Super League 2019 kicks off Thursday January 31 as St Helens host Wigan, live on Sky Sports Arena & Mix.
Thursday 24 January 2019 23:55, UK
Ahead of another bumper year of Super League on Sky Sports, we caught up exclusively with players from each of last season's top four at Thursday's Old Trafford launch.
Wigan's Oliver Gildart, Warrington skipper Chris Hill, St Helens' Tommy Makinson and Castleford skipper Michael Shenton each sat down with Sky to look ahead to the new campaign.
Defending champions Wigan kick off the season against last year's League Leaders' Shield winners St Helens next Thursday in a bumper clash, live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Mix.
The Super League structure has changes with the Super 8s scrapped - is this a good thing?
"Yeah definitely. I think with Robert [Elstone] and the guys they have working at Super League, the sponsors, the players and the media, we can take this game to where it belongs.
"I've said it for a few seasons now but this is the first pre-season where I've looked around and gone: this is it. With Sky Sports and with Betfred, we can take this game to where it belongs.
"You can see what it means to people who don't play the game and what they think of our sport. It can go a long way, this sport.
"Stuart Pearce [who spoke at Thursday's launch], with 78 England caps, telling you what he thinks about this sport. It's a game that can grow and learn from other sports. I think we can take this game up high, I really do."
"Personally it was a great year, but personal things sit at the back with me. I don't really care about them.
"I put St Helens at the forefront and my dreams and goals, everything about them revolves around St Helens.
"And my dreams are getting St Helens where they belong - to Grand Finals and Challenge Cups. And that's something I want to do and achieve.
"The Golden Boot and Man of Steel and all those accolades take a back seat when you're a St Helens player. You put the team first, and that's what our club is built on: hard work, dedication, it sounds like a cliché but it's true.
"We want to win things this year, just like every other team, but we know it doesn't come easy.
"Both semi-final losses last season were some of the hardest I've been involved in, not on the field but off it and dealing with people telling you you're going to win it. Rugby league's not that easy.
"We've got to build on that this year and do better."
"The personal goals help towards the bigger dream which is the team, so for me, I just want to carry on being the player I've become.
"I've worked really hard on my game and I'll carry on doing that. Helping the team on and off the ball and scoring the tries, which is always nice.
"At the end of it, if I'm here with personal awards, along with team ones, that's the dream for me to be sat with both.
"It's a weird one to be fair, because we've never started with Wigan first!
"For the competition as a whole, it just doesn't get bigger, honestly.
"Wigan have had a few changes, some new faces and a new coach but they've always been the same. That competitive, tough team all over the park.
"We've got to be at our best to fare well and get that win. It'll be a tough one."
The Super League structure has changes with the Super 8s scrapped - is this a good thing?
"It's exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out this year and it puts a lot more pressure on everybody to get that top spot, as you get a lot more advantages now if you're up there so we have to be a lot more consistent.
"I thought both Stuart Pearce and Josh Warrington spoke so well today and you can clearly see they've both got a passion for rugby league. It's a very good feeling to hear that."
"Personally, last season was probably the best year I've had in my career so far.
"And probably from a team point of view as well, we had a bit of a special story by the end when we had players and coaches leaving and a last chance to win a final with them, and we managed to get that done.
"So it was probably the best year from both points of view.
"It was crazy. My third time playing at Old Trafford and as I've got older, I've learnt to soak the atmosphere in a bit more.
"It's not every year you can get there, so you have to try and take it all in. I really enjoyed myself."
"Individually, I want to be up there as one of the best centres in the competition.
"The Great Britain squad is at the end of the year so I have to play well every week to hopefully try and get into that squad.
"And from a team perspective, we'd like to get back here in October and defend our title."
"It's very exciting. You usually get a few games to build up to a big game, but we're straight in at the deep end.
"And then we play Leeds and the World Club Challenge, so it's going to be a tough month for us and for me personally!
"But I'm looking forward to it."
How has pre-season gone?
"I feel really good. The past few years I've had a few niggles, but this year I'm just excited. I suppose I'm heading to the back end of my career now so you start planning for stuff after but also ensure you make the most of it while you still can, because it's a special career really.
"You're in the mix with a special group of guys who you have a special bond with. We're extremely fortunate to be in that situation that we get to do this.
"I enjoy every moment of pre-season and every moment of the games now."
"There was too much uncertainty for the teams that were in the bottom four. Leeds Rhinos weren't the worst team last year at all but they were ninth when it came to the split, and then they could have got relegated, which didn't seem like a fair competition.
"It was good for the teams below but for Super League, it wasn't sustainable to do it and was too much uncertainty for all the players and clubs.
"I think the format is much better now and I hope we just stick to it. I think we've had three structure changes in the last 10, 11 years which is crazy.
"In terms of the sport talking about moving forward and growing the game, I think we need some consistency as well."
"I was quite consistent personally, probably wasn't at my best, but in terms of the team, that's what is more important.
"I thought we were consistent but never quite got to where we wanted to get to, we had quite a few things go against us, like injuries to key personnel, but overall we did well.
"A third-place finish isn't too bad but we had a really deflating end to the year. We didn't perform at all in our play-off game against Wigan.
"Wigan are an incredible team, they had an 11-game winning streak to win the whole competition at the end, so it was always a tough ask but we just didn't challenge them enough. We kind of felt like we let ourselves and the club down by not performing how we should have.
"But that has led to massive motivation moving forward into this season. We have unfinished business."
"The coaches always encourage us to set short term, mid-term and long-term goals.
"A lot of our players now will have international honours on the radar, which is great for a club like Castleford that we have that.
"Others might be to play more games, and mine is to win silverware. It's been a long-term goal of mine, to take the club to the next level.
"We've done such a good job in recent years that the sorts of questions I'm getting now are: 'When are Castleford going to take that next step?'
"It's nice to be part of that but awful at the same time in that we've had the opportunities and not taken them. There's frustration there."
"We've worked so hard for the last eight weeks of pre-season and it's all building up to Super League, with the focus all on that first game. It puts a lot of pressure on it.
"You can play all the friendlies you want, but you never know where you're really at until that first game.
"I'm excited, nervous, all the usual things coming into a new season. I can't wait to see us play, I can't wait to get out there.
"We have a massive test ahead of us. Catalans will be looking for a scalp. It's a big game!"
The Super League structure has changes with the Super 8s scrapped - is this a good thing?
"I think it is a good thing. With the rolling around of those games before, quite a few of them were dead fixtures.
"If the top three or four ran away with it then they ended up nonentities or the first couple of weeks might be really competitive, but then there's a couple of losses and it ended up a nonentity.
"I think it's better the way it changed, with the top five making the play-offs."
"I don't really think about myself, I just do things for the team. Obviously it's nice to get recognised in different areas but it's about the team.
"We made two finals but fell short a little bit. You've got to be in it to win it at the end of the day, and we just probably weren't good enough in both games.
"The Grand Final could have gone either way, it was a 50/50, but in the Challenge Cup, we didn't do ourselves justice."
"For the team, it's to win it. Individually, just to carry on leading the boys.
"Keep improving as a leader, that's what I really want to do. And to improve as a person as well off the field.
"I'll keep driving the boys and playing my part in the team, and hopefully we can go out and win some silverware."
"It's a great fixture to start. It always is against Leeds.
"They've got a few newcomers, we have too, so it will be a good battle."
