St Helens // Paul Sculthorpe is determined to make the most of the build-up to Saturday's Carnegie Challenge Cup final after getting the nod from the St Helens coach Daniel Anderson to make his first appearance at Wembley.
The loose forward, 30, captained the Saints to their 32-16 win over Wigan at the Millennium Stadium in 2004 and was a member of the side that beat Huddersfield at Twickenham two years later.
But he missed their win over Catalans Dragons at the new Wembley a year ago with an Achilles tendon rupture and, after failing to appear in any of the four rounds of the cup so far this year because of various injuries, was in serious doubt for Saturday's duel with Hull.
He proved his fitness by playing the full 80 minutes of Sunday's 40-22 Super League win at Huddersfield and has been told by Anderson that he will be in the cup final line-up. Sculthorpe had missed three of St Helens' previous four matches with a hamstring problem but spent the entire match on the pitch at the Galpharm Stadium, largely due to the loss of the front-row forward Jason Cayless after only five minutes.
"It has been a while since I played 80 minutes but it was good to get a run-out," he said.
"Daniel said he was going to play me for 60 minutes but we picked up injuries and I felt good out there. It was a good time to get some minutes under the belt.
"I'm fit. When you're not playing, you train harder. Daniel had spoken to me about being available for Wembley and it was up to me to get through the game and I've done that."
Sculthorpe is in his 10th and final season with the club after they decided not to renew his contract.
* PA Sport
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
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Stage 5 results
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:53
2 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team -
3 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott -
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:04
5 Ilnur Zakarin (RUS) CCC Team 0:00:07
General Classification:
1 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott 20:35:04
2 Tadej Pogacar (SlO) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:01
3 Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 0:01:33
4 David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:48
5 Rafał Majka (POL) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:02:11