The 2014 Super League Grand Final seems destined to be remembered for the fist of Ben Flower, but a fair few in St Helens will put their triumph down to the hand of fate. The players have maintained an inner belief all season that this could finally be their year, despite the loss of three key players to serious injuries, and that was reinforced when they arrived at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon to see what had been printed on the back of their warm-up tops.
Mike Rush, the Saints stalwart who is now the chief executive, decided last Monday that it would be fitting to remember Steve Prescott, the former full-back who died last November after an heroic battle against a rare form of stomach cancer, and who had already been recognised by the wider game with the renaming of the Man of Steel award in his honour.
He ordered a fresh set of tracksuit tops with the name Prescott and his old number, 1. He let the backroom staff know on Thursday but the plan was kept secret from the players until hours before the game.
Paul Wellens, the Saints captain who knew Prescott well, confirmed the impact that had made. “Steve taught us that when things get tough you fight and never give up,” he said. “He’s been a huge inspiration to this group of players.”
When Flower was dismissed so early in the match, that belief grew. “Before the game we talked about having to weather Wigan’s storm,” said Wellens. “We knew they start strong. We spoke about being strong, creating an upbeat, aggressive type of game. I thought we did that. I saw something in the boys’ eyes. One brain snap from a player and obviously we benefited from it. The aggression was something I have never experienced in a game before. I was glad I was at full-back to be honest.”
Yet it was Wellens who was first in to react to Flower’s attack on Lance Hohaia. He might be intelligent, affable, all the things you would want in an ambassador for rugby league and the town of St Helens – very like Prescott, in fact. But he has always played with the sort of courage verging on masochism that can often be taken for granted in this game.
Afterwards he confirmed that he had been “lying through my backside” when insisting in the build-up that the experience of suffering five consecutive Grand Final defeats from 2007-11 would not be playing on his mind on Saturday night. “It’s haunted me. There has been a dull ache in my gut for many years. To win again, in the manner we have, was the best experience of my whole career.”
Wellens, who will be 35 in February and has made almost 450 appearances, will head for Australia this week as a member of the England coaching staff for the Four Nations series, but he is not ready to retire quite yet. He gets on so well with the Saints chairman, Eamonn McManus, that they tend to agree his contract extensions over a cup of tea.
Saints will definitely have a new coach next year, and all the indications are that Keiron Cunningham is ready to step up to succeed Nathan Brown, who is returning to Australia for family reasons, after working alongside him for the last two seasons. Brown pointed out afterwards, politely but with meaning, that for all the fuss over the players who have come through the Wigan junior system, led by the exciting wing Joe Burgess, Saints have a raft of talent themselves – among whom the forwards Greg Richards and Luke Thompson were especially impressive on Saturday.
“This could be a catalyst for us moving forward,” said Wellens, relishing the prospect of a World Club Challenge against South Sydney at Langtree Park next February – which will be the first time Saints have faced Australian opposition since they beat Brisbane Broncos at Bolton in 2007. “This group is one that is going to grow, the young players will get better, we’ll get the guys who have been injured back into the side, and then who knows what could happen?”
