ST HELENS and new head coach Paul Wellens will be heading Down Under for the World Club Challenge and the Pre-Season Challenge on the 31 January.
Whilst in Australia, the Saints will take on St George Illawarra Dragons before the main prize is up for grabs against the Penrith Panthers.
But, with Saints travelling Down Under, the Merseyside club will be under NRL jurisdiction, meaning different interpretations for some rules as well as the inclusion of a captain’s challenge.
The captain’s challenge allows a team, if they disagree with a referee’s decision, to refute that decision – but teams only get one per game.
For Wellens, he plans to sit down with the Saints players and discuss the interpretations but his main focus is on ensuring his players are ready for the challenge.
“There are a few slight different interpretations which we have to get used to and I plan to sit down with our players and talk about that,” Wellens said.
“We will have a training session in Manly where we will have an NRL referee who will take that session for us in order to give us more clarity in the different interpretations.
“Essentially, though when you strip it all back, it’s a game of rugby league. Those interpretations don’t make you miss tackles or not run the ball as hard as you can and do all the things that encompass a high quality rugby league game.
“That’s the areas we will be focusing on. We will have a chat around the players on the captain’s challenge and other interpretations which are unfamiliar to us but we won’t get too caught up on it so to speak.”
Wellens will be taking a squad of 26 players to Australia.
