Kristian Woolf would be “flabbergasted” if Morgan Knowles missed Leeds Rhinos Grand Final with ban

St Helens are deservedly set to play in a fourth consecutive Grand Final as they take on Leeds looking to topple the Rhinos’ record of three titles in a row at their expense.

However, to do so they may have to do without one of their key players depending on what the disciplinary panel says.

That’s because Morgan Knowles was shown a yellow card early in the game for twisting Chris Atkin’s arm.

However, St Helens boss Kristian Woolf is not worried about that at all saying he would be flabbergasted to see Knowles suspended for the Grand Final due to the fact it wasn’t dangerous play:

“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.”

With or without Knowles, Woolf would likely be confident in his side to do the job and lift the Grand Final trophy next weekend owing to the character in his side saying:

“I know they’ll give their absolute best, we’ve just got to enjoy the week. Grand Final weeks are busy weeks but are great weeks, and we’ve just got to enjoy it.

“We’ve been there four years in a row and it feels a bit normal but it isn’t the norm.”

Woolf also saw this character in his side’s performance today saying: “It was a very tough game. I’m really proud of our games. We played great, we started great with a great intensity and put them under a lot of pressure.

“But to their credit they stayed in the game and at 13-12 it was a real contest.

“I’m really proud of our blokes, we were never going to lose that we just kept fighting.

“We knew we had to start with a great intensity, it’s a semi-final. Our biggest strength is the intensity we can start with and how long we can play at it. We finished with it as well.

“We get challenged, they stay in the fight, we keep fighting. We were down to 12 men twice, we conceded a try we were a bit disappointed with but other than we were outstanding with 12 men which is why this group is so good.”