STS NAME SQUAD FOR 2009

[wiggydoran]

Saints have named the squad for next year....

Take a look on the superleague web site for deatails.

They have good players from 1-17 but after that it is all kids.

If they have 5 injuries at once this season i think they will struggle.

[MrDave]

1. Paul Wellens
2. Ade Gardner
3. Matt Gidley
4.
5. Francis Meli
6. Leon Pryce
7. Sean Long
8. Jason Cayless
9. Keiron Cunningham
10. James Graham
11. Lee Gilmour
12. Jon Wilkin
13. Chris Flannery
14. James Roby
15. Bryn Hargreaves
16. Tony Puletua
17. Paul Clough
18. Kyle Eastmond
19. Chris Dean
20. Gareth Frodsham
21. Gary Wheeler
22. Shaun Magennis
23. Maurie Fa’asavalu
24. Andrew Dixon
25. Jamie Foster
26. Andy Yates
27. Jamie Ellis
28. Matthew Ashurst
29. Tom Armstrong
30. Jonny Lomax
31. Jacob Emmitt

Seems like they could still be waiting to sign another centre other than that pretty much same as last year. Mick Potter showing some faith in the younger players. Like said above if they get a few long term injuries it might test those younger players.

[nathan_rugby]

Mate of mine said that Meli will be centre next year.

[wall_of_voodoo]

Mate of mine said that Meli will be centre next year.

Considering most st helens fans dislike him with a vengeance this would be considered a very poor move bearing in mind his average pace, poor positional play and pathetic handling of any kicks placed his way.

[wall_of_voodoo]

Seven youngsters have been promoted from Saints’ academy system, taking the overall total of players in the squad who have come through the club’s ranks to a remarkable 18.

Six players have either been released or loaned out and the only new signing is Kiwi Tony Puletua from Penrith Panthers.

Saints chairman Eamonn McManus said: “This reflects the continuing policy of the club to evolve primarily from within, to invest heavily in our youth system and to give the best of them an opportunity at the right time.

McManus believes other clubs need to adopt St Helens’ philosophy in order to help raise the standards of the national team after England’s miserable failure at the World Cup.

“We have always had a self imposed maximum of five overseas players, regardless of the rule which attempts to make this compulsory for all by 2011,” he said.

“I would urge every other club to adopt this approach as soon as possible and not wait until it is compulsory if we are ever to have a national side that can represent our sport with the degree of success to which it is capable, but which we have currently badly fallen short of.”

Which reads "salary cap biting at knowsley road - cutbacks forced onto depleted team, st helens boss fearing an end to their domination expects other teams to voluntarily withdraw from big name signings and signing players from overseas to prevent st helen's slump from appearing more catastrophic than it will be"

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/st ... -22314077/

[over the hill]

i bet the £310,000 loss they made in 2007 has helped to make the decision to sign up their juniors much easier to make!



by the way, how have they managed to keep this out of the mainstream rugby press? if it was wigan who made this loss after making both major finals it woud be front page news

[medlocke]

i bet the £310,000 loss they made in 2007 has helped to make the decision to sign up their juniors much easier to make!



by the way, how have they managed to keep this out of the mainstream rugby press? if it was wigan who made this loss after making both major finals it woud be front page news

Maybe the St Helens club aren't as important as they think they are in the world of sport

[over the hill]