No room for error

2:22am Friday 9th May 2008

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WOLVES' leading points scorer Chris Hicks says the only way to beat St Helens is to do to them what they do to you.

And he highlights the big factor that Wolves have to get right in Saturday's Challenge Cup tie compared to the 30-22 league loss at home to Saints a fortnight ago.

"You can't give St Helens anything," he said.

"You've got to play error-free football. You must put the ball down their end of the field and make it hard for them to get out of there.

"They do it to you and so you've got to do it straight back.

"With the ability we have in our side we can score points.

"So, if we're playing a brand of footy where we're not making many errors and putting pressure on them, we're going to get some good ball, play down their end and score a few points.

"We weren't that far off two weeks ago but, saying that, they ended up rolling us again.

"So, we've just got to work on a few little areas and hopefully come out with the same intensity that we showed in the second half versus Huddersfield at the weekend and then I'm sure we'll be around the money."

The Australian, now switched from full back to the right wing from where he has scored the majority of his 12 tries in his first season in this country, is excited by mid-season knockout football in the Challenge Cup - the type of competition that the NRL lacks Down Under.

He added: "It probably wasn't ideal drawing a team like St Helens in the second week of the competition but we will have to beat them somewhere along the line so this weekend is nearly as good a time as any.

"And every game against St Helens is a big occasion, so it's easy to get up for those sorts of games."

Hicks, who crucially continued his fine goal-kicking form in the Millennium Magic defeat of Huddersfield, is currently enjoying the responsibility of banging over conversions despite only being a stand-by marksman during his NRL career.

The 31-year-old said: "I don't mind the kicking.

"When you're doing it on a week-by-week basis you get a bit more rhythm and tend to enjoy it more than stepping up to just kick now and then.

"It seems to be going well at the moment but when I don't enjoy it is when I miss a few and that tends to be costly. It sort of plays on your mind a bit and I guess it feels as though you're letting the team down.

"But hopefully when you're kicking you don't have too many of those days and you have more days where you're kicking to put the team into a good position."