Three teenagers, Jonny Lomax, Kyle Eastmond and Matty Ashurst, and four other players in their early or mid-twenties, Chris Dean, Bryn Hargreaves, Jon Wilkin, and Paul Clough, all had a major say in the nine-try demolition of Castleford Tigers at the GPW Recruitment Stadium and dovetailed perfectly alongside such "veterans" as skipper Keiron Cunningham, Lee Gilmour, Sean Long, Chris Flannery and Matt Gidley.

Fielding a side with an average age of around 26, as they did not Friday night, is not only testimony to Saints' astute signings over the past few years but the development of home-grown talent – a point which chairman Eamonn McManus touched on in his programme notes.

Mr McManus said: "The most pleasing feature of the season to date for me is the playing opportunities being afforded to our academy players and the way they have gone about handling this.

"However, our strength also contributes our biggest problem in evolving the squad over the next year or two.

"Keeping all our talent happy, playing regular first team rugby and staying within the salary cap, presents us with a massive challenge but one which we must and will deal with."