Millward says his players' skill is not in question

Monday's game

Hull 30-6 St Helens

St Helens coach Ian Millward admitted his players may have lost their mental focus after they slumped to their fifth defeat of the Super league season.

Millward said: "We have played as well as anyone - going into this game we had the best attacking record and the best defensive record.

"From a skill point of view we are right on the mark but from a mental point of view we are inconsistent.

"Hull played very well but we came up with errors and put pressure on ourselves.

"But they are a strong team. A lot has been made of their injuries but if you look at their team 14 of the 17 would be on the park.

"They are above us in the points table and were rewarded for all the effort they put in last week against Leeds."

All the things that make them a special team, we were able to defend Hull coach Shaun McRae

Hull coach Shaun McRae was delighted with the performance against his former club.

McRae, who coached Saints from 1996-98, said: "Our defence allowed us to score points and put pressure on them.

"They made errors and opportunities presented themselves through very good play.

"We had a lot of other opportunities when we could have scored but we scored 30 points and that is not easy against Saints, but more than that, they only got six, and that is very rare in the modern era."

Sunday's game

Widnes 42-30 Huddersfield

Widnes boss Neil Kelly paid tribute to hat-trick star Deon Bird - playing his first match since breaking his jaw six weeks ago - following the 42-30 win over Huddersfield.

Kelly said: "We've obviously missed Deon's direct running and he made a big difference.

We let ourselves down by trying to push the ball too much in attack Giants coach Tony Smith

"It was always going to be a nervous match for both teams after losing runs but now we have to build on this victory by beating Wakefield next Saturday.

"Ryan Sheridan and Julian O'Neill's contribution proved crucial. Ryan had one of his best games for the club."

Huddersfield boss Tony Smith said: "Our defence let us down a few times - it was not up to scratch.

"We have to work harder and although our offence was good at times we let ourselves down by trying to push the ball too much in attack."

Wakefield 12-36 London

London coach Tony Rea was naturally delighted with yet another away win for his team, which followed a thrashing at the hands of St Helens.

"We just kept it simple and did the basics," said the Australian

Wildcats boss Shane McNally was at a loss to explain his side's poor showing, saying: "We did not look as if we turned up to play. One can find reasons, but not excuses."

Saturday's game

Warrington 16-32 Castleford

Veteran forward Dean Sampson celebrated a "fairytale" try-scoring comeback after coming out of retirement in response to Castleford's front-row crisis.

"It was fairytale stuff really," he said. "I can feel a sequel to my autobiography coming on.

"I jumped at the chance to play again. I kept myself relatively fit in the off season and played a few games for the under-21s when they were short.

Today we got a slap in the face we thoroughly deserved. Warrington coach Paul Cullen

"If it was a one-off, that's great, but if the injury situation doesn't improve and Graham needs me next week, I'm ready."

Warrington coach Paul Cullen said: "We were hugely disappointing. We were exceptionally casual and made to pay the price.

"We have had three progressive performances but today we were stopped in our tracks.

"The word that sums up the Warrington performance was ordinary and that is unforgivable. Castleford thoroughly deserved the thrashing they gave us."

Friday's games

Bradford 48-22 Leeds

Leeds coach Daryl Powell promised his side would learn some hard lessons after their comprehensive 48-22 defeat at Bradford.

"Obviously Bradford were pretty dominant," said Powell.

We need to be playing like this at the end of the season Bradford coach Brian Noble

"But we will take away a few lessons and come back stronger.

"Mentally we didn't get up for the game. We expected it to happen like it has for the last few weeks but we've got to be better than that.

"Only one or two of our players could hold their hands up and say they were at the top of their game and we need everybody to be on top of their game when we play teams like Bradford - they were dominant in just about every position."

Bradford coach Brian Noble was determined not to get carried away with their success.

"There is a long way to go and Leeds will bounce back," he said.

"What pleases me is that we have been improving since the first game of the season when we got our backsides kicked by a similar score.

"We are taking steps in the right direction - we need to be playing like this at the end of the season."

Wigan 58-12 Halifax

Halifax coach Tony Anderson admitted he will have to bring in new players after seeing his side fall to their 10th consecutive defeat.

"We were never going to win the game. We weren't up to it and Wigan were a different class," said Anderson.

Everybody showed some great touches Wigan coach Stuart Raper

"It's getting to the point where I have got to bring players in.

"We are making the same mistakes over and over again no matter how many times you show players their mistakes on the video.

"Maybe it's time to bring in a bit of experience to try and dig us out of the hole we are in.

"We need players all over the park - that's obvious. I can't bring in internationals but there may be young players at other clubs looking for a chance."

Wigan coach Stuart Raper singled out the teenage Kevin Brown for special praise after his hat-trick of tries.

"It was a good type of game to put Kevin in and he showed what a classy player he is," said Raper.

"But I thought everybody showed some great touches."