in 1984 the mighty Mal Meninga made his debut for Saints. Glad I am old enough to have watched him play for us . Never forget the Lancashire Cup final when he took Wigan apart .What a shame he was never to return after that 1984/85 season
in 1984 the mighty Mal Meninga made his debut for Saints. Glad I am old enough to have watched him play for us . Never forget the Lancashire Cup final when he took Wigan apart .What a shame he was never to return after that 1984/85 season
I was working abroad that season and only saw a handful of Meninga games.
I should also have mentioned that it was the debut for Phil Veivers
Best I've ever seen was Big Mal, and with Veivers it was a bargain. We had some great days out then, I feel old now
https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/...-saints-debut/
Maybe I’m clouded by Wembley when he swanned back over and was made skipper. I remember O’Connor having a blinder at home to Halifax the week before Xmas. We hammered them and he had a ball that day. The week after Wigan beat us at KR and the previous week felt like a mirage.
Yes, they were flown in for Wembley as a double act, advertising chocolate fireguards and playing, and were quiet surprised, that the fans thought the fireguards were better than the players on the day!
Mentioned on another thread that in my opinion there is a good case to say he was the best ever in his position. Feel very privileged to have seen him wear our colours.
People who only know a small amount about sport when asked about RL know his name and what a player he was.
Brett French was a good fast centre for us the following year, the higher profile Ross Conlon was a disappointment.
Like you I was away. I was in the M East and got home for 6 games that season. I remember a friend of mine frothing at the mouth about how great Mal was, and what a treat I was in for watching him. The first game I saw him was at KR and I couldn't believe the way tacklers were bouncing off him when he was in full flight
I was at his first game against Cas at home. I always remember we got poor crowds in those days but got this game there were a few more on to watch Mal. Possibly over four and a half thousand. In this game he scored a remarkable try and you kind of knew he was going to be something special. He had everything - size, strength, speed and great ball handling skills. Every time he got the ball you expected something different to happen - a bit like Barba for us in his prime. Three games from that season stand out for me: the Cas home debut game, the Lancs Cup Final against Wigan and the Premiership Final against Hull KR. Mal scored unforgettable tries in them all. I had the pleasure to bump into him in a hotel lobby in London before one of our Wembley finals and he was a gentleman.
He absolutely did. That's the most memorable thing about him.
I don't think he was a bad professional but once we had seen Big Mal nobody ever lived up to his standard.
We had some good centres after Mal, Newy and Lyon probably the pick of the crop but Mal remains my personal favourite, perhaps because of the long awaited silverware he brought us.
I think Mike Critchley sums it up and nailed it when he said Mal was the catalyst for not just the team but the town to talk about rugby league.
The greatest to come to Saints when I was on strike, to be able to see him destroy at Central Park a Wigoon side who had been invisible for years.
It was one of the greatest days in my life. It's hard now, to put in perspective to the younger fans, how good it was? But it gave us all hope.
I hear there's a chance we could sign him for the 2021 season.
My whole first several years were shadowed by the promise of Meninga returning, only for the hopes to be cruelly dashed.
I saw my first game at KR (well, apart from one I barely remember when I was about 3 and taken there by my dad) that season. Went with a mate and I think it was against Hull. Meninga put up a high bomb to the old scoreboard corner at one point and timed his charge perfectly to hit their winger like a freight train just as he caught the ball. Was hooked from then on. I remember the Premiership SF at KR against the scum, stood in the paddock as we took a big league... then piescum supporters launched a pitch invasion to try to get the match called off (the police were swift in their response, and brutal; one piescum lad was trying to get back over the wall and this copper ran up behind him and booted him up the arse, the lad disappearing head first over the other side )
Lol I bet he could still do some Damage! Fantastic player the best I’ve ever seen play for Saints and I’ve seen a lot. I remember after getting home after the premiership final that night we went to Harry Pinners pub and Big Mal came in with Veivers Billy Benyon Chirs Arkwright Paul Round with the Cup what a night thar was.
Great memories.
Last edited by Ferester123; 8th October 2020 at 12:00.
Big Mal one of the all time greats of the sport, pace power but still a very good footballer rang great support lines and had decent hands
Sadly I never got to see him live in a saints jersey but just from watching him on tv as a kid and on you tube now, you can tell what a super star he was
I’ve always hoped he’d come back to coach us for a few years after he (probably) won the World Cup, but doubt he’d leave his business interests and media gigs to move here.
Amazing to think of the superstars that we had come over here and play in the 80s. Meninga at Saints, Kenny at Wigan, Sterling at Hull. In an era before blanket television coverage it must have been exciting to know that these players were rolling up at your local ground at the weekend, and that if you didn’t get down to the ground you’d never see them again unless the Kangaroos were in town. I’m just a bit too young to have witnessed the best of it.
Wally Lewis at Wakefield!
Think I've told this tale before (and it's third-hand, after being related to me by someone who was told it by the player involved, and it was a log time ago, so allow for artistic licence! ):
Lewis signed a short-term deal with Wakey in 1983, and it was widely reported he was to be paid £1,000 a match - in the days of part-time, much lower salaries generally, and in the midst of a deep recession and soaring unemployment, this was considered a king's ransom 'oop north', and quite a few players across the sport resented it.
In one game, he got royally banjoed. As the opposition player clambered off him, he said to Lewis "Where does that leave you, thousand-quid-a-week man?" to which Lewis replied "About nine-fifty a week better off than you, sh*thead!"
Wakefield never lost a game when Wally Lewis was here if I recall correctly.
He was a giant of a man for a stand off.
I recall distinctly that he pretty much beat Saints single handedly at Belle Vue that season.
According to Wiki, they won 5, lost 5 (but you're right about beating us) :
"Lewis played for English First Division side Wakefield Trinity (Heritage No. 928) for a short spell during the 1983–84 Rugby Football League season and he remains a favourite of Trinity fans, who named their fanzine Wally Lewis is Coming. Trinity won 5 of 10 games during Lewis's stay, including a win over St. Helens in which Lewis scored a hat-trick. After his last match on 12 February, Trinity did not win another game and were relegated to the second division. "