Moe reminded me that we were not always cack also rans.

12 years ago we had this side that had just hammered Huddersfield 47-0 in the home playoff having won our first LLS.



What a side that was. I shudder to think the score that team would put on the current one.

Brett HODGSON
Joel MONAGHAN
Matt KING
Ryan ATKINS
Chris RILEY

Lee BRIERS
Richard MYLER

Adrian MORLEY
Michael MONAGHAN
Garreth CARVELL
Louis ANDERSON
Simon GRIX
Chris BRIDGE

Jon CLARKE
Ben HARRISON
Mike COOPER
David SOLOMONA

Which player in today's team would get in that side?

In football terms, we're Spurs.

Ashton for Riley possibly
Williams for Myler
Vaughan for the Cooper of that time.

How many of current St Helens team would get in it?

We also had Westwood to come into that side. And the following year we added Chris Hill and Trent Waterhouse. How the hell did we not win it?!

Makinson & Percival walk into the backs, Lomax or Welsby for Myler, Walmsley probably as good as any of those props, Batchelor or Matautia get into that second row and I'd have Knowles definitely over Bridge at 13, though I think it's fair to say Bridge wasn't a 13 anyway.

Percival gets in ahead of Atkins or king? Not a chance!

And Batchelor gets nowhere near that second row.

Close one, but I'd have him ahead of Atkins.

I like Batchelor. Good, solid player. Again, it's close with Grix, who was similarly solid.

That team list is making me dewy eyed simply due to the fact that Ratchford isn’t on it.

Grix was a bit more than solid and was a much more intelligent player than Batchelor. If the second row was Anderson and Westwood which it should’ve been then Matautia isn’t getting a game either.

From some of these comments I suspect that while that 2011 side was indeed a very good one, I think we can be a bit guilty of having a rose-tinted view of some of the individuals that were in that side.