NEW boss Nathan Brown plans on giving young stand off Lee Gaskell the chance to nail down the number six spot at Saints.

Brown rates the youngster’s kicking game highly and feels it could be a major asset for the team going forward.

After establishing himself in the first team during the course of the 2010 campaign, Gaskell’s confidence suffered badly during the poor start to last term.

Once Kiwi test player Lance Hohaia was installed at stand off, partnering Jonny Lomax, Gaskell found himself unable to force his way back into regular first team reckoning given the side’s run of good wins in the latter half of the campaign.

However, Brown is fully aware of the attributes Gaskell can bring to the table, particularly with Saints’ kicking game highlighted as a weakness in their play.

Brown said: “I would hope that Lee Gaskell would be a permanent member of our team.

“He has got a kicking game that is as good as any in the competition. That is an area that we identified where we really needed to improve as a team.

“It is a team effort. Lee kicks the ball as good as Danny Brough.

“He has trained really hard in pre-season.

“I will be guided by Keiron, but he has given himself a very good chance to lay down the marker. He has attributes to help the team improve, which is the key to us.

“Jonny Lomax is a good little player and the value that Lance brings is an ability to play 1, 9, 3 6, or 7, which is great.

“I hope Lee can fulfil his potential and carry his good pre-season out on to the field because he can really help us.”

If that worked out, it would possibly leave Hohaia, who gave the team some direction and some solid defence last term, left to play the role he has won World Cup medals in -, namely his work at dummy half.

The two trial games, starting with Giants on Friday, will see Brown try a few options, but players do have the opportunity to show what they can do.