IT is very enjoyable to have effectively wrapped up the League Leaders Shield for the second season running, but that seems to have been quietly received.

I believe more value should be placed on finishing first.

In the NRL there is prize money for coming top of the pile and that gives the achievement an extra level of enhancement.

If the competition is going down to the wire I think you would see teams striving even harder for top spot if there was a substantial prize at the end of it.

There has been a lot of emphasis placed on the relegation battle this term, but all St Helens can do is carrying on playing well.

We have set a great standard this year and we aim to carry that form into the play-offs.

Playing Wakefield last Friday forced us to get into a very competitive mode and was probably just what we wanted.

They are a very physical side - they are not a team you play touch football with.

It is generally a brutal, confrontational game and if you don't measure up and fight fire with fire you won't compete.

That was the good thing, and although it took us 15-20 minutes once we started to confront them I felt very confident.

Wakefield created a number of chances, but our scrambling defence was the best it has been all year.

We had situations where their players were getting the ball one or two metres out, with nobody in front of them, but suddenly people were swarming on them.

That saved four or five tries.

Losing Foz and Scully early on was difficult as it meant we had a rotation of 15 players, but fitness wise we were tremendous.

One big plus from the game was Mike Bennett's display in his first run out in over four months.

He is very enthusiastic and is giving us a lot of energy.

We have a lot of players who have played nearly 30 games this season, but Mike has only played four or five.

As a result his energy is lifting players who may be flagging a little bit.

Added to that he is a very good footballer and a genuine clubman, who is both gritty and selfless in the way he plays.

It is great to have him back at this stage in the season.

He is one of those players who has missed out on a couple of cup finals, so he is so fired up to participate in the big games.

That, in turn, is driving blokes who may have slipped into the relaxed mode otherwise.

I am in a relaxed mood going into this Saturday's home game against Leeds and that is not simply because we have top spot sewn up.

It is because we are playing good football, performing at a high level and there is a lot of hunger at training.

We are in a good frame of mind.

Leeds are a quality team, who like us enjoy passing the ball around, but I am not at all anxious about this weekend's fixture.

Looking ahead to next season there is still a possibility of another player coming in.

But we don't have to move because we have a very good squad.

We may still have one spot left and we will see how things pan out with regards to the movement of teams at the end of the year in National League 1 and the relegated team from Super League.

And even after that there are always clubs trying to drop players off their salary caps, but we can be patient about our choice.

Daniel Anderson