minutes put Saints firmly in control of the match and they went on to claim the win that takes them to within 80 minutes of a fourth successive Grand Final appearance.

The Giants were restricted to just one penalty conversion from Brett Hodgson and, after watching his side finish the regular Super League season with a shock 24-12 defeat at home to Catalans Dragons, Potter was delighted.

"I thought our line speed was good and our contact was good," he said. "Defensively, it was very close to our best performance of the season.

"It was a definite improvement on last week. You could see there was a lot at stake.

"It was a slow game and very hard to get points but that's what you get when the rucks are so slow.

"Not playing next week will be an advantage with some of the guys carrying knocks."

Injuries

Saints' reward is a home tie in the semi-final and the chance to rest players next week, especially after Keiron Cunningham (hand), Matt Gidley (groin) and Tony Puletua (shoulder) all sustained knocks in the match at Knowsley Road.

Huddersfield sustained injuries to forwards Stephen Wild and Larne Patrick, meanwhile, but will have another chance in the play-offs in Friday's preliminary semi-final.

Nathan Brown confirmed that Scott Moore and Keith Mason will both return after serving their internal two-match bans, however, and the coach was not too downhearted with what he saw.

"There wasn't a great deal in the game, just the first 20, 25 minutes," he said. "We weren't quite good enough.

"In semi-finals you have to up the speed and we didn't do that in the first 20 minutes. Their line speed was better than ours as was their kick-chase.

"They are a very good side and we weren't far away."