SAINTS reinforced their status as undoubtedly THE team of the Betfred Super League season, after ripping apart third-placed Hull FC last week.

I predicted a big win against the inconsistent Black and Whites… and right I was!

Theo Fages, Jonny Lomax and Lachlan Coote again led the way, scoring four of our seven tries. A special mention must also go out to James Bentley who turned in an outstanding 80mins at hooker, stepping in for the injured Aaron Smith and soon-to-return skipper James Roby.

Remember, Hull FC came up against the Saints the week after their high-intensity win over second-placed Warrington, which could have been a mental and physical challenge to continue that form.

However, we showed exactly why we are top dogs and sit eight points clear at the top of the table, bagging 40 unanswered points until late in the game when Hull pulled back two consolation tries. This was always going to be two points coming back to Lancashire!

Saints boss Justin Holbrook, who acknowledged Hull was a tough place to go and usually a hostile crowd, ominously warned afterwards there are still areas for improvement among the table toppers.

In my opinion, there’s always room for improvement and things to be worked on. I think the biggest challenge for Saints is complacency, especially when everybody is talking them up all the time. However, I think this is something we have learnt from last season and will be better prepared for the business end of this campaign.

Next up for us, as if you didn’t know, is Wigan at home.

The Warriors haven’t had the best of seasons, but are handily placed in fourth… 16 points behind us in the table. They have hit a bit of form of late though and will no doubt come all guns blazing to the Totally Wicked Stadium on Friday.

It’s been a mixed week at the DW, with Adrian Lam finally ending all the coaching saga speculation by signing a year extension. Also two of the worst kept secrets in RL have finally been announced, with George Williams confirming he will leave at the end of the year to join Canberra in the NRL, while Salford talisman Jackson Hastings will join the Warriors in 2020.

Will these have an impact on Fridays result? No! I’ve no doubts this will be a great game played at the highest intensity - as Saints-Wigan derbies should be - but in the current form our boys are in I simply can’t back against them.

I’ll go for a Saints win by 10pts (10/11 at Betfred).

Finally, it’s been great to see how the league’s title sponsors Betfred have been picking out Super Fans in the game… and handing them £1,000 in prize-money.

They’ve honoured a Wigan supporter who found his way to a game just after his wife had given birth, a Castleford fan and his family who are so besotted about the Tigers that’s all they buy for each other at Christmas, a super-fan from Oldham who is spending his money on renovations at his beloved grassroots club – and a supporter from Yorkshire who cheated death and fulfilled a pledge to become Catalans’ away day mascot.

What has been a big surprise to me is that no Saints supporters have yet picked up the regular prize. £10,000 is on offer for the overall Super Fan, so it’s nothing to be sniffed at.

So my message to the Saints faithful is simple - get your entries in!