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Jones-Buchanan: epitomises Leeds this season

They have to go like for like; fight fire with fire; take Leeds on at their own game. That is the only way St Helens can approach this. If you go out against Leeds and set your stall out to defend, you will not, I repeat not, be able to do it for the full 80 minutes - whoever you are.

Stevo
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ST HELENS v LEEDS RHINOS
Live on Sky Sports
7.30pm, Fri, Sky Sports 1

Related links

Teams

• Leeds Rhinos
• St Helens

Also see

• Leeds v Saints - Team news
• Phil Clarke on Leeds
• Anderson - We're underdogs

This is the litmus test for both sides. Is it going to be positive? Or is it going to be negative?

And we're not talking about pregnant women here folks, we are talking about finding out whether this Leeds Rhinos side are going to simply run away with Super League this year.

The football they are producing right now is quite simply exhilarating. I would put them up on a pedestal with the sort of performances the Saints were churning out a couple of years ago when they swept all before them.

Leeds are just excelling in all departments right now and it is impossible to pick out one area where you might be able to get at them. But it is possible to pick out one area where they have improved and all credit must go to Brian McClennan.

People said he didn't have enough experience as a coach to step into Tony Smith's shoes, but how wrong he is proving those doubters.

Okay, tactically and technically there is not much more you can do to a championship winning side, but there is plenty you can do to ruin it.

What Brian has done, which has so impressed me, is foster a team spirit and togetherness that is behind their superb start.

You can see it in everything the Rhinos do out on the field and I dare say it might be something as small as making training more fun, but boy are we seeing the rewards. It's important to understand that there is no harder bunch of players to knit together than the New Zealanders, which Brian did.

World-class

And he appears to have done the same to this Rhinos side. Yes Peacock is a world-class forward; yes Brent Webb is a world-class full-back; yes Kevin Sinfield is getting there and yes, Matt Diskin is performing week in, week out.

These might be extremely talented individuals but when they pull on that Leeds jersey, there is not one superstar among them.They have pride in that shirt, pride in that club, pride in those fans and they are proud to play for each other.

Brian will have known there was very little he could have improved on in terms of individual skill factor, but he did realise he could take this Leeds side forward, as unit, on and off the field.

So, how do St Helens and how does Daniel Anderson go about stopping them, I hear you ask.

Well, he goes like for like; he fights fire with fire; he takes Leeds on at their own game.

That is the only way St Helens can approach this. If you go out against Leeds and set your stall out to defend, you will not, I repeat not, be able to do it for the full 80 minutes - whoever you are.

A couple of years ago you might have been able to front them up in the forwards, but not anymore. Not with Gareth Peacock playing out of his skin, not with Gareth Ellis playing so well and not with Jamie Jones-Buchanan having the season of his life.

And not with Nick Fozzard missing from that Saints pack. Jason Cayless might be back for the first time this season, but he is not going to be fully fit so you can't expect too much from him.

Battered and bruised

Yes we saw Maurie Fa'asavalu back to his best in the Good Friday destruction of Wigan, but there is just no point in St Helens trying to make this a battle of the big boys.

We saw against Wigan just how important having the big names back was for St Helens and what a difference it can make.

We also saw just what two games over the Easter weekend can do to players. Daniel Anderson did not have a fully-fit squad to choose from, so he could not rest his major players when he wanted to and the likes of James Graham had to play the full 80 minutes, when they are not used to it.

That is the reason, I think, they lost to Huddersfield on Monday. Not because anything is drastically wrong - and how could it be after that showing against Wigan - but because of bodies being battered and bruised and not firing on all cylinders.

In a way that defeat will make them even more determined to get one over on Leeds. They will have woken up Tuesday morning and thought of only one thing - making sure they are fit and focussed for this one. They have the players to produce the goods when the pressure is on. And boy is it on!

They will have read the rave reviews Leeds have been getting and remember that not too long ago, it was St Helens being talked about in the same way. And that should bring out the very best in a St Helens side that is still dripping with quality.

As I have said, their best bet lies with taking Leeds on at their own game. They still have enough experience and big-game players who can produce something special when it's needed and they will meet them head-on. Both sides will keep the ball alive, keep the ball alive, keep the ball alive.

And that means we should be in for an absolute cracker! Don't think you will be able to take a breather even watching this one folks... this will be the best game we have seen for many a year on Sky Sports, believe me.

Stevo says

Away win - I can't think of many away sides that have been favourites as they head to Knowsley Road, but the bookies are siding with Leeds and I am going to go the same way... just! Be warned though, something funny happens to Leeds when they head for St Helens: it's as if they have to get out at the border and show their passports, like they are entering a foreign country. But... Brian McClennan won't know that - and that could well be what swings it their way.

Stevo's star man

Jamie Jones-Buchanan - I could pick any one of these Leeds players, but this lad epitomises what has gone on at Headingley this season. He has been spot-on, simple as that. In him you can see what being not only a champion, but a world champion, does to a player and a team. Looking around at a team that is the best in the world puts more than a spring in your step, as does having a coach that gives you the confident and belief to go out and express yourself. And that is exactly what this boy is doing.

Leeds to win at Knowsley Road is 8/11 with Sky Bet. To have a flutter click here!