Jon Wilkin says Super League stars are “the most exciting young duo in British sport”

In the view of former St Helens player and now Sky Sports pundit Jon Wilkin, this St Helens side is one of the greatest British sporting teams of recent times.

He emphasised this when speaking on Sky Sports yesterday as he outlined the importance of St Helens World Club Challenge win over Penrith Panthers:

“It was a massive result for St Helens, it was an incredible performance from a team I think is one of the best sporting teams this country has seen for some time and to beat the Penrith Panthers, the Champions of Australia who have been so dominant, to go and beat them with limited resources from Super League.

“It is incredible and it is an amazing start to the year.

“It means so much for rugby league, it needs a spotlight on it and it is a big year for the sport.”

This came as he suggested Super League fans are lucky to see this team and that Lewis Dodd and Jack Welsby “is the most exciting young duo in British sport”:

“They’re incredibly lucky, the people who see this team are privilege, it is just a joy.

“Lewis Dodd is one of the biggest stars in the game, I am talking the NRL as well. Him and Jack Welsby is the most exciting young duo in British sport.

“What they’re doing with the lack of resources, they don’t have the millions of dollars in their bank accounts like their counterparts.

“They have gone over to Australia, they don’t wear a Rolex, they don’t drive lamber, they’ve gone over to Australia and given it to Penrith, to Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai who are two of the best halfbacks in the world.

“Jack Welsby is one of the best in the world. Lewis Dodd’s performance was breath taking.”

This came as Wilkin slammed the NRL for their disrespect of Super League:

“I think the NRL is quite disrespectful of Super League in general, but from the World Club Challenge, you can’t deny the quality of our top tier but the question remains: how do we improve our competition from the bottom up, but St Helens lead the way. They represented our competition really well.”