Long back to boost Saints' bid for history

Daniel Anderson, the St Helens' coach, has named both Sean Long and Maurie Fa'asavalu in his line-up for Old Trafford tonight as Saints go for an unprecedented second treble in two years.

Already winners of the Challenge Cup and the League Leaders Shield, just as they were last season, Saints start favourites in the Super League Grand Final, all the more so for news that two of their key players have recovered from leg injuries and will play.

Matty Smith, a capable deputy for Long in the victory over Leeds two weeks ago, is included in the 18 as a precaution, which could indicate some lingering doubts but Saints are no longer terrified by the prospect of going into a big game without the former Great Britain scrum-half.

Paul Clough and Bryn Hargreaves miss out, but a glance of the rest of the squad shows why Saints are expected to add to their collection of silverware under Anderson. Apart from Fa'asavalu and James Graham, they have the player officially crowned as the best in the British game this week. There was some controversy about the selection of James Roby as Man of Steel, not because anyone seriously doubts his qualities, but because he starts most games from the bench. To have done that with him a few years ago would have been unthinkable, but the game and its tactics have evolved.

There is no mystery about the way Anderson uses Roby and his starting hooker, Keiron Cunningham. Roby comes on after 20-odd minutes to create confusion from dummy-half and, at some stage in the second half, a well-rested Cunningham comes back on and the two of them operate together until the final hooter. As plans go, it is a predictable one, but knowing what Saints are going to do does not make it any easier to counter.

The importance of Kevin Sinfield to Leeds' cause was underlined yesterday with the well-timed announcement that he has agreed a further four-year contract that will, in all probability, see him start and finish his career at the same club.

The Rhinos' captain will become the first player in Leeds' history, and only the second in Super League, to score in every game of a season if he registers today. His new deal means that he will be with the Rhinos until he is 31, having first signed for them as a 13-year-old. "To have secured my future at the club until I'm 31 is a great honour," he said.

Like the rest of his team-mates, Sinfield proved a point last week. After a bruising and frustrating defeat by Saints that denied them the fast route to the Grand Final, Leeds produced a near faultless display to crush Wigan. The question now is whether they can lift themselves again, but Sinfield has no doubts. "I don't think you can be any more charged up than by a great winning performance and that's certainly what we got last week," he said.

There are some puzzles about Leeds and their success this season. It is possible to pick a few holes in their team. Their front row does not frighten the opposition although Jamie Peacock is in magnificent form. They have no proper replacement hooker – compare and contrast with Saints – and no-one could claim that their centres, Clinton Toopi and Keith Senior, have been at the height of their powers this year.

What that proves is that the whole has been more than the sum of the parts, which after all is the essence of good coaching. Saints are going in search of an historic achievement tonight, and this is also a landmark in the history of the Headingley club. Not everyone was convinced that Tony Smith was the right man for the most demanding club job in the country when appointed four years ago, on the basis of steady progress at struggling Huddersfield, but he has been an undoubted success.

He won the Grand Final in his first season and today makes it three appearances at Old Trafford in four years. "I'm sure he'll go down as one of Leeds' great coaches and, if we can win it, he'll be the greatest ever," Sinfield said. "He's transformed the club." Leeds' players will want to give him a memorable send-off tonight.

St Helens: P Wellens, A Gardner, M Gidley, W Talau, F Meli, L Pryce, S Long, J Cayless, K Cunningham, N Fozzard, L Gilmour, J Wilkin, C Flannery. Substitutes: J Roby, J Graham, M Fa'asavalu, M Bennett.

Leeds: B Webb, L Smith, C Toopi, K Senior, S Donald, D McGuire, R Burrow, K Leuluai, M Diskin, J Peacock, J Jones-Buchanan, G Ellis, K Sinfield. Substitutes: A Lauitiiti, R Bailey, I Kirke, C Ablett.

Referee: A Klein (Keighley)

* New Zealand have six new caps in their side to play Australia in Wellington tomorrow before leaving for their European tour. Former Kiwi Test winger, Henry Fa'afili, has signed for French rugby union club Biarritz despite apparently deciding to stay in rugby league with Harlequins. He was Super League's leading try scorer playing with Warrington last season.