Cunningham expecting tough battle against Widnes

Keiron Cunningham believes that Widnes will offer his St Helens side a physical test this weekend.

St Helens take on the Vikings in the Karalius Cup with just two weeks to go until the new Super League season gets underway. 

The Saints’ head coach has said that he is looking forward to facing Sunday’s opponents and Denis Betts’ side will offer a good challenge ahead of the new season.

“Hopefully the game on Sunday will be a good, physical one,” Cunningham told the Liverpool Echo. 

“Widnes have recruited well and have a got a good pack. That is something we want to be up against. We want to earn the right to do things instead of being gifted it.”

With the new season just around the corner, Cunningham has admitted to not looking forward to narrowing the team down to 17 for the opening game, with all his squad offering claims to start in thier opener against Huddersfield.

“We will go with around ten subs. Getting to that final team for the game against Huddersfield is going to be difficult,” he said.

“We have a thick squad and a lot of them played pretty well last Sunday against Dewsbury, so it is going to be hard tapping people on the shoulder.

“We had a good look at a number of different cominations and had players in different spots. I thought it went well and I was happy with where we’re at.”