LEGEND LEGEND LEGEND

I agree. A one club man, great player in his day, gave his all for the red vee.

One for him on another corner of Langtree, and one for Robes when he retires too, leaving a spare corner for future stars to aspire to.

Reading the testimonials from our former coaches reminds you that in his pomp he was not just a leader, a warrior and a loyal club-man but also a genuinely top-class player. Without doubt a St Helens hero of future folklore status. I'm so glad he got to enjoy that one last Grand Final win before hanging up his boots.

An absolutely top guy.

There is little consensus on what gives value to anyone's life : wealth, power, fame are all cited. However, my own personal yardstick has been the value one contributes to improving the lives of one's fellow man. Wellens brought pleasure to hundreds of thousands of people over two decades, and always with humility, humanity and honesty. A genuine role model for all the young people of St Helens and beyond.

I feel privileged to have been able to follow his entire career, and I wish him a return to good health and a long and fruitful post-playing life.

One of the clubs all time greats. In his heyday you couldn't beat him with the ball one on one. Outstanding under pressure. This fella might have scored over 1000 points for his club but the amount of points he prevented going in at our end of the pitch is no doubt many many times that.

Enjoy not getting smashed about for a living, Paul!

Tremendous career, a great ambassador for the club, the game and St Helens. and seems like a bloke you would happily have a pint and a chat with. All the best for the future. (I'm a Rhinos supporter)

A true legend and a real inspiration. I doubt we would have won last year's Grand Final without him on the field and his reaction at the end summed up the feelings of most of us.

Good luck for the future, Paul. I hope you are around our club for many years to come.

Paul Wellens retiring is making me feel old



I think that the relationship between the player and fan changes on the extreme as the fan starts to get older than the player(s)

Wellens is arguably the greatest player in Saints recent history. I say this not because of the talents he possessed but rather those he did not. No player has made more out of the limited natural gifts he was granted at birth. His success was primarily a product of superhuman willpower splashed with a fair degree of intelligence.

People forget that he could quite easily have gone the way of countless "promising but ultimately unsuitable" juniors and left the club circa age 21.

The only player who comes close in this fashion is James Roby.

Had Wellens a fraction of the physical attributes (speed, size, acceleration etc.) other players take for granted he would have smashed every record in the book.

Great player and even better person. Just a shame he didn't go out in glory at old trafford

He would, but would those skills have been as well developed had he had pace? Players with pace are like good looking women, they are usually not as good at most things and rely on the one attribute to get by.

Has this move been made now to free salary cap space? Is that ho the "live" cap works?

I think we have a clear winner of the 'analogy of the season' prize.

As he's retired, then yes, I think so (it seemed to work that way with Lance).

How many good looking women do you know?

Four. I've actually got 5 on my Facebook friends like but one of those doesn't know me.

Not a Saints fan but have full admiration for the guy.

The level of the abuse he's received on here from a minority of your 'supporters' was well over the top though.

Great player and at one time would have been THE first name on my teamsheet for any team, National or Superleague. Thanks for the memories Paul.Enjoy your retirement. (Giants fan)

You realise that every single woman you know will now ask you who the other three are, and then when they compare notes (as they will) to discover you've lied to them all, you'll be in SUCH trouble.

Disappointing to see his career end on these terms, but he's been a great ambassador for the game and will no doubt continue to be so.

Even as a Leeds fan I was cheering for you in last years GF - mainly because he deserved to lift the trophy. No doubt you'll be cheering for us for the same reason this year

Funnily enough, when in my younger days I used to try and chat up good looking women I did notice that they all seemed to have a good turn of pace.

+1

Cracking player in his time . Probably played a season and a half too long .

Regards , EW

That explains why they were proper slow in Crystals then.

Have a good retirement Wello. The epitome of a sportsman!!