Scully's winning ambition (From Warrington Guardian)

Scully's winning ambition

SAINTS' skipper Paul Sculthorpe is aiming to mark his first competitive game as club skipper with a victory over the man who brought him to Knowsley Road.

Hull head coach Shaun McRae lured Sculthorpe away from Warrington in 1997 - and although the two have remained friends, that goes out of the window for 80 minutes on Friday night.

It is a testing opener - apart from the whitewash against Wigan last term, nothing put as bigger dent in Saints' title aspirations than the three match rubber against Hull, with the loss of Darren Britt being as costly as the two heavy defeats suffered on Humberside.

But that stuff is for the history books now.

Sculthorpe said: "It's a whole new season and everything we have done in the past counts for nothing. Last year's Hull matches were punishing - but those games have gone, with new players in both camps.

"It is a massive game - I am just looking forward to kicking the season off. We have got a lot of the frustration of last year out of our system with the pre-season work we have done.

"We have a young squad with bags of enthusiasm, the lads have trained hard, bulked up well and increased their strength and speed. Added to that a lot of our work has focussed on new techniques that will help us offensively and defensively in the season ahead. Plus we have made some great signings."

Saints welcome back Ade Gardner who is running again after turning his ankle, but Tim Jonkers and John Stankevitch will be out for another two months.

Hull will be missing influential Aussie play-maker Jason Smith, but McRae's men are anything but a one man team.

"Jason is a key player to be missing, but I am sure that whoever fills his boots will be capable.

"They have made some great signings - Richard Swain is one of the best hookers in the world. And I always rated Michael Eagar when he was at Cas, so I am sure he will be looking to do well and get his side into the play offs come October.

"Hull are up there with the top teams and hopefully we can kick the year off with a good win."

Saints' coach Ian Millward echoed his skipper's view of the opposition.

"Hull are quite a physical, strong team, they have a powerful squad. I expect them to finish in the top five and there is no reason why they can't win the comp.

"They have got a great draw this season so there are a lot of positives for them. We have just got to make sure we don't encourage them too much on Friday night," he said.

Friday's game kicks off at 8pm and is NOT televised.