St Helens prop Lees admits the heat is on ahead of World Club Challenge

10 February 2023 , 20:23

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Matty Lees of St Helens celebrates

Matty Lees says St Helens’ biggest challenge Down Under isn’t the might of the NRL - but the heat.

They face St George Illawarra on Saturday in a warm-up ahead of the World Club Challenge against Penrith Panthers a week later. Four-peat Super League champions Saints have been prepping hard. But England prop Lees said: “The biggest challenge is probably the heat. It’s ridiculous out here.

“We’ve gone from minus four to 31 degrees! We’re getting used to it, though. We’re getting better each training session. Penrith are a great side and we have to be at our best to beat them. We’ll get some minutes in against St George this week and take it from there.”

Lees, 25, was on the losing side when Sydney Roosters won at Saints in the 2020 decider. But he's won England honours since then at last year’s World Cup. On back-to-back NRL premiers Penrith, he added: “They’re all massive names and I’m looking forward to challenging myself.

"I had a little taster in the World Cup playing the likes of Samoa and really enjoyed it. Hopefully that’s a stepping stone to now facing NRL opponents. And we know we’re doing it for Super League, too. It’d do wonders for the sport if we did go on and win it.

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"We've got St George first. And it's Wello's first game, It’s massive for the whole club. We want to do Wello proud and the whole club proud."

David Craven