Henry Paul believes a place in the Grand Final at Old Trafford in October will be the perfect tonic for the Bulls as they look to recover from their Twickenham wounds.

The Kiwi stand-off, who has still to decide his long-term future, was unable to use the big stage to showcase the skills which have been coveted by, among others, England rugby union boss Clive Woodward.

Paul bagged all the Bulls' six points, with his deadly accurate boot which has now seen 27 successful kicks sail between the posts.

It means he goes into Wednesday night's Super League clash with Warrington Wolves at Valley Parade needing four more to beat the world record set by fellow New Zealander Darryl Halligan who landed 30 in succession for Canterbury Bulldogs in 1998.

But it is future team rather than personal glory that was dominating his thoughts after the final.

"The character of this team will show up for the rest of the season I have no doubt about that," said Paul.

"Losing hurts but getting to the Grand Final will be the best medicine. We have to keep getting to the big finals and learn how to win a few more."

Paul, who was forced to play second fiddle to the mercurial Saints half-back pairing of Sean Long and Tommy Martyn, admitted: "We won the cup last year and were gracious in victory. This year we have to be gracious in defeat.

"We got beaten by a really committed team and you have to give them credit. The harder we tried to get back in the game the more mistakes we made.

"It was a big problem trying to come from behind in those conditions. When it was dry and we were a man down they worked us over and got their points on the board. We were a bit sluggish too because it was quite warm at that stage.

"But the conditions changed completely in the second half and we just couldn't put them under the sort of pressure we had planned to."

Assistant coach Karl Harrison was tasting the special atmosphere of a Challenge Cup final for the first time.

"It's a big blow for everyone obviously but we are determined to learn from the experience and reach more finals starting at Old Trafford at the end of the season," said the former Great Britain prop.

"Defensively we were great but on attack we under-performed and never really stuck to what we had planned in training and the best team on the day won.

"Having said that we were still confident on the bench that we could do it, even going into the last 20 minutes. But we never seemed to get the bounce of the ball and a lot of decisions went against us. It meant we just couldn't keep the pressure on.

"We put in plenty of effort and they scored a try with a lucky break from a kick and another when we were down to 12-men following a dubious sin-binning.

"But we also had certain players who under-performed although no-one goes out there to play poorly especially in the biggest game of the season so far.

"Now it's time to reassess things and see where we go from here. It's not all doom and gloom though. We are joint top of the Super League table and we will be doing everything we can to meet the challenges ahead.

"There is a heavy schedule coming up with Warrington and then Castleford on Saturday. We have a few sore bodies around the place but we need to get back our belief and confidence starting on Wednesday."