St Helens have already climbed one mountain in the last month – now Jonny Lomax wants them to conquer another.
Coach Justin Holbrook used the recent week off before their semi-final win over Wigan to take the team up Snowdonia, the highest peak in Wales.
Lomax admits it was new to him and several others, but feels the change in scenery has helped the Saints squad ahead of tonight’s Old Trafford showdown.
He said: “Billinge Hill was the best I’d managed before that! I was a bit sceptical at first, I’m not going to lie. But I enjoyed it.
“Snowdon was a bit of a slog getting up there – it’s harder than you think. It was probably a bit of undercover conditioner, some metres in the legs with a different stimulus which is good.
“It just cleared the mental load of the season. Sometimes that week off is more about the mental side of things than the physical one, having a bit of down-time to give you that buzz again going forwards.
“The actual experience of being with the lads was great, and the following day when we went to Adventure Snowdonia and did some surfing.”
Saints had another blank weekend while Salford were comprehensively eliminating Wigan.
But their training over the last fortnight has been more conventional as they look to end a Super League season of dominance with the main prize.
Lomax’s side are pre-match favourites but he has stressed that Justin Holbrook’s players aren’t buying into Sky pundit Phil Clarke’s assessment that several of the Red Devils squad are Championship standard.
“Even earlier in the year I think some things about them in the media just didn’t align with our feelings and thoughts towards them,” added Lomax
“They’re a quality side that are littered with NRL quality throughout – not just the guys from overseas but you can throw Mark Flanagan, Tyrone McCarthy and Lee Mossop into that as well.
“That is always going to make them a threat and they’ve got a litany of Grand Final winners in and amongst that.
“When you add in the class of Jackson Hastings this year you’ve got a real quality side with threats all over the field.
“Some of the stuff that has been said in the media is wrong. We’re well aware of the challenge in this game, because especially over the latter end of the year they’ve been fantastic.”
