Curtis Sironen escapes high tackle ban as St Helens reveal Catalans Dragons travel plans

Saints breathed a sigh of relief on Monday when 28-year-old Aussie forward Curtis Sironen escaped a ban for a ‘careless’ high tackle in Friday’s 26-0 victory at Leeds Rhinos.

He was charged with a Grade A offence but received a zero match penalty notice from the RFL match review panel.

It means the former Manly Sea Eagles player is available for the blockbusting Betfred Challenge Cup quarter final tie against the Catalans Dragons at the Stade Gilbert Brutus on Saturday and may slightly ease head coach Kristian Woolf’s selection issues due to injuries.

The match, which kicks-off at 2.30pm UK time, will be screened live by BBC TV.

At the same time, Saints have revealed that they will be travelling to the south of France on Friday - 24 hours before the game - and not like they did a couple of weeks ago on the morning of the fixture at Toulouse Olympique, where they were beaten for the first time this season.

The Dragons also arrived late for the week-end match at Huddersfield due to unforeseen flight circumstances - a far from satisfactory journey ahead of a clash between two clubs riding high in the Betfred Super League - and obviously Saints don’t want to fall into the same trap.