Denis Whittle talks with Shaun McRae

WHITTLE: So now we know the Bulls face Saints' on April 27, but was their win such a great surprise?

McRAE: It certainly was to David Howes, Kel Coslett and myself because we all tipped Leeds as members of an 'informed' panel at St. Helens Cricket Club on the night before the match.

Shell-shocked is hardly the word for how we felt, but being present at Huddersfield, we saw for ourselves that Bradford took command from the start and stayed that way against a young Leeds side that lacked the vital commodity of experience.

Going into a a clash of such intensity without the likes of Craig Innes, Gary Schofield, Tony Kemp Gary Mercer and Richie Eyres was too much of a gamble, but that is not to belittle a Bulls' game plan that was almost error-free and made good use of space.

To be honest I thought that Leeds would bounce back in the second-half, but Northern made sure they played out their sets of six tackles and still had enough in reserve to score another two tries despite having Jason Donohue sin-binned.

I thought Paul Loughlin and my fellow Aussie, Jeremy Donougher, had 'blinders' for Bradford and I foresee one hell of a game at Wembley, although I could have well done without the dress rehearsal just a fortnight before.

WHITTLE: The brave new world of Super League gets under way for Saints at Workington on Sunday. What are your immediate hopes and aspirations for the novel competition?

McRAE: To start with a win! I Know that Workington have been hit by internal unrest, change of coach, financial problems and even talk they may not compete, but I have told my players there must be no complacency against a team who have nothing to lose and will be firing on all cylinders.

I have not met Workington's new boss Ross O'Reilly, but I'm told he is a Queenslander so he will know all there is to know about getting the best out of his team, who won 36-0 against Barrow Braves at the weekend. For the record I named my team on from my 26-man squad on Tuesday as follows: Prescott; Hayes, Gibbs, Newlove, Sullivan; Hammond, Goulding; Perelini, Cunningham, Leathem, Joynt, Booth, Northey. Substitutes to be named after tonight's Alliance match.

WHITTLE: it has been hinted that Saints will field almost a first team for the clash with Hull's reserve side. What are the reasons for this?

McRAE: First and foremost because several of my players are badly in need of match action, and this includes new arrival Derek McVey (pronounced McVEE!) who has not handled a ball since August. Derek jetted in with his wife Kylie and little daughter Georgie on Monday, and has already had three training sessions with his new team-mates.

Tonight's line-up is: Arnold; Riley, O'Loughlin, Veivers, Waterworth; Martyn, Wareing; Fogerty, Gareth Cunningham, Neill, McVey, Pickavance, Morley.

Substitutes Matautia, Devine.

WHITTLE: It is rumoured that several new rules introduced for Super League are also to be implemented for the Silk Cut Cup Final, even though they did not apply in the earlier rounds of the competition. What do you make of all this?

McRAE: You are obviously referring to one-on-one ball stealing, a free tackle on the return of a kick, and the defending side having the feed if the ball rebounds off one of their players into touch, which have posed no great problem to introduce.

But what I am seeking from Greg McCallum is consistency in regard to the substitute rule which, to illustrate the point, this week sees our Academy side having a four-substitutes-six-appearances formation, the Alliance squad two-four, and the first team four-four.

I make no apology for saying that I would like the first arrangement to apply at Wembley.

WHITTLE: I am right in saying that the injury situation is in a healthy state at the moment?

McRAE: Overall yes, because only Alan Hunte (ankle) , Andy Haigh (lower leg) and Dean Busby (medial ligament damage) are currently on the treatment table.

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