St Helens appear to be on the eve of a new era as their great and dominant team comes towards an end.
This has been symbolised in the retirement of James Roby at the end of the 2023 Super League season with Warrington Wolves star Daryl Clark replacing the legendary number nine.
Clark has now arrived at St Helens for the first time as part of pre-season in what will be a major moral boost for the squad in the bitterly cold winter as they prepare for the new season. He was one of the last to arrive at the club due to his international commitments featuring again for England this time against Tonga.
He was joined by his now former Warrington Wolves teammate at England in the shape of Danny Walker who has replaced him as Warrington’s number nine. Clark has taken on Roby’s number nine shirt.
It is now on Saints to build towards a new era. A member of their previous era has spoken on the Sportsman about the previous era.
He explains what he feels underpinned the previous Saints success as they look to recapture it:
“Yeah, it’s incredible what the powers that be have been able to do in a salary caped sport. I think the playing group is the salary cap gets put there, the players are able to be made at their disposal, but it’s the type of players that are there.
“I think back to that Leeds side in 07, 8, 9, you look at the core group of that, they were based on young Leeds Rhinos Academy players; you look at St Helens, Tommy Makinson, Percival, Roby, Lomax, the list goes on and on in terms of local quality players that in the end, all internationals as well, in the end a lot of the ingredients came at the right time.
“The right coach came along, the key players, the quality players, the international players were all at the right age, they’d all experienced hurt and they’d all experienced loss so they were hungry.
“I think those were the key the key elements to what you’re seeing now. I think most people don’t realise, when you win one grand final, mentally you all you all fall a little bit in love with yourself because it’s job done.”
