Life is a tragedy when seen in close up and a comedy in long shot.

Moe reminded me that we were not always cack also rans.

12 years ago we had this side that had just hammered Huddersfield 47-0 in the home playoff having won our first LLS.



What a side that was. I shudder to think the score that team would put on the current one.

Brett HODGSON
Joel MONAGHAN
Matt KING
Ryan ATKINS
Chris RILEY

Lee BRIERS
Richard MYLER

Adrian MORLEY
Michael MONAGHAN
Garreth CARVELL
Louis ANDERSON
Simon GRIX
Chris BRIDGE

Jon CLARKE
Ben HARRISON
Mike COOPER
David SOLOMONA

Which player in today's team would get in that side?

In football terms, we're Spurs.

Ashton for Riley possibly
Williams for Myler
Vaughan for the Cooper of that time.

How many of current St Helens team would get in it?

We also had Westwood to come into that side. And the following year we added Chris Hill and Trent Waterhouse. How the hell did we not win it?!

Makinson & Percival walk into the backs, Lomax or Welsby for Myler, Walmsley probably as good as any of those props, Batchelor or Matautia get into that second row and I'd have Knowles definitely over Bridge at 13, though I think it's fair to say Bridge wasn't a 13 anyway.

Percival gets in ahead of Atkins or king? Not a chance!

And Batchelor gets nowhere near that second row.

Close one, but I'd have him ahead of Atkins.

I like Batchelor. Good, solid player. Again, it's close with Grix, who was similarly solid.

That team list is making me dewy eyed simply due to the fact that Ratchford isn’t on it.

Grix was a bit more than solid and was a much more intelligent player than Batchelor. If the second row was Anderson and Westwood which it should’ve been then Matautia isn’t getting a game either.

From some of these comments I suspect that while that 2011 side was indeed a very good one, I think we can be a bit guilty of having a rose-tinted view of some of the individuals that were in that side.

I forgot Saints are the only team to deal with injuries/bans/adversity in general. Spare me! You'd think you beat us with old creepy Eamon at full back and Johnny Vegas in the forwards.

Maybe that team was greater than the sum of its parts.

Does that 2011 team hold the record for the best points difference at the end of a regular super league season? Think it was something like +690! That team was a bit more than 'very good'.

Think it was F 1072 A 401 over 27 games.

We were 12 league points ahead of Leeds who finished 5th.

And yet, they still didn't win either of the big prizes.

Perhaps a case of flat track bullies - they were the Graeme Hick of RL?...

Maybe but I'd take that season over any of the last 10.

I think I saw somewhere that on a 'points per game' basis we were 3rd behind a Saints team of the mid 2000's and Bradford team of the early 2000's? Something like that, anyway.

What I'd give to see[i any[/i side perform some champagne rugby these days.

Undoubtedly the most talented group of players in SL, orchestrated by a coach at the peak of his powers.

And we still didn't win the GF - and therein lies the problem. It's no good arguing whether Saints 2023 would beat Wire 2011, because Wire 2011 didn't deliver when it counted.

We would have done, had Waterhouse held that pass 5 m out.

...and if my Auntie had balls, she'd be my uncle

The long & the short of it is that we blew it, and until we win it, we're not a "big club"

Not sure this is mutually exclusive anymore

Once again we look at least one if not two props short of a championship.

In all we have 3 areas that concern me.

1… The prop shortage yet again that I mentioned and the quality, looks like we’re going to rely on one man again, Vaughan.

2… Drinkwater. Initially I was thrilled with his signature, but he has been positively look warm drink water.
To put full game playing role into his hands is concerning.

3… Goal kicks. I’m a big Ratchford fan, but he’s not so evergreen, and if he is fitted in like a modern day Boitica, where is he going to play?
If he isn’t going to play, who’s going to kick?