James Roby looks to make history as Saints go marching for four in a row

James Roby will lead his St Helens side out for a fourth consecutive season in the Betfred Super League Grand Final on Saturday evening at Old Trafford.

Only one team has won four or more titles on the bounce in Rugby League history and that’s going back to the 1990’s with a very famous Wigan Warriors side, but this is St Helen’s chance to rewrite their own chapter of history.

With this being the 25th Grand Final since the Super League era began back in 1996, it would be quite fitting that the very first team to win the revamped competition, wins it again on its quarter of a century anniversary whilst also becoming the first team to win four in a row in the new era.

With captain Roby taking part in his 11th Grand Final this weekend, he’s well aware of what comes along with the pressure, excitement and every other possible emotion involved with a Grand Final.

Roby was set to retire at the end of the season but following talks with the club and Head Coach Kristian Woolf, it was announced a few weeks ago that Roby had signed a one-year contract extension, extending his playing career to 20 years – an incredible feat.

What’s even more frightening is the level Roby is still performing at as he prepares to lead his side out in hope of lifting the Grand final trophy once again for a fourth time in a row.

Speaking to Prost International during Thursday’s media event at Old Trafford, Roby said:

“You never get rid of the excitement, the nerves and the anticipation. It’s such a big game.

“It’s all everybody talks about as soon as you win that Semi-Final, everyone’s going mental for tickets and everyone’s saying ‘I’m going to the game’ so there’s a real buzz. It does probably help being a part of it previously, but they never get boring, they’re still a real privilege to be a part of.

“Lucky for us we’ve been involved a few times now and we want to get that four in the row. It’s dangling there but we’ve got to get the balance between just going out there and performing and doing what we do best.”

Roby who is an experienced pro, knows exactly what it takes to win these kinds of games and was full of praise for the work done over the years, particularity  behind the scenes.

The hooker continued:

“We’ve been very consistent across probably the last five years. We was very close to winning silverware previous to that, getting beat in Semi Finals on occasions so I suppose it’s credit to a lot of the players.

“We’ve got a lot of mental resilience, physical resilience and how we go about our business day-to-day. What’s happened over the past few years has we’ve just seemed to get the right people involved, certainly on a player perspective but also the staff and even the way the club is run.

“We’re a small working-class town and everyone’s sort of cut from the same cloth so what we do is go out there and work our socks off for each other and it seems to work.

“So consistency is the pinnacle in my opinion and nothing beats it and that’s what we pride ourselves on and hopefully we can maintain that one more time.”

Speaking on the possibility of creating history with a fourth straight title win in a row, the captain wants his side to acknowledge the chance to break the record without allowing themselves to get carried away with being called the ‘best team ever’.

The 36-year-old added:

“We are aware it’s there (the record) and it’s on the back of everyone’s mind but at the same time, you’ve got to get the balance, approach the game in the right manner by getting the result on Saturday night ,but then it’s the added importance of it being a grand final, being four in a row, and then do you get considered as the ‘best team ever’?

“We’re aware of that as players, we see social media so it’s like a carrot dangling but we don’t want to reach for it just yet. But at the same time,  I couldn’t think of anything better than doing it, being a part of a time that wins four in a row and something that’s never been done.

“It’s hard to compare eras so it’s a hard one (best team ever debate). I’ve played in this era now and the era when I was very young so it’s hard to compare. There’s so much hard work gone in over the years and not just those four years, it’s been five, six, seven, eight etc so doing something like that would be so special and no one’s done it before… so dare to dream”

Finally, after delaying his retirement, Roby spoke on his personal feelings ahead of the final given his decision that this won’t be the last time he will appear in a St Helens shirt.

He concluded:

“I think if this was my last game there would be a lot of press around it and a lot of questions about the ‘fairy-tale ending’ so it probably does make it a little more relaxing for me personally.

“But there’s no getting around it, it’s still a massive game and a massive occasion that I want to win at all costs.”

With Roby and his side on the brink of something truly remarkable and never seen before, he may well be writing his name into the history books on Saturday evening as captain of the greatest team, certainly the Super League era has ever seen.

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