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Thread: Top 5 signings of the Super League era

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    Quote Originally Posted by eddiewaringsflatcap View Post
    I can’t take that site seriously at all. Its poorly researched and puts feeling above fact. The 2006 team being second place is laughable. It also won the WCC against one of the best Australia NRL teams whereas the supposed best SL team was getting whopped by North Queensland. Garbage site.
    It's probably ran by the RFL.

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    Quote Originally Posted by mufcsaint View Post
    Hells teeth who runs that site?
    It used to be alright but over the last year it’s become unreadable. If they really were ‘serious about rugby league’ they’d employ some writers who actually know something about the sport. Haven’t seen any of their latest stuff after unfollowing them but steer well clear.
    Forwards win games. The backs decide by how much.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Wee Waa Womble View Post
    It used to be alright but over the last year it’s become unreadable. If they really were ‘serious about rugby league’ they’d employ some writers who actually know something about the sport. Haven’t seen any of their latest stuff after unfollowing them but steer well clear.
    It would take about 10 minutes, per team, to research each teams signings, all the information is easily available, but it looks like the bloke couldn’t be arsed to do it, if you dont put the effort in you get crap like the article rating signings.

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    Quote Originally Posted by STIDDY View Post
    In my opinion:

    1. Paul Newlove we signed him for the superleague starting season a world class player who took the superleague by storm.

    2. Sean Long little did we know he was the pivotal beginnings of the Saints Dynasty.

    3. Jamie Lyon, a gamble that proved his contribution gave us the tagging of the "The Untouchables".

    4. Alex Walmsley another astute signing from the lower division, one that the club can be proud of for developing such raw talent.

    5. Ben Barba, although short lived and didn't finish with the best ending, he was "box office" and gave the sport positive exposure with his attacking skills.
    Don't know how you could have half season Barba over Scully, but different people different opinions.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dos Cervezas View Post
    The “signings” of Daniel Anderson and Justin Holbrook probably make any top five, for me. Granted they weren’t players for us but they both took us to new levels.
    I'm not sure on Anderson you know. He's revered by loads of Saints fans and I was a fan of his, but I'm not convinced that he had that big of a job to do after Millward. The 2005 season up until Millward's sacking was turning into a magic season, and had Millward stayed we'd have won the title in 05 barring the injuries and I'm fairly convinced we'd have dominated in 06 under him as well. Millward had a shelf life, and I'm not saying he'd have been here for years and years beyond that but Anderson gets his reputation for 2006 basically, with more or less Millward's team.

    What Anderson did change was the mindset of alot of people around the club, both in the top office and on the terraces. We started to accept a less exciting brand of RL if it meant we won trophies. We'd never accepted that pre-Anderson, and it changed. It was surprising because beyond 2006 it was under Anderson that we started to develop a habit of losing Grand Finals, which we never really had under Millward. Yes, we won 3 Cup Finals under him, yes we won the WCC in 2007 (one of my favourite nights following the club) but our mystique as a club that won the big games was ended under Anderson, whilst the style of RL became less entertaining. Anderson's legacy led to McManus and co trying to replicate it with the likes of Potter, Simmons and Brown because they'd been won over by Anderson's more 'NRL' style of coaching, and Cunningham then also adopted a turgid style of RL as well because that became the 'thing to do'.

    I can't imagine a scenario where we'd have even been tempted to bring in any of those coaches pre-Anderson, but we pretty much wasted the best part of a decade on terrible coaching decisions which saw us IMO waste the opportunity we had to build a larger fanbase when we moved to LP. That first season we were pulling in 13-14k for the early season matches, but they didn't stay because the RL we played wasn't good on the eye. That all stems back to Anderson and the change in culture he brought about. You can also look over at Wigan and see how they adopted it under Maguire, which led Wane to trying to replicate it to some extent. Wigan's crowds are now poor for the size of club they are, and compared to how they were a decade ago. The sea change that Anderson and Maguire brought about made both Saints and Wigan less exciting to watch in the long run, and probably had a negative effect on both clubs beyond their runs as coaches here.

    Holbrook however was the opposite. We will look back on that fella and realise just how amazing he was for our club. We got the old Saints back for a time period, it became fun again to see a good team playing decent RL, and IMO his appointment was more important for us than any appointment we made since Millward. But how much was his appointment a change of focus by the club? Woolf is a continuity coach in the mould of some of the others we had between Millward and Holbrook, so it looks like Justin was an aberration, although I'd love our current coach to prove me wrong. But Holbrook was massive for us, in ways that we can't imagine. How many people who turned up in 2018 and 2019 would have sat at home had we appointed another Potter, Simmons or Brown after Cunningham? He revitalised the club and healed alot of wounds, and hopefully the club realises that we don't look back on him as fondly as we do because of that Grand Final win in 2019 but because of things far bigger than that.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    I'm not sure on Anderson you know. He's revered by loads of Saints fans and I was a fan of his, but I'm not convinced that he had that big of a job to do after Millward. The 2005 season up until Millward's sacking was turning into a magic season, and had Millward stayed we'd have won the title in 05 barring the injuries and I'm fairly convinced we'd have dominated in 06 under him as well. Millward had a shelf life, and I'm not saying he'd have been here for years and years beyond that but Anderson gets his reputation for 2006 basically, with more or less Millward's team.

    What Anderson did change was the mindset of alot of people around the club, both in the top office and on the terraces. We started to accept a less exciting brand of RL if it meant we won trophies. We'd never accepted that pre-Anderson, and it changed. It was surprising because beyond 2006 it was under Anderson that we started to develop a habit of losing Grand Finals, which we never really had under Millward. Yes, we won 3 Cup Finals under him, yes we won the WCC in 2007 (one of my favourite nights following the club) but our mystique as a club that won the big games was ended under Anderson, whilst the style of RL became less entertaining. Anderson's legacy led to McManus and co trying to replicate it with the likes of Potter, Simmons and Brown because they'd been won over by Anderson's more 'NRL' style of coaching, and Cunningham then also adopted a turgid style of RL as well because that became the 'thing to do'.

    I can't imagine a scenario where we'd have even been tempted to bring in any of those coaches pre-Anderson, but we pretty much wasted the best part of a decade on terrible coaching decisions which saw us IMO waste the opportunity we had to build a larger fanbase when we moved to LP. That first season we were pulling in 13-14k for the early season matches, but they didn't stay because the RL we played wasn't good on the eye. That all stems back to Anderson and the change in culture he brought about. You can also look over at Wigan and see how they adopted it under Maguire, which led Wane to trying to replicate it to some extent. Wigan's crowds are now poor for the size of club they are, and compared to how they were a decade ago. The sea change that Anderson and Maguire brought about made both Saints and Wigan less exciting to watch in the long run, and probably had a negative effect on both clubs beyond their runs as coaches here.

    Holbrook however was the opposite. We will look back on that fella and realise just how amazing he was for our club. We got the old Saints back for a time period, it became fun again to see a good team playing decent RL, and IMO his appointment was more important for us than any appointment we made since Millward. But how much was his appointment a change of focus by the club? Woolf is a continuity coach in the mould of some of the others we had between Millward and Holbrook, so it looks like Justin was an aberration, although I'd love our current coach to prove me wrong. But Holbrook was massive for us, in ways that we can't imagine. How many people who turned up in 2018 and 2019 would have sat at home had we appointed another Potter, Simmons or Brown after Cunningham? He revitalised the club and healed alot of wounds, and hopefully the club realises that we don't look back on him as fondly as we do because of that Grand Final win in 2019 but because of things far bigger than that.
    I agree. Daniel Anderson made us a more consistent team. Having said that with Milward still in charge i reckon we win the 2008 and 2009 Grand finals (acknowledge Potter was coaching us in 09, not Anderson).

    Regarding Holbrook. I was critical of him at times during his time. At times we looked no better than we did under Cunningham and sometimes he wouldn’t settle on his half backs. But looking back he did do very well overall. He took pressure off the players, ditched the grind rugby, gave shirts to the likes of Grace, and helped bring Barba in. Also, Barba was improving game on game in 2017. If Morgan doesn’t give away that soft penalty at Castleford, or Percy lands a couple of goals we win the Championship that year imo. We certainly would have challenged Leeds better than Cas did.

    Best signing of the SL era is a good question. Ive not give it huge thought but off the top of my head i reckon Longy. What did we pay, about £70k. He goes on to win so many team and individual honours. Great buy.

    I think Newlove was also a great signing because it signalled our intent to be a big spending club with big aims. He scores 28 tries in 1996, we win the Championship and its the start of that golden period we had for the first ten years of summer rugby.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    I'm not sure on Anderson you know. He's revered by loads of Saints fans and I was a fan of his, but I'm not convinced that he had that big of a job to do after Millward. The 2005 season up until Millward's sacking was turning into a magic season, and had Millward stayed we'd have won the title in 05 barring the injuries and I'm fairly convinced we'd have dominated in 06 under him as well. Millward had a shelf life, and I'm not saying he'd have been here for years and years beyond that but Anderson gets his reputation for 2006 basically, with more or less Millward's team.

    What Anderson did change was the mindset of alot of people around the club, both in the top office and on the terraces. We started to accept a less exciting brand of RL if it meant we won trophies. We'd never accepted that pre-Anderson, and it changed. It was surprising because beyond 2006 it was under Anderson that we started to develop a habit of losing Grand Finals, which we never really had under Millward. Yes, we won 3 Cup Finals under him, yes we won the WCC in 2007 (one of my favourite nights following the club) but our mystique as a club that won the big games was ended under Anderson, whilst the style of RL became less entertaining. Anderson's legacy led to McManus and co trying to replicate it with the likes of Potter, Simmons and Brown because they'd been won over by Anderson's more 'NRL' style of coaching, and Cunningham then also adopted a turgid style of RL as well because that became the 'thing to do'.

    I can't imagine a scenario where we'd have even been tempted to bring in any of those coaches pre-Anderson, but we pretty much wasted the best part of a decade on terrible coaching decisions which saw us IMO waste the opportunity we had to build a larger fanbase when we moved to LP. That first season we were pulling in 13-14k for the early season matches, but they didn't stay because the RL we played wasn't good on the eye. That all stems back to Anderson and the change in culture he brought about. You can also look over at Wigan and see how they adopted it under Maguire, which led Wane to trying to replicate it to some extent. Wigan's crowds are now poor for the size of club they are, and compared to how they were a decade ago. The sea change that Anderson and Maguire brought about made both Saints and Wigan less exciting to watch in the long run, and probably had a negative effect on both clubs beyond their runs as coaches here.

    Holbrook however was the opposite. We will look back on that fella and realise just how amazing he was for our club. We got the old Saints back for a time period, it became fun again to see a good team playing decent RL, and IMO his appointment was more important for us than any appointment we made since Millward. But how much was his appointment a change of focus by the club? Woolf is a continuity coach in the mould of some of the others we had between Millward and Holbrook, so it looks like Justin was an aberration, although I'd love our current coach to prove me wrong. But Holbrook was massive for us, in ways that we can't imagine. How many people who turned up in 2018 and 2019 would have sat at home had we appointed another Potter, Simmons or Brown after Cunningham? He revitalised the club and healed alot of wounds, and hopefully the club realises that we don't look back on him as fondly as we do because of that Grand Final win in 2019 but because of things far bigger than that.
    I always thought Anderson got a lot of credit for the team that Millward built. I think 2005 was the most exciting and entertaining rugby I have seen. I'm still hoping that Woolf will come around, with a fully fit team and everyone having a pre season. I don't think he will revert to Holbrook's style, but I am hoping for something more expansive and less predictable than Big Al driving it in.

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    Holbrook winning the title defined his era. It brought into context the league leaders shields and wrapped it up into a succesful period. Wolfe is front foot now, he is a winner from the off. The one guy who did so much spadework but wasn't a winner was Eric Hughes, he started a culture change that McRae was clever enough to exploit without ever really being a coach in the truest sense.

    Anderson for me was a manager and influencer and as rightly stated his record was more mixed than we remember because he started off as a winner. Millward was a superb maverick, he related to most of the players but like Goulding he was a time bomb and they always go off. Did a great job at Wigan as well did Ian, he even bullied Rogues.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cyprus View Post
    Holbrook winning the title defined his era. It brought into context the league leaders shields and wrapped it up into a succesful period. Wolfe is front foot now, he is a winner from the off. The one guy who did so much spadework but wasn't a winner was Eric Hughes, he started a culture change that McRae was clever enough to exploit without ever really being a coach in the truest sense.

    Anderson for me was a manager and influencer and as rightly stated his record was more mixed than we remember because he started off as a winner. Millward was a superb maverick, he related to most of the players but like Goulding he was a time bomb and they always go off. Did a great job at Wigan as well did Ian, he even bullied Rogues.
    I think we have a similar circumstance in the Millward/Anderson and the Holbrook/Woolf coaching take overs. Belgian covered it in saying Millward was more entertaining in his style but could often be loose in important games, Holbrook was similar an entertaining style but couldn't come up with a better plan in those tough cup games. For Anderson and Woolf both similar in putting defence a priority and playing good rugby once that established in a game, they also seemed more professional in their approach as well.

    Holbrook was fortunate to take over from that Cunningham Middles Style, anything with attacking prownesss was a winner for the fans and players. I just think Woolf had a bit more to do than when Anderson took over from Millward, fortunately for Woolf we had that lockdown period where he got the players with a poor and tired pre season back to 100% fitness but he still had 2 or 3 attacking players missing for longer periods which caused a bit of inconsistency in attack using players out of natural postion.

    For this season we could possibly creep into a positive transition one with Dodd, Welsby, Simm, Eaves and Wingfield making it a competitive selection dilemma for Woolf which makes 2022 season having a new team look about it.

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    1. Holbrook - took us from a team which was closer to relegation than play offs and turned us into a world class team. Didnt make to many signings but got rid of the dead wood and really got the best out of the players

    2. Long - say no more. When it got down to the last kick of the game to win a match i would pick no one other than this man. Best scrum half i have ever seen

    3. Sculthorpe - was their anything this man couldnt do? One of the hardest men on the field always took it to the big boys and defended the little ones. I still stand by saying that his name on the team sheet alone won us the 2007 wcc against brisbane. 8-0 nil down and looked like we was falling to pieces... until scully came on

    4. Newlove - again best english center i have ever seen. He pushes out lyon as he only played 2 seasons. Newlove was a true wingmans center.

    5. Soliola - (contraversial i know) he signed as a no body who was never heard off. When he left he was one of our better player, a few seasons we had the worst run of injuries than ive ever seen a team have, he became a true leader on the pitch and could see that the younger player looked upto him

    Shout out to - coote, walmsley, gilmour, lyon, hooper, gidley, martyn

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    I'm not sure on Anderson you know. He's revered by loads of Saints fans and I was a fan of his, but I'm not convinced that he had that big of a job to do after Millward. The 2005 season up until Millward's sacking was turning into a magic season, and had Millward stayed we'd have won the title in 05 barring the injuries and I'm fairly convinced we'd have dominated in 06 under him as well. Millward had a shelf life, and I'm not saying he'd have been here for years and years beyond that but Anderson gets his reputation for 2006 basically, with more or less Millward's team.

    What Anderson did change was the mindset of alot of people around the club, both in the top office and on the terraces. We started to accept a less exciting brand of RL if it meant we won trophies. We'd never accepted that pre-Anderson, and it changed. It was surprising because beyond 2006 it was under Anderson that we started to develop a habit of losing Grand Finals, which we never really had under Millward. Yes, we won 3 Cup Finals under him, yes we won the WCC in 2007 (one of my favourite nights following the club) but our mystique as a club that won the big games was ended under Anderson, whilst the style of RL became less entertaining. Anderson's legacy led to McManus and co trying to replicate it with the likes of Potter, Simmons and Brown because they'd been won over by Anderson's more 'NRL' style of coaching, and Cunningham then also adopted a turgid style of RL as well because that became the 'thing to do'.

    I can't imagine a scenario where we'd have even been tempted to bring in any of those coaches pre-Anderson, but we pretty much wasted the best part of a decade on terrible coaching decisions which saw us IMO waste the opportunity we had to build a larger fanbase when we moved to LP. That first season we were pulling in 13-14k for the early season matches, but they didn't stay because the RL we played wasn't good on the eye. That all stems back to Anderson and the change in culture he brought about. You can also look over at Wigan and see how they adopted it under Maguire, which led Wane to trying to replicate it to some extent. Wigan's crowds are now poor for the size of club they are, and compared to how they were a decade ago. The sea change that Anderson and Maguire brought about made both Saints and Wigan less exciting to watch in the long run, and probably had a negative effect on both clubs beyond their runs as coaches here.

    Holbrook however was the opposite. We will look back on that fella and realise just how amazing he was for our club. We got the old Saints back for a time period, it became fun again to see a good team playing decent RL, and IMO his appointment was more important for us than any appointment we made since Millward. But how much was his appointment a change of focus by the club? Woolf is a continuity coach in the mould of some of the others we had between Millward and Holbrook, so it looks like Justin was an aberration, although I'd love our current coach to prove me wrong. But Holbrook was massive for us, in ways that we can't imagine. How many people who turned up in 2018 and 2019 would have sat at home had we appointed another Potter, Simmons or Brown after Cunningham? He revitalised the club and healed alot of wounds, and hopefully the club realises that we don't look back on him as fondly as we do because of that Grand Final win in 2019 but because of things far bigger than that.
    Can’t agree on Anderson. I think you’re doing him a massive disservice and even more so by complaining that recruitment once he left for head coaches was poor, how he can be blamed for poor recruitment in that department is beyond ridiculous. To proclaim we played a less exciting brand of rugby is incredible, too. Our defence improved immeasurably upon his arrival and the “we’ll score one more try than you” rugby was moved along. It had its shelf life as you say and Anderson moved with the times, which was needed.

    Four straight hub caps takes some doing, regardless of how important they’re deemed as trophies. Three straight Challenge Cup finals, essentially playing week in, week out for three years solid took some doing and raised the bar at the club on and off the field, from playing standards to strength and conditioning to just generally being a better ran organisation.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gray77 View Post
    I'm not sure on Anderson you know. He's revered by loads of Saints fans and I was a fan of his, but I'm not convinced that he had that big of a job to do after Millward. The 2005 season up until Millward's sacking was turning into a magic season, and had Millward stayed we'd have won the title in 05 barring the injuries and I'm fairly convinced we'd have dominated in 06 under him as well. Millward had a shelf life, and I'm not saying he'd have been here for years and years beyond that but Anderson gets his reputation for 2006 basically, with more or less Millward's team.

    What Anderson did change was the mindset of alot of people around the club, both in the top office and on the terraces. We started to accept a less exciting brand of RL if it meant we won trophies. We'd never accepted that pre-Anderson, and it changed. It was surprising because beyond 2006 it was under Anderson that we started to develop a habit of losing Grand Finals, which we never really had under Millward. Yes, we won 3 Cup Finals under him, yes we won the WCC in 2007 (one of my favourite nights following the club) but our mystique as a club that won the big games was ended under Anderson, whilst the style of RL became less entertaining. Anderson's legacy led to McManus and co trying to replicate it with the likes of Potter, Simmons and Brown because they'd been won over by Anderson's more 'NRL' style of coaching, and Cunningham then also adopted a turgid style of RL as well because that became the 'thing to do'.
    Harsh.

    It's easy to say Millward could've won the same in 05 and 06 with hindsight but he didn't. If it was so easy to just come in and win trophies then why did Cunningham send us from Champions to 7th within 2 and a half seasons?

    Anderson may not have brought the same exciting style that Millward brought, but he did bring a toughness defensively that won us a number of trophies during his spell.

    We lost some Grand Finals under him sure, but we faced arguably the greatest Leeds team of all time during that spell that just had our number and other teams numbers, whenever it was a big game.

    The fact the club tried to replicate Anderson's legacy afterwards is a credit to him not a disservice especially when you see how unsuccessful Potter and Simmons were at trying to do it. It was only Brown who managed to get anything out of the team and it took him a few years to get it right.

    He had a very good squad of players to work with no doubt, but coaching isn't just about telling the players to go out there and win, he still had to manage egos and get them to buy into his philosophy, which he did.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blobbynator View Post
    Harsh.

    It's easy to say Millward could've won the same in 05 and 06 with hindsight but he didn't. If it was so easy to just come in and win trophies then why did Cunningham send us from Champions to 7th within 2 and a half seasons?

    Anderson may not have brought the same exciting style that Millward brought, but he did bring a toughness defensively that won us a number of trophies during his spell.

    We lost some Grand Finals under him sure, but we faced arguably the greatest Leeds team of all time during that spell that just had our number and other teams numbers, whenever it was a big game.

    The fact the club tried to replicate Anderson's legacy afterwards is a credit to him not a disservice especially when you see how unsuccessful Potter and Simmons were at trying to do it. It was only Brown who managed to get anything out of the team and it took him a few years to get it right.

    He had a very good squad of players to work with no doubt, but coaching isn't just about telling the players to go out there and win, he still had to manage egos and get them to buy into his philosophy, which he did.


    I agree with this, and with Mr TwoBeers.

    Millward was my favourite coach I've seen at Saints (I only go back the Billy Benyon in 84). Some proper edge of the seat stuff and cemented our 'The entertainers' tag, although we could be inconsistent. I also loved the bunker mentality he fostered.

    Anderson basically took a maverick team and added steel. Yes, we lost some of the off-the-cuff excitement and some last minute 46-42 wins, but we still played some scintillating rugby during his time. That 2006 team was IMO the perfect mix of attacking flair and defensive solidity.

    WRT the 2 GF's he lost, I reckon complacency cost us the 2007 final, and we were the better side in 2008 but luck (and a dodgy ref/VR) cost us.

    It's also nonsense to claim Millward would have won the GF in 2005. What cost us that year was the glut of injuries right at the end of the season (including from that dirty piescum thug). In the playoffs, we were missing Long, Albert & Sculthorpe. Cunningham was struggling, Gilmour wasn't 100% fit, and Fozzard was gassed. Our starting halfbacks for the playoffs were Hooper & Wilkin.

    Also worth remembering that during Millwards last 14 games against wi*an, we only won 2. There were 11 losses, including that Murrayfield no-show (one of the 2 we won was, of course, the revenge in Cardiff)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Blobbynator View Post
    Harsh.

    It's easy to say Millward could've won the same in 05 and 06 with hindsight but he didn't. If it was so easy to just come in and win trophies then why did Cunningham send us from Champions to 7th within 2 and a half seasons?

    Anderson may not have brought the same exciting style that Millward brought, but he did bring a toughness defensively that won us a number of trophies during his spell.

    We lost some Grand Finals under him sure, but we faced arguably the greatest Leeds team of all time during that spell that just had our number and other teams numbers, whenever it was a big game.

    The fact the club tried to replicate Anderson's legacy afterwards is a credit to him not a disservice especially when you see how unsuccessful Potter and Simmons were at trying to do it. It was only Brown who managed to get anything out of the team and it took him a few years to get it right.

    He had a very good squad of players to work with no doubt, but coaching isn't just about telling the players to go out there and win, he still had to manage egos and get them to buy into his philosophy, which he did.
    I think this is a fair shout by and large.

    My gripe is that Brown doesn't get the credit he deserves. I'm pretty sure he came in for 2013 season and by the end of 2014, we had won a grand final with a glut of players out injured. We had a bit of luck in finishing top as everyone was falling over themselves to drop points but he did the business in the play offs with a simple, effective game plan. I think it may have been Castleford who we played first game of the 2014 play offs and we battered them. Beat them out of sight

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    Quote Originally Posted by Webbo Again View Post
    It's also nonsense to claim Millward would have won the GF in 2005. What cost us that year was the glut of injuries right at the end of the season
    Hence me saying The 2005 season up until Millward's sacking was turning into a magic season, and had Millward stayed we'd have won the title in 05 barring the injuries

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    Quote Originally Posted by itswide2west View Post
    1. Holbrook - took us from a team which was closer to relegation than play offs and turned us into a world class team. Didnt make to many signings but got rid of the dead wood and really got the best out of the players

    2. Long - say no more. When it got down to the last kick of the game to win a match i would pick no one other than this man. Best scrum half i have ever seen

    3. Sculthorpe - was their anything this man couldnt do? One of the hardest men on the field always took it to the big boys and defended the little ones. I still stand by saying that his name on the team sheet alone won us the 2007 wcc against brisbane. 8-0 nil down and looked like we was falling to pieces... until scully came on

    4. Newlove - again best english center i have ever seen. He pushes out lyon as he only played 2 seasons. Newlove was a true wingmans center.

    5. Soliola - (contraversial i know) he signed as a no body who was never heard off. When he left he was one of our better player, a few seasons we had the worst run of injuries than ive ever seen a team have, he became a true leader on the pitch and could see that the younger player looked upto him

    Shout out to - coote, walmsley, gilmour, lyon, hooper, gidley, martyn
    Not being pedantic but I'm certain Martyn was signed pre-SL. Not taking anything away from him as he's one of my favourite players I've seen at Saints. Now I've had a bit of time to think about it mine would be:

    1. Long. The best British half I've seen, could play either HB positions equally well, fabulous vision, pace, passing and kicking but also plenty of bottle to carry on after a number of serious injuries, a few of which were deliberately inflicted. Learned how to adapt his game coming to the end of his career when he lost a bit of pace and you only need to listen to him now to know how good his rugby brain is.

    2. Newlove. The best British centre I've seen. Unplayable at times, if he didn't run round you he'd run through you. Tremendously quick for a bloke that big and smashed people in defence for fun.

    3. Lyon. An absolute pleasure to watch, so naturally gifted he seemed to think some of the amazing things he could do were perfectly normal. He fitted us perfectly at the time and probably doesn't get enough credit for being able to play a few different positions. Had a few good •••• ups with him too.

    4. Sculthorpe. Would probably be no.2 had it not been for injuries. Hard as nails, one of those annoying people that's just good at everything he does (apart from backing horses), always stood up at international level too. Hands of a half with the back of a prop comes to mind.

    5. Walmsley. The way he's developed himself from a big clumsy dope into one of the worlds best props speaks a lot about him and the club. Carried us many times and worked hard on his fitness to have a pretty good engine on him now. Obviously overcoming the neck injury too.

    As I mentioned earlier, there's been some great signings. Gilmour was a big favourite of mine who would walk into most teams, I actually feel he'd be a better now. Hooper was a nasty ••••••• and a bit of an enforcer looking after our halves but could most certainly play a bit too. Iro, even at the end of his career certainly lived up to his name. Decca McVey was a really astute signing, as was Maurie when he was fit. Mickey Higham was another player that probably played in the wrong era. I also had a lot of time for Nick Fozard, Vinny Anderson and that Aussie prop I can never remember the name of (not Perry before any smart arse pipes up). Obviously Darren Albert too who should probably be no.5 but I can't be arsed changing it.
    Last edited by Angry Dave; 15th March 2021 at 16:14. Reason: Forgot Darren Albert

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    Quote Originally Posted by Angry Dave View Post
    Not being pedantic but I'm certain Martyn was signed pre-SL. Not taking anything away from him as he's one of my favourite players I've seen at Saints. Now I've had a bit of time to think about it mine would be:

    1. Long. The best British half I've seen, could play either HB positions equally well, fabulous vision, pace, passing and kicking but also plenty of bottle to carry on after a number of serious injuries, a few of which were deliberately inflicted. Learned how to adapt his game coming to the end of his career when he lost a bit of pace and you only need to listen to him now to know how good his rugby brain is.

    2. Newlove. The best British centre I've seen. Unplayable at times, if he didn't run round you he'd run through you. Tremendously quick for a bloke that big and smashed people in defence for fun.

    3. Lyon. An absolute pleasure to watch, so naturally gifted he seemed to think some of the amazing things he could do were perfectly normal. He fitted us perfectly at the time and probably doesn't get enough credit for being able to play a few different positions. Had a few good •••• ups with him too.

    4. Sculthorpe. Would probably be no.2 had it not been for injuries. Hard as nails, one of those annoying people that's just good at everything he does (apart from backing horses), always stood up at international level too. Hands of a half with the back of a prop comes to mind.

    5. Walmsley. The way he's developed himself from a big clumsy dope into one of the worlds best props speaks a lot about him and the club. Carried us many times and worked hard on his fitness to have a pretty good engine on him now. Obviously overcoming the neck injury too.

    As I mentioned earlier, there's been some great signings. Gilmour was a big favourite of mine who would walk into most teams, I actually feel he'd be a better now. Hooper was a nasty ••••••• and a bit of an enforcer looking after our halves but could most certainly play a bit too. Iro, even at the end of his career certainly lived up to his name. Decca McVey was a really astute signing, as was Maurie when he was fit. Mickey Higham was another player that probably played in the wrong era. I also had a lot of time for Nick Fozard, Vinny Anderson and that Aussie prop I can never remember the name of (not Perry before any smart arse pipes up). Obviously Darren Albert too who should probably be no.5 but I can't be arsed changing it.
    Aussie prop? Do you mean Jason Cayless? Aussie born but represented NZ. Had his injury problems but was great when fit. 2006 we had Jason Cayless, Paul Anderson, Nick Fozzard, James Graham and Maurie Fa'asavalu as props, rest of the pack was fairly decent as well! Lee Gilmour for me is the most underrated player in super league history. I agree about Higham as well, wish he was 20 years younger and coming through as Roby's successor now.
    Forwards win games. The backs decide by how much.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Angry Dave View Post
    Not being pedantic but I'm certain Martyn was signed pre-SL. Not taking anything away from him as he's one of my favourite players I've seen at Saints. Now I've had a bit of time to think about it mine would be:

    1. Long. The best British half I've seen, could play either HB positions equally well, fabulous vision, pace, passing and kicking but also plenty of bottle to carry on after a number of serious injuries, a few of which were deliberately inflicted. Learned how to adapt his game coming to the end of his career when he lost a bit of pace and you only need to listen to him now to know how good his rugby brain is.

    2. Newlove. The best British centre I've seen. Unplayable at times, if he didn't run round you he'd run through you. Tremendously quick for a bloke that big and smashed people in defence for fun.

    3. Lyon. An absolute pleasure to watch, so naturally gifted he seemed to think some of the amazing things he could do were perfectly normal. He fitted us perfectly at the time and probably doesn't get enough credit for being able to play a few different positions. Had a few good •••• ups with him too.

    4. Sculthorpe. Would probably be no.2 had it not been for injuries. Hard as nails, one of those annoying people that's just good at everything he does (apart from backing horses), always stood up at international level too. Hands of a half with the back of a prop comes to mind.

    5. Walmsley. The way he's developed himself from a big clumsy dope into one of the worlds best props speaks a lot about him and the club. Carried us many times and worked hard on his fitness to have a pretty good engine on him now. Obviously overcoming the neck injury too.

    As I mentioned earlier, there's been some great signings. Gilmour was a big favourite of mine who would walk into most teams, I actually feel he'd be a better now. Hooper was a nasty ••••••• and a bit of an enforcer looking after our halves but could most certainly play a bit too. Iro, even at the end of his career certainly lived up to his name. Decca McVey was a really astute signing, as was Maurie when he was fit. Mickey Higham was another player that probably played in the wrong era. I also had a lot of time for Nick Fozard, Vinny Anderson and that Aussie prop I can never remember the name of (not Perry before any smart arse pipes up). Obviously Darren Albert too who should probably be no.5 but I can't be arsed changing it.


    Technically, Newlove signed before SL (partway through the Centenary Season)

    Was the Aussie prop Dave Fairleigh? He was incredible, possibly the best prop I've seen.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Webbo Again View Post
    Technically, Newlove signed before SL (partway through the Centenary Season)
    .
    Pedantic much?
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Wee Waa Womble View Post
    Aussie prop? Do you mean Jason Cayless? Aussie born but represented NZ. Had his injury problems but was great when fit. 2006 we had Jason Cayless, Paul Anderson, Nick Fozzard, James Graham and Maurie Fa'asavalu as props, rest of the pack was fairly decent as well! Lee Gilmour for me is the most underrated player in super league history. I agree about Higham as well, wish he was 20 years younger and coming through as Roby's successor now.
    Quote Originally Posted by Webbo Again View Post
    Technically, Newlove signed before SL (partway through the Centenary Season)

    Was the Aussie prop Dave Fairleigh? He was incredible, possibly the best prop I've seen.
    Aye, it was Fairleigh. Cayless wasn't bad either though. I don't remember that with Newlove but fair enough, Albert takes 5th spot in that case.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Wee Waa Womble View Post
    Aussie prop? Do you mean Jason Cayless? Aussie born but represented NZ. Had his injury problems but was great when fit. 2006 we had Jason Cayless, Paul Anderson, Nick Fozzard, James Graham and Maurie Fa'asavalu as props, rest of the pack was fairly decent as well! Lee Gilmour for me is the most underrated player in super league history. I agree about Higham as well, wish he was 20 years younger and coming through as Roby's successor now.
    Quote Originally Posted by Webbo Again View Post
    Technically, Newlove signed before SL (partway through the Centenary Season)

    Was the Aussie prop Dave Fairleigh? He was incredible, possibly the best prop I've seen.
    Aye, it was Fairleigh. Cayless wasn't bad either though. I don't remember that with Newlove but fair enough, Albert takes 5th spot in that case.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Angry Dave View Post
    Aye, it was Fairleigh. Cayless wasn't bad either though. I don't remember that with Newlove but fair enough, Albert takes 5th spot in that case.
    I always thought Cayless was a donkey but to each his own. Fairleigh was quality though!!
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Wee Waa Womble View Post
    Aussie prop? Do you mean Jason Cayless? Aussie born but represented NZ. Had his injury problems but was great when fit. 2006 we had Jason Cayless, Paul Anderson, Nick Fozzard, James Graham and Maurie Fa'asavalu as props, rest of the pack was fairly decent as well! Lee Gilmour for me is the most underrated player in super league history. I agree about Higham as well, wish he was 20 years younger and coming through as Roby's successor now.
    Quote Originally Posted by fishy3005 View Post
    I always thought Cayless was a donkey but to each his own. Fairleigh was quality though!!
    I didn't think he was anywhere near as good as Fairleigh but was rock solid and it wasn't exactly easy to shine in that team.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Wee Waa Womble View Post
    Aussie prop? Do you mean Jason Cayless? Aussie born but represented NZ. Had his injury problems but was great when fit. 2006 we had Jason Cayless, Paul Anderson, Nick Fozzard, James Graham and Maurie Fa'asavalu as props, rest of the pack was fairly decent as well! Lee Gilmour for me is the most underrated player in super league history. I agree about Higham as well, wish he was 20 years younger and coming through as Roby's successor now.
    Quote Originally Posted by fishy3005 View Post
    I always thought Cayless was a donkey but to each his own. Fairleigh was quality though!!
    I didn't think he was anywhere near as good as Fairleigh but was rock solid and it wasn't exactly easy to shine in that team.

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    Quote Originally Posted by fishy3005 View Post
    I always thought Cayless was a donkey but to each his own. Fairleigh was quality though!!
    Nahhh, very good prop was Cayless. Not as good as his brother but he was good

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