St Helens showed that they cannot be discounted this season after they comfortably beat much-fancied Huddersfield Giants 24-6 at the Galpharm Stadium.
After losing Sean Long in the off-season and suffering shock defeats to Hull and Hull KR in the opening weeks, it appeared that Saints would be forced to endure a poor year, but successive wins against Warrington and now Huddersfield have lifted them up to third in the Super League table.
Mick Potter's men used the wind to their advantage in the first half, building a 10-0 lead thanks to a brace of tries from left winger Francis Meli.
The Giants did cut the deficit when substitute Scott Grix went over in the corner and Brett Hodgson added a conversion but Kyle Eastmond made it 12-6 with a 54th-minute penalty.
St Helens eventually ran out comfortable winners as James Graham and Eastmond added late tries.