New St Helens boss Paul Wellens has spoken to Keiron Cunningham about potential pitfalls of his dream job - to help make sure he doesn’t fall the same way as his big pal.
Wellens stepped up from assistant in October to replace NRL-bound Kristian Woolf at the four-peat Super League champions. The ex-Great Britain full-back played 495 games for his hometown club, winning every honour before retiring in 2015 and joining their staff, initially as one of Cunningham’s assistants. Saints legend Cunningham - who has his own statue at their ground - had been a club No2 himself before taking the top job in 2014 aged just 37.
But he was sacked two-and-a-half years later after a poor run of form saw fans who once idolised him calling for his head. It’s understandable why Saints icon Wellens, who won trophies galore alongside the irrepressible hooker, might have that linger in his own mind. But the 42-year-old revealed: “I’ve caught up with Keiron a few times recently.
