It has often been debated in recent years how St Helens, Super League’s ultra dominant team, would do in the NRL.
Some suggested they’d maybe make the top four, others said they would scrape top eight and others argued that they would struggle at the bottom.
But their brilliant win over Penrith Panthers in Australia in the World Club Challenge has changed all of that.
It now seems the Saints are getting the respect they deserve. Penrith boss Ivan Cleary suggested that they would do well in the NRL and maybe even win it and former Penrith player, Cronulla Sharks Grand Final winner and Australian international Luke Lewis has echoed these thoughts on ABC Sport as it was suggested by the present:
“The NRL is a much stronger comp than the English Super League but here’s a mob who have won four in a row, faced a lot of adversity coming in these conditions today and yet despite the fact Penrith sent it to extra time they found a way to win.”
To this, Lewis said: “Everyone that talks about St Helens, you know how good there are. They’ve been there for such a long time, they’ve played so many Grand Finals.
“This team would do something special in the NRL, if they were to play week in week out, get used to the environments and how the game was played. They’ve got class all over the field but I find the mixture of the group is excellent. They’ve got so many young guys coming through, beautiful amount of sort-of middle-aged guys and a whole heap of experience.
“It’s just a real well-balanced side, but this side could do some seriously special things in the NRL.”
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