NO complaints, and certainly no excuses! That was the attitude of forthright Saints' coach Shaun McRae (PICTURED) after the 35-19 defeat at Wigan.

WHITTLE: Selection gambles, suspect tactics and the old chestnut of leaky defence. Place them in any order you like but they were the principal findings of the why-we-lost lobby. Would you agree?

McRAE: First and foremost may I say immediately that Wigan were the better side on the night, and played like the champion team they are in competing for the full 80 minutes, which we failed to do and paid the penalty. With regard to selection I hold my hands up and admit that it was a gamble to field Paul Newlove, who was under the weather with a chest condition, and Derek McVey, who played well after making the courageous decision to play just a fortnight after knee surgery, but plans to spell McVey were scuppered by injuries. However, I wish to make it clear that Apollo Perelini and Anthony Sullivan were fit to play, and it is nonsense for some people to infer that Saints fielded a team of 'crocks' at Central Park. As for tactics I reject suggestions that Saints were caught on the hop by the Gary Connolly-Inga Tuigamala switch, because the intention was to 'bomb' Jason Robinson, but sudden changes in field position meant that safe-as-houses Connolly often took the ball. However, I can understand defensive criticisms because no side can hope to win after missing 40 tackles and that is what Saints did at Wigan, along with three scoring chances when the game was in the balance at 22-13 in the second half.

But I also felt that on two occasions Saints did not enjoy the rub of the green, first when Wigan scored after being given head and feed after Andy Northey tackled Rob Smyth, and then when Andy Farrell knocked on in the build-up to Simon Haughton's try. Quite simply Saints could not cope with Wigan after they were gift-wrapped a try which brought them back into contention and the lads need no reminding of this, but at the end of the day the score is still 1-1 with Wigan this season. I do not accept that Saints played poorly and it is no disgrace to lose to a side that boasts some of the world's best players.

WHITTLE: With Leeds here on Sunday and hinting of a revival your first priority is surely to restore morale to stay in pole position, wouldn't you think?

McRAE: Absolutely. There are nine Super League rounds to go and it is obviously imperative that we do not slip up and let you-know-who in, but remember both us and Wigan still have stiff hurdles to overcome at London and Bradford. As for Leeds I was quite impressed when I watched them at the weekend when they were strengthened by the return of Tony Kemp and George Mann. WHITTLE: With the Oceanic Cup being scrapped what is the position regarding the whereabouts of Apollo Perelini?

McRAE: Apollo was granted permission to leave for Samoa with Inga Tuigamala and had reached Auckland, New Zealand, when the cancellation news filtered through. We are now trying to book Perelini on a return flight so that he can play against Leeds on Sunday.

WHITTLE: Looking ahead to that game is it possible to pencil in a possible line-up?

McRAE: Not at this stage, given that Saints had five players in last night's Wales versus England game at Cardiff, namely Steve Prescott, Chris Joynt, Bobbie Goulding, Keiron Cunningham and Chris Morley (not forgetting our assistant coach Mike Gregory!). Along with that Joey Hayes was set to make his comeback in the Alliance side at Headingley at the same time, and I am also awaiting medical reports on Vila Matautia, Paul Newlove and Anthony Sullivan, so it will be understood that time is of the essence. However, I am hopeful that Scott Gibbs will be ready to resume after his troublesome shoulder injury, and the other good news is that young prop Andy Leathem is back in the first team frame after coming through an Alliance team game following a viral infection.

WHITTLE: Still on an injury theme what are the up-to-date reports on long-term casualty Dean Busby and Simon Booth, who suffered ankle ligament damage at Wigan?

McRAE: 'Buzz,' as Dean is known among the lads, has not enjoyed the best of luck since coming to Saints from Hull last year in suffering injuries to both knees, but he may return in next Thursday's Alliance match against Bradford at Knowsley Road. Sadly it would appear that Booth faces a month out of action while I understand that Cumbrian prop Jonathan Neill has developed a nagging groin problem.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.