My favourite ever game : Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:40 pm  

Having been fortunate to watch hundreds of Saints matches over the years I had a conversation with a very good friend in the pub on Wednesday night and we exchanged games and I came up with the best one I have ever witnessed.

Games mentioned where as follows

Saints vs Wigan (1997 Challenge Cup)
Saints vs Bradford (1996 Challenge Cup Final)
Saints vs Bradford (2000 Play Off Wide to West)
Saints vs Wigan (2000 Grand Final)
Saints vs Bradford (2002 Grand Final)
Saints vs Brisbane (2007 WCC)

My favourite game off alltime was Saints vs Brisbane 2001 and I remember the day clearly!

I woke up at 7am stupidly exicted about the day ahead. It was my mates 18th and we went to Liverpool for the day. I was hoping that doing this would take my mind off the game which I can honestly say it didnt. We where coming up against the best the Aussies could offer and I was eagerly antipating the game!

I found out what the team was and my confidence grew but I was abit worried that we had very little impact off the bench.

Wellens
Hoppe
Iro
Newlove
Sullivan
Martyn
Long
Nickle
Cunningham
Fairleigh
Joynt (c)
Shiels
Sculthorpe

Bench

Stewart
Jonkers
Stankevitch
Matautia

In the early stages of the game I felt comfortable and we where matching Brisbane apart from a few silly errors here and there. Berrigan scored but I still felt we could win the game. Paul Sculthorpe scored the equaliser after Darren Lockyer spilled the ball pressured by Longy. Phillip Lee scored a great try and we went in 12-6 down. I thought we played well in the First Half and looked we could compete with Brisbane. Second Half started disaterously as Brad Meyers crashed over. By this time I was think we where finished to be honest. I thought Brisbane would shut down the game and score a couple of more trys at least but boy how wrong I was!!! Longy brought us back with a well worked try and great pass from David Fairleigh and now we where coming back with a charge. The hail started coming down from the Bolton sky and my dad said "These bloody Aussies wont like this we will win son mark my words" I hate people saying things like "We will win" as I allways feel jinxed when somebody says it!!! I remember the next set well Longy put Newlove through the hole and as ever our Captain Chris Joynt was in support to dive in near to the sticks! I remember screaming at Gordan Tallis after he caught Joynt late after crashing in after he scored which I got a good old clip round the earhole from my mother for my chioce of language lol! Then we matched Brisbane set for set and we got a penalty with eight minutes remaining. I remember Vila Matautia crashing on to a short ball from Martyn and I thought he'd just sneaked over. At this time tears where coming in my eyes as I thought we were on the verge of something truly special. Scully slotted over the drop goal and the crowd went into raptures as you can expect. Longy sealed victory with a drop goal around two minutes from the end. Darren Lockyer hit the ball straight dead and my dad said "I told you son!!!"

That is my favourite ever game but be good to hear some of your experiences!

Re: My favourite ever game : Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:22 pm  

The 41-6 in '92 and both the Challenge Cup Final and clinching the title in '96. Nothing else, not even the WCC wins or Wide to West, could ever compare with the magnitude of the achievement that those 3 games represented at the time nor with the elation that they caused at the time.

Re: My favourite ever game : Sun Aug 26, 2012 11:51 am  

There is one particular match which stuck in my mind, I was a teenager at the time, think it might have been in the mid 70's.
Wigan v Saints at central park, score was something like Wigan 18 Saints 54, that game produced the massive Wigan Walk of all time.
After 50 mins thousand and thousands of wigan fans dissapeared from the ground and with 15 mins to go the West Stand was less than half full.
Don,t know if any of the older members can remember this one.

Re: My favourite ever game : Sun Aug 26, 2012 4:21 pm  

Memories............ All Memories

Re: My favourite ever game : Sun Aug 26, 2012 4:30 pm  

Two games for me, the 96 challenge cup final, when we finally emerged from the pies shadow and earlier we could win. What a great atmosphere, probably the best for any game that I have attended. And the 2001 WCC v Brisbane, fie no other reason than it was the last game my dad knew about, he listened to it from his bed in willow brook hospice just a couple of weeks behore he died, and even though he knew he only had days to live, he was delighted that saints were the best team in the world. I went to the game and for some reason got the start time wrong and was in the reebok an hour earlier than I should have been. Chuffing hell it was chilly, by the time the game started I was suffering from pneumonia!

Re: My favourite ever game : Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:31 pm  

So many great memories

Being mascot in 1987 when we beat Leigh 23-14 and tony burke scored 2 tried
41-6 in 1991/2 ish
McCrae's first home win over wigan in 96 - 35016 or something similar?
Wembley 96
First Grand Final beating Bratfut - what an entrance to Nessendorma!
WCC 2001
Millenium 2004
Watching the crowning of our best ever team - 2006 vintage and beating Hull at OT
75-0 and also beating Wire 80-0 in a regal trophy game
And Wide to West

Makes you realise over the past 20 years had some great times as a Saints fan.

Re: My favourite ever game : Sun Aug 26, 2012 7:27 pm  

As an RL fan.
Being at the game in Melbourne in 1992 when we beat the Aussies 33 - 10. The famous Wigan six pack.(Skerrett, Dermott, Platt, McGinty, Betts and Clarke)

As a Wigan fan Wembley 1989. Murphy bragging pre game that Wigan had never scored a try v Saints at Wembley. Half way through the game his head in hands was a sight to behold.

Then there was the game at KR when Saints were miles in front only for Luke Robinson (and I think Kevin Brown) score hat tricks and Wigan to go on and win. IIRC the game changed on a penalty that failed to find touch by Sean Long.

Probably the finest display you have ever seen at KR was that by Wigan in the Challenge Cup replay after Goulding had hit the post with a drop goal in the first game at CP. Edwards was fuming after that first game. Almost all the replay game shown live on BBC because of England football fans rioting in Dublin at the game v Ireland and it being abandoned.

Offiah and Robinson ran riot at KR.

Re: My favourite ever game : Sun Aug 26, 2012 7:40 pm  

Fatbelly wrote:

Memories............ All Memories

We're a club with a rich, long and ever ongoing trail of unparalleled success, glory and achievement. We like to revel in and reminisce about it. We have no need to develop the same collective amnesia and find other non-RL related things to have to talk about to blot out the embarassing memories of an endless history of mediocrity and pointlessness as your sorry, sad, pathetic, laughable excuse for a club does you know. I know that may come as a bit of a shock to you in your cave with your fingers in your ears going "la la la la la" to yourself and I heartily apologise for any distress that the revelation may cause you.

Re: My favourite ever game : Sun Aug 26, 2012 7:45 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

As an RL fan.
Being at the game in Melbourne in 1992 when we beat the Aussies 33 - 10. The famous Wigan six pack.(Skerrett, Dermott, Platt, McGinty, Betts and Clarke)

As a Wigan fan Wembley 1989. Murphy bragging pre game that Wigan had never scored a try v Saints at Wembley. Half way through the game his head in hands was a sight to behold.

Then there was the game at KR when Saints were miles in front only for Luke Robinson (and I think Kevin Brown) score hat tricks and Wigan to go on and win. IIRC the game changed on a penalty that failed to find touch by Sean Long.

Probably the finest display you have ever seen at KR was that by Wigan in the Challenge Cup replay after Goulding had hit the post with a drop goal in the first game at CP. Edwards was fuming after that first game. Almost all the replay game shown live on BBC because of England football fans rioting in Dublin at the game v Ireland and it being abandoned.

Offiah and Robinson ran riot at KR.

And let the sleeping commence. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

Re: My favourite ever game : Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:45 pm  

Northampton Saint, its ironic given what you said to Fatbelly, that you choose to react so immaturely to Rogues Gallery...