King James I
ROBY ON 532 NOT OUT
JAMES ROBY wrote another record-breaking chapter into his glorious St Helens career.
The iconic Saints captain made his 532nd appearance for his hometown team – a club record which took him past Kel Coslett.
Modest Roby, a one-club man, said: “I’ve got this far by approaching things with the same mindset and I just tried to do that again.
“I knew it was going to be a special occasion and it was great. I’ll remember this day for a long time.”
Serial winner Roby was given a guard of honour by both teams and a number of St Helens legends before the win against Salford.
At the end, his team-mates held a huge banner which simply read: “James Roby – The greatest of all time.”
The much-loved hooker will retire at the end of the season and Saints boss Paul Wellens said: “Robes is the greatest player in Super League history and that is undeniable. He won Man of Steel in 2007 and I reckon he’s had 10 seasons better than that.
“That just gives an indication of how incredible he is. His brilliance has almost become normality over a 20year period.”
Saints fans chanted for “one more year” after Roby’s effervescent 75-minute display as the defending champions hit back from 12-0 down to win comfortably.
Wellens added with a smile: “We had a conversation and at no point did I try and persuade him to do another year! I think his mind is firmly made up and it’s a smart decision.
“I haven’t met a more mentally resilient person in all my time in the game. We want to send him off as a champion later this year.” Salford have emerged as a growing force under Paul Rowley and they stormed into a 12-0 lead inside the opening quarter.
First, King Vuniyayawa had acres of space to send 2022 Man of Steel Brodie Croft racing clear to score.
Then full-back Ryan Brierley swapped passes with Kallum Watkins and burst through for a second before Saints’ gradually made their class pay.
James Bell dived over before the break and close-range second-half scores from Curtis Sironen, Jonny Lomax, Tommy Makinson and Joe Batchelor saw Saints home.
Red Devils boss Paul Rowley said: “Our discipline with the ball in the second half was really poor and Saints beat us up in the second half, which was disappointing.”
Saints legend Keiron Cunningham is immortalised in a statue outside the Totally Wicked Stadium and Rowley added: “I’m sure they are planning to put up a statue of James next to Keiron.”