HAPPY with points glut, but not with the old chestnuts of handling errors and leaky defence. That was the considered view of Saints' boss Shaun McRae on his side's victory over Castleford.

WHITTLE: Overall most fans were pleased with the showing on Monday night, in particular the manner in which the ball was moved around. Did you see that way?

McRAE: I would agree that Saints scored several superb tries, some from planned moves and others of an -off-the-cuff variety which, as a consequence, meant that we departed from the game plan too much for my liking.

The point has been made that Saints did not use a single 'bomb' on Sunday, but that was simply because the opportunity did not present itself, because there plenty of chances to run the ball, particularly on the sixth tackle.

As for Saints' re-discovery of attacking flair it should be remembered that when points flow there is a natural tendency for a side to lessen its defensive intensity, and I believe this had something to do with Castleford scoring four tries.

However, no coach worth his salt would be happy with a team that turned the ball over to the opposition no fewer than 14 times - seven in each half - and this failing had a knock-on effect of placing our defence under even greater pressure.

As for the late kick-off on a Monday night, I do not believe it is a good thing to have your team hanging around for a game throughout the weekend, but there again it is to meet television schedules.

WHITTLE: Were you satisfied with the switch of Karle Hammond to loose-forward in order to accommodate Tommy Martyn at stand-off?

McRAE: I thought it worked a treat because Karle, who is often the unsung hero at Saints, possesses the necessary ball-handling and defensive skills to make a go of the last-man-down role, while Tommy is a class act who invariably takes the correct option and lacks nothing but match practice.

WHITTLE: Would you agree that the advance of Steve Prescott this season must make him a contender for the best full-back in the English game accolade, and therefore an international cap should be his?

McRAE: I'm with you all the way because young Steve is a wonderfully exciting player who is maturing rapidly, is very coachable both from a team and individual angle. His defence and positional sense have also improved beyond recognition in what is a very isolated role, where any errors tend to stand out like a sore thumb. WHITTLE: It's perhaps something of an irony but Anthony Sullivan topped the Centenary League try-scoring list when Paul Loughlin was his centre, and now the man who replaced 'Lockers,' Paul Newlove, heads the Super League chart while 'Sully's' touchdowns have dried up. Any theories on this?

McRAE: I think you have to remember that most players experience peaks and troughs and this, along with missing games through injury, are some of the reasons why Anthony Sullivan is finding tries hard to come by at the moment. As for comparing Loughlin and Newlove, I think they are different types in that the former is more of a try-maker, while 'Newey' is a finisher who often gets the ball when the obvious thing to do is score himself.

WHITTLE: Do you think that having the video screen on throughout the game is placing referees under greater pressure and proving a distraction to the players?

McRAE: I have noticed that players are inclined to glance at the replay particularly when a decision goes against them, but I believe this is simply for their own interest and they are mature and professional enough to get on with the game and not question the referee. So I do not see a problem really.

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