Quartet return as St Helens gear up for the play-offs

St Helens will welcome back four key players this weekend as they get ready for the start of the Super League play-offs.

The runaway league leaders’ have effectively had five dead rubbers to end their regular season, having finished top at a canter – though the carrot of beating Wigan’s record of 15 point gap at the top of a table, set in the 1980s, is still dangling.

Whether that matters to coach Justin Holbrook, still licking his wounds following the Challenge Cup final defeat to Warrington, remains to be seen.

Their home game against Huddersfield this week will see the return of Theo Fages, Kevin Naiqama, Dominique Peyroux and Lachlan Coote, who all sat out the 4-0 win over Castleford last Friday.

Holbrook said: “They’ll all play this week which will be great.

“We’ve got guys that are probably a bit under done at the minute, so it’s crucial to get their match fitness up and get the play-offs up and running.

“Huddersfield got a huge win for them last week and they’re battling for survival, so we’ve got to make sure we play well.”

Former St Helens players Lee Gaskell and Paul Clough will turn out against their former club, and the Giants will no doubt have one eye on what’s happening elsewhere – with relegation rivals Hull KR and London Broncos playing each other at KCOM Craven Park.