COLD, wet November training pitches and sweaty gyms may seem a million miles away from glamorous Grand Final nights under the Old Trafford floodlights - but new Saints boss Paul Wellens knows more than most that work done now lays the foundation for any future success.
There are plenty of carrots being dangled in front of the four-in-a-row champions as they go through their fitness drills and skills sessions, not least the February trip to Australia to face the NRL premiers.
Saints are now into their third week of pre-season - and although still missing their considerable World Cup contingent - the squad from the youngest to most experienced have been knuckling down to the schedule set up by Wellens and the staff as soon as last year ended.
Wellens said: "The week prior to me being appointed as head coach and the week after I spent a lot of time with our staff planning the pre-season.
"It was preparing what it is going to look like and trying to pitch our sessions and what they are going to look like in certain areas and looking at areas where we feel we might be able to improve.
"A lot of that work went in and then I went away on holiday with the family for just over a week, knowing that all that planning was done and the majority of things that we needed to have sorted was done so when the players got back we could get straight to work.
"That is what we have done.
"I thought it was important to sit on a sun lounger without a thousand things going through my head."
With so much experience running through the squad, old heads like skipper James Roby and Jonny Lomax are still setting the standards in training.
They underline why Saints place so much importance on being among the fittest teams in Super League.
"There are a number of things that go into planning a pre-season like this and a lot of the lads who have been here a number of years now," Wellens said.
"When you are at Old Trafford in October and lifting a trophy above your head, what you did in November, December and January is probably the furthest thing from your mind but it is the foundation of where a lot of those successes are built.
"We like to pride ourselves on being one of the fittest teams in the competition and the hard work that we put in now will put us in a position to do that again."
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