SAINTS will take a squad of 26 players to Australia in February to prepare for the World Club Challenge game against Penrith.

Although the squad have been told of the plans, the 26 names will only be finalised later on the pre-season campaign.

Coach Paul Wellens will have to factor in training requirements – with bodies required for opposed sessions – plus the trial game against St George-Illawarra the week before the Panthers clash.

Wellens said: “We have to get the balance right and I have spoken to the squad already about this and we are probably going to take 26 players out of the squad of 34, so not everybody is going to go.

“The players are already in the picture there and understand that that is the case.

“We are nowhere near finalising that 26 and people will look at the squad and make assumptions on who will go, but there are certain spots that we will decide further down the track because we have got to get the balance right.

“We have also got the trial game against St George-Illawarra the week before Penrith, but getting the right kind of personnel to be able to facilitate training sessions and get the balance right in what teams we pick in those two games is something we will decide on in the coming weeks up to Christmas and into January.”

Despite winning Super League four years in a row, Saints have not played a World Club Challenge game since 2020.

This will be the first time the club’s senior team have played in Australia since the ill-fated World Club Championship.

It is one that is seen as a challenge and a reward for this crop of players.

“Penrith is certainly a game that excites us as a club. It is an opportunity that a lot of Super League clubs don’t get.

“I know Wigan and Leeds have both been out there recently but it is not something that happens regularly.

“Off the back of the success the team has had this last few years, it is an opportunity that they not only deserve but one that they have earned.

“We want to go out there and give a really good account of ourselves, represent our town, our supporters and the Super League competition in the best possible manner.

“The players are excited, the staff are excited and everyone within the club are too.

“Being in around the town I am listening to fans who are looking at booking flights or already have done, which from our perspective is fantastic,” Wellens said.