Saints captain Keiron Cunningham believes his side are capable of completing a clean sweep of the major domestic trophies.
Saints captain wants to go one better than last season
St Helens captain Keiron Cunningham believes his side are capable of completing a clean sweep of the major domestic trophies.
The Knowsley Road outfit have already secured the Challenge Cup and league leaders shield double for the third year in a row.
And they now have their sights on completing a treble by avenging last year's Grand Final defeat to Leeds.
St Helens' 21-match winning streak was ended by a 16-16 draw with Wigan Warriors in the final game of the regular season on Friday evening, just six days after their Wembley triumph over Hull FC.
"No matter what you say, it's still hard to pick up from a Challenge Cup win," said Cunningham.
"The week before and the week after you hit a bit of a lull and that's just the way it is.
"We're just happy we got the point and finished in first place to get the home tie.
"We've done it four years in a row now and we're pretty happy with that.
"We both had a lot to play for and Wigan came out swinging. It puts us both in good stead for the play-offs."
Madrid trip
While Catalans Dragons, Warrington, Wigan and Bradford jostle next week for places in the last four, Saints and Leeds can put their feet up with a well earned break before they meet in the qualifying semi-final at Knowsley Road on September 19.
Saints coach Daniel Anderson, who is returning home to Australia at the end of the season, is aiming to refresh his squad with a three-day break in Madrid and Cunningham says the players are looking forward to getting away from monsoon England.
"It saves training in this stuff," said the veteran hooker.
"It's like pre-season training but we've done it the reverse way - went to Cardiff for pre-season which was pretty much similar to this and now we're going to Madrid.
"The boys need a break. There are a few busted bodies about so it will be good for us.
"It's nice to have two weeks until the next game. We're not going to get bashed about next weekend.
"We've achieved two out of our three goals and now we can reflect on that. There are a few areas we need to brush up on."
St Helens will have stand-off Leon Pryce back for the qualifying semi-final after he rested a slight hamstring pull against Wigan and prop Jason Cayless has a chance of recovering from a knee injury in time for the play-offs.
One man definitely ruled out is club captain Paul Sculthorpe, who dislocated his shoulder in the opening moments of the Challenge Cup final and underwent surgery this week, which means he has played his last match for the club.
"He had the full works," said coach Daniel Anderson. "It was very severely damaged and he had the surgery done on Wednesday."
