St Hilaire focused on Bulls avoiding repeat of mauling by Hull KR (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

St Hilaire focused on Bulls avoiding repeat of mauling by Hull KR

5:10pm Friday 30th July 2010 in

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Bulls caretaker coach Lee St Hilaire is preparing to combat both the rapier and the broadsword in a bid to slay the Dragons.

Catalans arrive at Odsal tomorrow (3pm) with a reputation as Super League’s bruisers, thanks to the significant muscle at their disposal up front.

But St Hilaire is wary not to focus too much on their powerful pack, highlighting the more subtle threat posed by their pivots.

The talents of stand-off Thomas Bosc is complemented by scrum half Brent Sherwin, who now looks at home in the red and gold following a mid-season move from Castleford.

After watching his side blown apart by Hull KR’s strike players during last week’s 49-24 defeat, St Hilaire is determined to prevent the Dragons’ playmakers from orchestrating a repeat.

He said: “Hull KR’s strike weapons caused real problems for us last week. We spoke about it in the week leading up to the game.

“Clint Newton showed exactly what kind of strike weapon he is and we just didn’t combat that threat well enough.

“Catalans played well against Warrington, as they did against Saints and Crusaders before that.

“They’re a confident team at this moment in time, with three quality half-backs in the side (Bosc, Sherwin and McGuire) who are running the show for them.

“They’re some of the threats we have to deal with and deal with better than we did last week.

“Let’s not forget about the size of the units they have coming at you. Physically we have to be on our game to negate anything that they want to throw at us off the back of those big fellas.”

Despite sitting rock bottom of Super League, Catalans’ undoubted potential was highlighted in a 29-28 win against second-placed Warrington last week.

That ability has also shown through in knock-out football, the Frenchman currently gearing up for a rematch with the Wolves in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup a week after their visit to Odsal.

But St Hilaire was quick to dismiss the suggestion that Kevin Walters’ side would have one eye on Wembley while facing the Bulls.

“They have the semi-final coming up next week but we can’t go into this game thinking that they will have an eye on that,” he said.

“If they are thinking a week ahead, then that’s not for me or us but for them and Kevin Walters to sort out. They’re looking after what they’ve got so we’re looking after the challenges we’ve got.

“Hopefully we won’t give them the ball as much as we did Hull KR at the weekend and that comes down to being clinical with the ball and coming up with the right options at the right time.

“If we can get off to a flyer and knock a couple of tries in, or even one, I think the confidence will shine through and show what the players can do. They need to start doing it.”

St Hilaire believes the return of stand-off Paul Sykes following a two-game ban could prove vital in converting chances into points.

He said: “We’ve got to be more clinical with the ball. We’re creating chances and just not taking them. It’s something that we need to get done this week. There’s no hanging around, no waiting for somebody else to do it.

“It’s going to help having Paul Sykes back, to be fair. But the boys were really down after the game knowing they had created four clear-cut chances and, whether you kick the goals or not, 16 points is a lot in rugby league and you should be able to win the game off that.”