Yes, of course they will.

Do we have to have this debate again?

I'd rather we did not play Widnes, Warrington or Wigan as an opening game. All 3 are capable of selling out on their own. The first match brings it's own draw as it's a first for everyone regardless of who you play. eg if we played Salford for the opening game, we would get more in than Salford 10 games in. Wigan and Warrington will sell out whether first or last game.

So it makes more sense to maximise revenue and play a team like Catalan or Quins where crowds are traditionally lower than other teams and get more people in.

In the end the RFL will decide and not Saints, as it is, it could be a friendly that is the opening game.

The very first game WILL be a friendly as the club have to demonstrate safety procedures to get a safety certificate , I am sure i read that they have to do this before the Stadium goes "live" , I am pretty sure that a boxing day game against Widnes was mooted , it would be a nice thank you for playing there all year , also the first full game should be Cas , as that would be a nice follow on from the last game at KR

Saints will have a say to the RFL who they play in the 1st game at the new ground, Wire did knowing they would sell out easiliy regardless, so they picked Wakefield.

this is a very very good point, why chose Wire or Wigan when you know that gets number in anyway

Given the size of the stadium, you might need more than one ramp-up game. Pretty sure that was the case at the LSV as we held one game at 4,500 capacity then another at 7,000 before being allowed to open to full (12,700) capacity.