Jon Wilkin - Kieron Cunningham’s send off a big deal
If St Helens are going to lift the Super League trophy on Saturday evening, then you would expect Kieron Cunningham is going to play a huge part.
The 33-year-old hooker, who is one of the all-time greats of rugby league, will play his final game for the Saints this weekend as he has decided to call it a day on a 17-year career, and you can guarantee he will want to go out all guns blazing.
He signed off at Knowsley Road last weekend by notching the final try to be scored at the famous stadium in the win over Huddersfield, where he was instrumental in turning the game on its head after the Giants had took an early lead. Some were calling it the best 40 minutes he had played throughout his career.
The aura which surrounds Cunningham where St Helens are concerned suggests that more of the same could follow this weekend.
However, the Saints don’t have a good record when it comes to giving influential players a fitting send off. Most of the talk surrounding last year’s final was centered around Sean Long’s final game for the club, but the disappointing defeat against Leeds meant Long snuck out the back door, rather than leaving in a blaze of glory.
The same happened to Paul Sculthorpe the season before when Leeds once again denied a Saints’ legend their fairy tale ending. It's Wigan this season who have the chance to deny Cunningham his perfect farewell - a match that will also be Mick Potter's last as coach – and second row Jon Wilkin claims it is about time St Helens gave one of their legendary players the send-off they deserve.
"We are trying to get good send-offs for everybody - we try to do that every year,” he told the club’s website.
“It will be Kieron and Mick this year and it is a big deal for us.”
Despite the attention the whole Cunningham farewell is attracting, Wilkin believes it will not distract the players on what they need to do on the pitch.
"It is not our focus. Our focus coming into the game is to be well prepared and the game will take care of itself. We can't speculate how it will go but we can do our best to prepare for it. We will do whatever it takes to be sharp and make sure we do the right things to put in a good performance on Saturday."
It will be an emotional day for Cunningham on Saturday, but judging by what we’ve seen over the past 17 years he will not let that affect his performance as St Helens look to end their Grand Final losing streak of three seasons.
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