SAINTS' year may have been over for a fortnight but Paul Wellens and his backroom staff are currently still in work, processing and analysing the season and making early plans for the next.

The players, apart from any called up for England duty, are now off duty and will return for pre-season train in mid November.

The club's new assistant coach Lee Briers, who is also on England duty this autumn as Shaun Wane’s England assistant, will also begin work in November after joining from Brisbane Broncos.

Wellens said: “Lee will start in pre-season. He's got his own ideas and we have had a couple of conversations already around how we feel we can improve.

"In terms of us (current staff) now we're very much in the planning phase of pre-season, so from a staffing perspective, we haven't finished yet.

“We planned at the start of the year to be working right through to the Grand Final and that's what we'll continue to do as staff to make sure we're planned and prepared for what we need to do in preseason.

“We're very much getting the ball rolling in that respect.”

The three recruits from the NRL – Lewis Murphy, Kyle Feldt and Tristan Sailor – will arrive in time for pre-season.

Wellens revealed that Murphy has undergone a minor knee operation, but that is one he will be recovered from in three-four weeks so in time for the pre-season start.

Wellens said: “Pre-season starts with the main squad on the 14 November, so they will be over in and around that time there's a few visa things with Kyle that need to get tidied up.

“Pre-season starts then and the expectation is that everyone will be there for the start of that.

"But every now and again we do have complications you with flights and whatnot, but we're not envisaging that to be an issue this year.”