Anderson: It was coming

Saints coach unsurprised by Wigan thumping

Last updated: 5th May 2008

Daniel Anderson admitted he believed his St Helens side were on the verge of something special going into the Millennium Magic weekend - and so it proved.

The Saints coach watched his side thrash Wigan for the second time this season, on this occasion by 57-16, with his side running in a total of 10 tries against the hapless Warriors, who capitulated before half-time.

"I thought that we were starting to get into the mood to really put a performance on someone," Anderson said. "We completed 21 from 21 sets in the first-half and that's unheard of.

"Things went our way, we got the bounce of the ball a little bit and we scored some nice tries. It's obvious to everyone that was the best team I've been able to put on the field.

"Maurie Fa'asavlu didn't play and Nick Fozzard is out, but they were the only blokes we didn't have out there. Having talent on the field makes our position as a team much stronger."

Anderson reserved special praise for Sean Long, who racked up 27 points including a hat-trick of tries and a cheeky first-half drop goal.

"Sean had a great game tonight, he's been training well and playing pretty well of late," he added. "He played well last weekend too. Last weekend he made some errors but there were very few today.

"When you have a result like that you can't single out one player. I thought every player got into the act and they fed off each other."