FRESH from his role in the Magic demolition of Castleford, Saints prop Alex Walmsley now turns his gaze to the Challenge Cup as he seeks to fulfil a professional ambition.

The on-song front rower revealed that getting to Wembley and winning the cup was one of biggest motivators behind him turning down a move to the NRL.

Although Saints are six points clear at the Super League summit, the experience of last year shows that this counts for little in the one-off knockout games.

But Saints will nevertheless tackle Saturday’s home clash with some confidence after a morale boosting display at Anfield.

Walmsley said: “There is a lot of rugby to be played in eight months but the Challenge Cup adds a new impetus into the field.

“It is knockout, do-or-die against a Wakefield side that are going to be tough and full of confidence.

“One of the reasons I did not go to Australia was that I want to win the Challenge Cup for the club at Wembley.

“It has always been my ambition – hopefully we can get past Wakefield and we can give ourselves a good chance.”

Walmsley was colossal in his much-trumpeted battle with Castleford prop Liam Watts.

And in a clinical display, Saints ruthlessly took the Tigers apart .

“We are going all right, we have got results in the last couple of weeks without putting in the sort of performances we were happy with.

“We had spoken on how good Cas are and they came in off the back of a good result last week and we knew they would come with confidence.

“It was important that we started big and put them under pressure because if you give them a sniff they will punish you,” he said.

As for Anfield, Walmsley said despite the mixed reports ahead of the game, the venue lived up to its billing for atmosphere and the Saints support packed in the Kop played their part.

“I thought it was brilliant. The atmosphere was unbelievable and I was talking to Kyle Amor in the warm up and when ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ comes on you get goosebumps.

“I think it has been a success. I am not sure what the attendances have been like but to have that kind of atmosphere at a great weekend, can only be good for the sport.”