Meli and Eastmond lead the way for the Saints

A 24-6 victory pushed them above Huddersfield in the standings and level with Warrington, who are two points behind Wigan.

St Helens will go into their traditional Good Friday fixture with Wigan knowing they can draw level with their great rivals at the top of the Super League following their 24-6 win at Huddersfield yesterday. Two first-half tries from Francis Meli put the Saints in charge against the Giants. They led 10-0 at the break and added two more tries in the second half. Kyle Eastmond finished with 12 points for the Saints, including a try.

The victory pushed them above Huddersfield in the standings and level with Warrington, who are two points behind Wigan. Meanwhile, Liam Colbon, the Hull KR winger, was released from a Perpignan hospital yesterday after being admitted with a suspected broken jaw during the 16-10 loss to Catalans Dragons on Saturday night. Colbon joined his teammates for return flight to England and will go for further X-rays in Hull today. "Liam was knocked out and he was in a pretty bad way when the medical team took him away," said Justin Morgan, the Hull KR coach.

In the NRL, James Maloney scored 28 points as the New Zealand Warriors moved up to fourth with an impressive 48-16 win at the Brisbane Broncos. "I don't think I've ever got three tries before and I don't think I'll get three again," said Maloney, who is playing stand-off due to a thumb injury to Brett Seymour. In the day's other game, the Canterbury Bulldogs won their first match of the season as they thrashed the Sydney Roosters 60-14. Josh Morris scored four of their 12 tries, while Ben Barba added three more.

"The little things we weren't doing right we nailed today and you can see what happens when we do," said Morris. The remaining two NRL teams without a win meet today as the Cronulla Sharks take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs. @Email:[e-mail]