Roby - No crisis at Saints

Roby: responsibility

Related links

Teams

• St Helens

Also see

• R League on Sky
• Rugby League Scores
• Sky Sports experts

James Roby has insisted that St Helens are not in crisis, despite finding themselves in the bottom half of the Super League table having won just one of their last five matches.

Saints take on Harlequins at Knowsley Road on Friday looking to place last weekend's defeat against basement side Castleford firmly behind them.

Another motivating factor is the knowledge that defeat against Quins would represent a fourth successive loss for them - a first in 12 seasons of Super League.

"The young lads won't have seen anything like this," admitted Roby, the reigning 'Man of Steel' and one of eight ever-presents so far this season. "The team has got to bounce back from these defeats.

"If we can correct the things in training this week, especially the defence, I don't see why we can't turn this around.

"And the way the League is this year - it's so tight - we only need a few wins on the bounce and we'll be straight back up at the top end of the table.

"I'm not worrying at all. We'll be fine."

Defensive record

Roby's comments highlight Saints' current problem: while they have no problem scoring points, only four teams have a worse defensive record.

The Challenge Cup holders have sorely missed their injured forwards, with front rowers Nick Fozzard, Keiron Cunningham and Jason Cayless yet to be reunited since St Helens' appearance in last season's Grand Final.

Meanwhile, captain Paul Sculthorpe has been restricted by injury to just two appearances.

"In previous years we've been known for being really good in defence," Roby continued. "We need to get a bit of crunch back in our defence and stop letting so many soft tries in.

"We're missing some of the experienced guys, especially Keiron with his crunch. Every now and again he will fly out of the line and 'kill' someone.

"Obviously we're going to miss players of that quality but, with the squad we've got, I'm confident the people who fill in the positions are more than capable of doing the job."

Responsibility

One side-effect of Saint's injury woes is Roby's acceptance of greater responsibility - something the 22-year-old has been relishing.

"I got used to starting off the bench and there was nowhere near as much pressure on me," he said. "Keiron led the team around the field.

"In these games, I've realised just how much I needed a kick up the backside in terms of commanding the team around the field and things like that.

"Daniel (Anderson) has spoken to me about it and I'm getting better at it in every game.

"I'm loving the extra minutes. I'm pretty fit and young and luckily I've not picked up any knocks. Hopefully I can avoid the knocks and keep going.

"It's a bit different to coming off the bench because I have to be a bit more patient and play out the sets. I think it's going to help me in the long run so I'm grateful for it.

"It's brilliant for my development."