The bronze statue of St Helens’ illustrious former hooker Keiron Cunningham pierces the skyline above the home of the reigning Super League champions. It is the first thing you see when you get within eyeshot of the Totally Wicked Stadium and that is by design. There was never supposed to be another player like Cunningham, who won every trophy possible at St Helens and made almost 500 appearances for his hometown club.
It is why he was the obvious choice to be the player immortalised outside the Saints’ new stadium when they moved here a decade or so ago. Nobody could have expected his successor in the hooking role to even come close to matching what the Welshman did in a St Helens shirt but at this rate, it will not be too long before there’s a bronze version of James Roby standing next to the man he grew up idolising.
