St Helens to give Roosters warm-up game

Wigan’s Super League rivals St Helens will play Sydney Roosters in a warm-up match two days before the World Club Challenge.

The training game, which will not be open to the public, will be played at the Totally Wicked Stadium and will be beneficial for both sides according to Justin Holbrook.

Saints’ head coach Holbrook is the former assistant to current Roosters’ boss Trent Robinson and will use the event to keep his players on their toes during his sides week off.

“Instead of captain’s run on Friday we will have a training hit out against the Roosters, which will be good for us because we haven’t got a game,” he told the St Helens Star.

“It will good for the Roosters too ahead of their game against Wigan. I’d much rather be playing them on Sunday – but we weren’t good enough. It will be good to give our boys some different opposition so early in the year.

“If it was later in the year I would have given them time off, but with it being so early there are plenty of guys who need match fitness and we will use Friday’s session as a decent hit-out and then we will look at Leeds.”

Holbrook’s side, who won the 2018 League Leaders’ Shield, have started the new season with two wins from two following their last gasp victory away at Wakefield on Sunday.

Their next game is at home to Leeds a week on Friday and although there is a full seven days between the training session and their next match, he revealed their hit out against the Roosters would not be at full pelt.

“It will be a 70 per cent game – not a full game as they have to play on Sunday,” he said.

“It is not a full on game – and not full on intensity, just a case of letting them get a run against another team. I met up with Trent (Robinson) a few times in October when he was over in London for a leaders conference that I was at.

“We tied it up back then. It has always been in the pipeline once we knew they were coming over and we had the week off.”