St Helens' Matty Lees desperate to put huge "disappointment" behind him in play-offs

England prop is keen to right some wrongs as Saints bid to kick-start their season in play-offs

St Helens’ Matty Lees has warned their Super League rivals that all bets are off now the play-offs are starting.

Saints, who won the Grand Final four years running from 2019 to 2022, only just scraped into the top-six. There were calls for Paul Wellens to be sacked at one point given how much they struggled. Ahead of Saturday’s eliminator at third-placed Warrington, England and Dream Team prop Lees said: “It has been a disappointing year.

“I know the club will be disappointed as the players are. But going in as underdogs is a new challenge for us. No one has won it from sixth before so we see that as a fresh challenge. I wouldn’t say the pressure is off us because we put pressure on ourselves to get better each week and perform as these last few weeks unfold.

“But we wanted to get that ticket to get in there [play-offs] because, now we are, everybody’s ticket is worth the same. Warrington are a top-three side and they’ve beaten us every time so far this year so it will be a really tough challenge. They have a lot of dangers all over the park. But we just need to do a job on them.”

On Lees’ maiden appearance in the Dream Team, he added: “It was a bit of a shock. St Helens as a team has been doing it tough this year. I’ve just tried to be consistent throughout those tough times and just cracked on with it. I’ve kept my head down and it’s an honour to be in.”