THEY had to wait almost nine months from the time their 2018 campaign ended to commencing a new men's Premier League Hockey title bid, but it was certainly not a case of sitting idle for the Saints.
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Since February the Saints had been preparing what what lay ahead and that preparation showed on Saturday as they posted a 4-2 season-opening win over Parkes at Bob Roach Field.
Not only has coach Niel Howard implemented a new structure this season, but he has also worked hard on the fitness levels of his squad.
They were two elements which helped to give them the edge against an enthusiastic Parkes outfit which showed plenty of promise as it marked its return to the men's league.
"We started training back in February, so we've been doing fitness twice a week to get our fitness right for this competition," Howard said.
"We busted our butts during the off-season so we were fit and now the quarters are bringing the teams that aren't as fit back towards us. But as you saw, we can run for a full hour and go flat out the whole time.
"Quarters or halves it doesn't really matter. We're fit, we're ready."
Parkes made a strong start to Saturday's contest, Andrew Bourke twice coming close in the first 10 minutes. He pushed a reverse shot just wide after running onto an overhead then had his rocket from the top of the circle blocked by Taylor Newton.
But when Parkes got its chance from the a set piece penalty corner play they made it count, a Koby Johnstone drag-flick finding the mark.
The visitors' lead was, however, short lived.
Pat's attacked from the restart, earned a penalty corner and Brent Naylor executed his drag-flick to perfection to lock it up at 1-all.
A minute later Pat's struck again, this time finding the mark via Blake Davis after he made a strong run down the right flank.
It was a passage of play which saw the Saints ahead 2-1 at the change and pleased Howard.
"My biggest thing is that if you make a mistake, it's what you do next. It's not about how you made the mistake and what happened, it's what you do next," the coach said.
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When the Saints earned a second penalty corner in the 23rd minute they once again capitalised. This time Naylor's initial attempt was blocked, but Tyler Willott put away the deflection.
Willott struck again one minute into the third quarter to push the margin out to three, slotting home a cross.
Parkes continued to push until the final whistle, pulling one back via a class piece of individual work from Connor Dwalt, but Saints closed it out to take the points.
"Good start, good win. It's disappointing how the comp has started out with only four teams, but we'll do what we can," Howard said.
"It was disappointing in that last quarter, we lost that quarter ... but then again our guys, we did the rotation right and kept running the whole time. So that was a positive.
"Those Parkes young fellas, each year they are going to get better and better. I know a lot of them through rep hockey and they are going to be dangerous in a year or two."
