Wellens salute for RL hotbed

OLDHAM'S Challenge Cup tie at St Helens will bring memories flooding back for Saints' skipper Paul Wellens.

The 32-year-old full-back recalls going to Knowsley Road and Watersheddings as a boy to watch Oldham and his beloved Saints battle it out on the road to Wembley in front of full-house crowds.

The last of those Watersheddings occasions was in 1987 when his dad took him to the old ground to watch his heroes beat Oldham 24-14 in round two after the hosts had rocked mighty Wigan 10-8, also at home, in round one.

Saints made it to the Twin Towers that year, as they had done after knocking out Oldham in 1976 and 1978 and as they would do again in 2002 with a 40-6 fourth-round win in a tie played at Stalybridge.

"In St Helens we still regard Oldham as a fantastic rugby league town," said Wellens.

"You've only to look at the amateur set-up there and the number of top players the town has produced and is continuing to produce.”

But words of comfort for Oldham will be the last thing on his mind tonight.

"We need to be professional – and we need to be ruthless," said Wellens.



MIKE Rush, acting head coach at St Helens, will need no introducing to several members of the Oldham squad.

John Clough, Liam Gilchrist, Miles Greenwood, Bruce Johnson and Mark McCully all started out on their professional rugby league careers as young hopefuls at the old Knowsley Road ground.

“I remember them well,” said Rush, who was the Saints’ youth development manager for years and who will return to that role when current Huddersfield Giants boss Nathan Brown moves in as head coach at Langtree Park next season.