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Kristian Woolf reveals St Helens star could return for Grand Final clash with Leeds Rhinos

Old Grand Final foes St Helens and Leeds Rhinos are set for one last dance at the Theatre of Dreams next Saturday as they face off with the Super League trophy up for grabs.

So now is the time fans start to sweat over injuries and suspensions. Leeds will definitely be without Harry Newman whilst Ash Handley, David Fusitu’a and Aidan Sezer are all doubts though much discussion lays around Sezer’s situation.

As for St Helens, well coach Kristian Woolf revealed his side came through today’s game with a clean bill of health except for a few bangs: “There were a few bangs, Matty Lees has a bit of a bang but he’ll be fine. Mark Percival and Sione Mata’utia are back for the first time. They’re sore but it’s a Grand Final and they’ll find a way. I’m confident we’ll have all those guys available.”

However, the big news is the potential return of Will Hopoate. The outside back has had an injury hit campaign but has boost St Helens’ attack when he’s featured especially at fullback though on today’s performance it would be harsh to drop try scoring heroic Jon Bennison: “Will Hopoate has a chance. He was a close chance for this one. The thing we’ve got to weigh up is he’s not played a lot of footy. We need him to play 80 minutes and if he does that he’ll have a big impact on the game.”

Woolf revealed the wider injury problems St Helens have faced recently as well noting that they’ve been training with as few as 16 men: “We’ve had to do it different this year. We’ve had to deal with so many players unavailable doing training sessions with 16, 17 men at the minute and naming just 20.

“We’ve got the class to beat anyone and the toughness and resilience to stay in the fight.”

Coming through despite these injuries, the only thing left for Woolf and Saints fans to worry about is bans but Woolf says he’d be very shocked if Morgan Knowles received a ban after his yellow card in today’s semi-final win over Salford: “I’d be flabbergasted if that was a ban. I can’t see what was dangerous and we put things in place for dangerous play and I can’t see what was dangerous about that.”

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