What a win for the mighty Saints!

In an outstanding performance against fierce rivals Warrington Wolves, Saints showed their superiority to run out 24-14 victors on Monday evening.

It was a completely different game of class, speed and intensity to the previous Sky Sports fixture featuring Castleford and Wigan, clearly showing the vast difference in standard throughout the Betfred Super League.

In a see-saw game, Saints came out of the blocks fast, dominating the first 25 minutes and taking an early 10-0 lead via tries from Kevin Naiqama and Lewis Dodd.

Warrington found some momentum after that and in a five minute spell they took the lead through Ben Currie and George Williams tries followed by a Stefan Ratchford penalty to go into the break 14-10 up.

In the second half, the champions regained a lead that they would never surrender via a classy Mark Percival try. This was followed by James Bentley crossing the whitewash after chasing down a Jack Welsby chip-kick which wrong-footed Wire full-back Stefan Ratchford. The outstanding Lachlan Coote rubbed salt in the wounds kicking a penalty after the final hooter.

A lot of talk prior to this game was about the half back-selection of youngsters Lewis Dodd and the versatile Jack Welsby, and the pressures on them running the Saints team. Well, if they were nervous it certainly didn't show!

There is no doubt both of these players still have a lot to learn, but how refreshing is it to see two players who just love to play? What I mean there is they play what is in front of them, instinctive to what they see – not hamstrung by structures.

In my opinion though, the biggest difference in the teams is the speed and intent in which we play, which is created initially by our backfield. I thought yet again Coote, Makinson, Grace, Naiqama and the best player on the field Mark Percival were sensational, followed by a big mobile pack who are difficult to handle.

Walmsley, Lees and Knowles were outstanding in giving the half-backs time to play. Saints in that sort of mood will be difficult to beat.

One team who will be out to prove otherwise are the current Betfred Super League front runners and League Leaders Shield favourites Catalans Dragons, who we face this coming weekend in the Magic Weekend showcase at St James' Park in Newcastle.

The French side come into the game on the back of an emphatic 64-0 demolition of bottom club Leigh Centurions. With 18 wins and just 2 defeats this season so far they will be no shortage of confidence. However, I still believe Saints have too much on their day.

I'm going to go for Saints to show their magic and win by at least seven points (10/11 at Betfred).

Another big fixture at Magic Weekend is Warrington vs Wigan on the Sunday. The Wire will be looking to bounce back from their defeat on Monday, while Wigan will be looking to build on a to-nil victory over Castleford Tigers – although I still felt that was an uninspiring performance.

I'm going for a Wolves win by ten or more (10/11 at Betfred).

Whenever you bet, Betfred