JUSTIN Holbrook gave his thoughts on this week’s rugby league goings on when the Star’s Mike Critchley caught up with him.

MC: Having digested Sunday’s defeat, what went wrong?

JH: We made a couple of errors that we don’t normally make and that cost us in the end.

We just were not good enough. There was not much wrong in the big scheme of things. London, for me, are as good as any side and we saw them push Leeds at Magic - admittedly Leeds are not having the best of seasons.

Is it as big a shock as we think, no because of the way the game panned out.

We still played ok, but London don’t give in.

It was disappointing, but it is not disastrous.

MC: They grew a leg at 12-12 and after that it was a slog.

JH: We will learn from that. 12-0 could have been a good score for us at half time but a couple of uncharacteristic errors got it to 12-all and then the second half was a tough half of rugby league.

We did well to get it to Golden Point. There was still plenty of character shown.

MC: The team was a bit lateral, going side-to-side without the usual penetration.

JH: We were a bit uncharacteristic how we played. We made a lot of errors that we don’t usually make. We were not great.

MC: There were a few grumbles in the build up to London's last try that Mark Percival had jumped and collected the ball in goal, ahead of the drop out decision. With the benefit of review what was the truth?

JH: The officials got it right. Percy initially started in the field of play before he caught it. So that was the right call.

MC: That 12 should have been strong enough to win, but did it not show how much you miss the hands of Coote and Lomax top steer the ship?

JH: It is a fine line between resting sides and still being good enough to win. It worked well over Easter against Catalans, but not at the weekend.

This year we have not got the luxury of giving players a break with no international weekend off this time of year.

We have got to do that to make sure we are right for the end of the season.

MC: In hindsight would have changed it to leaving one fewer out?

JH: No, it was the right call and the players who did not play are fresher for it this week.

It was not disastrous - and if we’d snuck out of there with a 22-20 win nobody would have questioned it. The fact is we lost in Golden Point so it is understandable people ask questions.

We had a a good enough side to win that game if we had played well, but we did not play well.

That would have been the same if the missing players had played.

It does not matter who plays, they have to do a job.

MC: What are your thoughts on Golden Point after that defeat?

JH: Mixed really.

I am a fan of what the NRL are trying to do - and we spoke about Golden Point at the coaches meeting at the start of the year.

I think one point to each team at full time and a bonus point to the winner in Golden Point, because the factors are so circumstantial.

Even say at the end when Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook loses the ball to set London up with that great position.

Was it stripped or did he lose it?

There is so much pressure there on a ref with a huge outcome.

I like it as a concept as it is great for the fans but I think a point each and a bonus point would be a fairer result.

St Helens Star:

MC: It was a tough day for Jack Welsby - how does a young player cope with that first bit of adversity?

JH: He is fine and he is only 18 and he will get the most learning out of all 34 players who played. That is a good thing for his development.

Jack is a great young player with a massive future at the club and in the game of rugby league, but he will learn from it.

The hard thing is we did not get the two points. There have been times this year where we have not played well, learned a lot, but still got the points.

That was not the case on Sunday.

St Helens Star:

MC: James Roby is now going to be out for a spell, how do you anticipate Aaron Smith filling that role given Robes is an 80-minute player?

JH: Whether Aaron Smith can play 80 minutes depends how the games goes, but there are not many James Robys running around.

We have the luxury of being able to put Morgan Knowles there and James Bentley has played a bit of nine too if he needs a break.

MC: It was a magnificent turnout of Saints fans on Sunday, given the distance.

JH: To be playing so far away and have three quarters of the ground was huge.

It was disappointing that we could not get a win for them after such a long trip. The support we are getting is a credit to the team and club.