Atelea Vea glad about Amor’s Saints return

St Helens forward Atelea Vea is delighted to have Kyle Amor back alongside him for the visit of Warrington to Langtree Park on Thursday night.

Amor returns to the squad after serving a two-game suspension for a dangerous tackle in the recent game against Castleford.

Vea is pleased that the hard-working Cumbrian will be with him battling against Warrington’s tough pack.

“My co-workers in the forward pack really take pride in what we do and what we work on when we practise,” said Vea.

“It’s going to be a good test, and we’ve got a couple of players back.

“Kyle Amor‘s back, and I certainly missed him while he was away – I think everyone had to do a couple of extra tackles and a couple of extra hit-ups for him.

“We’ll be stronger with him coming back. I think him and all the bog boys in the engine room are really firing.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge, and I just can’t wait to get out there.

“We both have a short turnaround, and I’m expecting it to be a tough, physical game.

“I haven’t seen much of Warrington, but I know that they have a big pack and strong outside backs.

“I’m not expecting anything less than a tough, physical 80-minute game.”

Saints came through their game against local rivals Widnes at the weekend, winning 30-20 at the Select Security Stadium.

The Tongan international acknowledged the part good fortune, as well as hard work, played in the victory.

“It was a good performance by the boys,” he said.

“It was a shaky start, but we got together and regrouped, and managed to finish the job off.

“Full credit to Widnes, they started strongly and made us work for that two points.

“We got in there at half time, and the coach reminded us where we were, and where he expected us to be.

“We ended up running away with it, but it was a tougher game than 30-20 suggests.

“The ball bounced our way and we managed to take advantage of some of those calls.

“I think we got the ball back off the kick-off on the restart, so we just started positively in that second half and ran with it.”

Vea has also been impressed with Keiron Cunningham as a coach, highlighting the former Welsh internationals ability to stay calm under pressure.

“It’s my first year, and Keiron’s first as head coach,” he said.

“I’ve never seen him to be angry. If I was to compare him to other coaches, I think he’s quite passive and calm.

“He’s been good. He’s always hammering the main points and focuses that we have to work on at the weekend, and we go from there.”