St Helens continued their perfect start to the Betfred Super League season thanks to an inspirational display from Australian full-back Ben Barba.
St Helens 34-2 Salford Red Devils
Barba was too hot to handle for Salford Red Devils as the former Cronulla Sharks star grabbed a double and had a hand in two others.
Saints held a slender 8-2 lead at the break courtesy of tries from Tommy Makinson and Barba.
LMS Saints
And they underlined their title credentials in the second half as Barba, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Jonny Lomax and Luke Thompson all crossed.
Salford briefly led through Gareth O’Brien’s penalty but they were unable to breach Saints’ defence in a third defeat out of four.
Saints head coach Justin Holbrook said: “If there’s someone who is going to complain about the snow and the weather conditions, it’s Benny as he’s from North Queensland.
“He been in the thick of it and saying to the lads, ‘What are you complaining about? Let’s get on with it’. He’s in a good place at the moment, is playing well and it’s good to have him here.”
Salford head coach Ian Watson said: “It’s three defeats out of four but I’m not worried.
“We’ve had two bad halves of rugby this year – one against Wigan and one here at St Helens. It’s up to us to step up and make sure that we are doing things for 80 minutes. We have fallen short here.
“I’m confident in the group of players we have here but we have to take a look at our discipline issues.”