Rogues Gallery wrote:
Yes his last ever performance was outstanding wasn't it, played off the park by Mickey McIlorum.
His biggest contribution in that game was tossing up before the kick off. How many times was he a losing Grand Final Captain?
There is no doubt that Cunningham has been a great player for Saints but IMO he was kept for one or two seasons too long.
That's your opinion and as a Goon, it really doesn't count for much where Cunningham is concerned.
Cunningham's value was (a) he could get over the line from 10m when all else failed (and due to our megga injuries, lots failed during the season) and (b) he talked on the pitch, rallied the troops, stopped them panicking and gave them direction. Few of our players had good games at the Grand Final. That isn't anything to do with Cunningham in particular. It's been the same now for four years. Whether Cunningham has been on the pitch or not, we've lost the Grand Final four times on the bounce. Makes no odds. But he did help us
get to Old Trafford, of that there is no doubt. When he came on the pitch at Knowsley Road during the playoffs he changed everything for the better. That was his real value.
However, now that Roby has progressed in his game and others have taken on more responsibility as old players have left over time, the chances are we will miss him less this season than had we let him go at the same time as our other established players. I think the club have managed the transition very well indeed. With luck the team will stay relatively fit during 2011 and if that is the case then I expect us to be challenging for honours again simply because we have a team which has the ability and commitment to be doing so.
