Keiron CUNNINGHAM [
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Thu August 23, 2007
by engage Super League
Source: www.superleague.co.ukVeteran hooker Keiron Cunningham has been given the role of leading St Helens out at Wembley in Saturday's Carnegie Challenge Cup final against Catalans Dragons.
The 30-year-old former Wales and Great Britain international, Saints' only survivor from their last Wembley triumph in 1997, has been chosen by coach Daniel Anderson to captain the team in the continuing absence of Paul Sculthorpe.
Scrum-half Sean Long is officially the club's vice-captain and led the side to their Grand Final triumph last October but Cunningham keeps the job after skippering them in their semi-final victory over Bradford last month.
"It was a surprise," said Cunningham.
"I just thought for the semi-final, we didn't want to put too much pressure on Sean with him coming back from injury.
"But Daniel asked me to do the job and Sean is very pleased for me. We pretty much do the job between us anyway but I'm excited at the prospect of leading the side out."Still arguably the best hooker in the game, the evergreen Cunningham will be appearing in his sixth Challenge Cup final - three behind record-holder Shaun Edwards - and will be looking for a sixth winners' medal.
There were no surprises when Anderson named his 20-man squad, with Sculthorpe the only injury absentee while recent signing Chris Flannery is ineligible.
Long, Jon Wilkin, Willie Talau, Paul Wellens and Maurie Fa'asavalu all return after resting knocks against Salford last Friday, and stand-off Leon Pryce is back after completing a three-match suspension.
Pryce was handed the ban for grabbing the testicles of Bradford prop Sam Burgess during the semi-final win over the Bulls, an act that led to him being found guilty of misconduct.
Reserve scrum-half Matty Smith and centre or winger Stephen Tyrer will both drop out when Anderson trims his squad to 18 on Friday and forwards Paul Clough and Bryn Hargreaves will contest the fourth spot on the bench.
"A couple didn't train yesterday but there are only bumps and bruises," said Anderson, who takes his squad to London on Thursday.
"The final place in the 17 will be determined by balance as much as anything. There's not really too much in it."Saints have 14 survivors from the team that beat Huddersfield 42-12 at Twickenham last year.
Apart from Clough and Hargreaves, Australian centre Matt Gidley is the only St Helens player without Challenge Cup final experience but he played for Newcastle Knights in the 2001 NRL Grand Final in Sydney.
"It's been a long time since I played in a final," said Gidley.
"It should be a great occasion."News source:
www.superleague.co.ukThu August 24, 2006
Source: www.leedsrugby.comCurrent Lance Todd trophy holder Kevin Sinfield is backing retiring Great Britain international Keiron Cunningham to shine in this Saturday's Powergen Challenge Cup Final.
Sinfield became only the ninth player to win the trophy from the losing side in last year's Final at the Millennium Stadium when his Leeds team lost to Hull and he believes the St Helens hooker could be the man to take the accolade this year.
"Having announced his retirement from Great Britain this week leaving him to concentrate on club commitments, I think it shows that Keiron is up for a big year with St Helens. He is an outstanding player and has been in great form for them this season, he is an experienced player and I would expect him to shine on the big stage at Twickenham.
"Paul Wellens has been outstanding for Saints also this season and I would expect him to push Keiron close," added Sinfield.
Sinfield, who has appeared in two Challenge Cup Finals, has not written off Huddersfield's chances though having suffered defeat to Jon Sharp's side in the semi final. He added,
"You can never write off any side in a one off Cup Final. Huddersfield will need Brad Drew and Chris Thorman to perform to their very best to stand a chance but Saints are deservedly favourites. They were able to rest their key players last weekend which shows they mean business and they have been the most consistent team all season in the engage Super League."News sent by:
www.leedsrugby.com
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 2008 engage English Super League
St Helens
12 games; 3 tries, 12 points.
[View] Round 1 [10 Feb 08] L 22-24 v Hull KR (A). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 2 [15 Feb 08] W 30-22 v Warrington (H). [BE]
[View] Round 3 [22 Feb 08] W 22-16 v Bradford (A). [DH] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 4 [02 Mar 08] W 34-30 v Wakefield (H). [DH]
[View] Round 5 [07 Mar 08] W 30-29 v Hull FC (H). [DH]
[View] Round 12 [25 Apr 08] W 30-22 v Warrington (A). [DH]
[View] Round 13 [04 May 08] W 57-16 v Wigan. [DH]
[View] Round 14 [17 May 08] W 28-10 v Les Catalans (H). [DH] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 15 [25 May 08] W 16-8 v Hull FC (A). [BE]
[View] Round 16 [06 Jun 08] W 52-10 v Hull KR (H). [DH]
[View] Round 17 [13 Jun 08] W 58-20 v Bradford (H). [DH]
[View] Round 18 [20 Jun 08] W 26-12 v Leeds (A). [DH]
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2007 World Club Challenge
St Helens
1 games; [View] WCC [23 Feb 07] W 18-14 v Broncos (H). [BE]
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2007 engage English Super League
St Helens
17 games; 2 tries, 8 points.
[View] Round 1 [09 Feb 07] L 6-14 v Harlequins (H). [DH]
[View] Round 2 [18 Feb 07] L 22-29 v Wakefield (A). [DH]
[View] Round 3 [04 Feb 07] W 18-10 v Huddersfield (A). [DH]
[View] Round 4 [02 Mar 07] W 34-22 v Bradford (H). [BE]
[View] Round 5 [09 Mar 07] W 48-12 v Warrington (A). [DH]
[View] Round 6 [17 Mar 07] L 12-24 v Hull FC (A). [DH]
[View] Round 7 [23 Mar 07] W 42-14 v Hull KR (H). [DH]
[View] Round 8 [06 Apr 07] W 32-14 v Wigan (A). [DH]
[View] Round 11 [21 Apr 07] L 19-38 v Leeds (A). [DH]
[View] Round 12 [29 Apr 07] W 44-6 v Harlequins (A). [DH]
[View] Round 14 [18 May 07] W 34-14 v Wakefield (H). [DH]
[View] Round 17 [17 Jun 07] W 40-0 v Hull KR (A). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 21 [20 Jul 07] W 19-12 v Wigan (H). [DH]
[View] Round 23 [11 Aug 07] L 0-21 v Les Catalans (A). [DH]
[View] Round 24 [17 Aug 07] W 32-20 v Salford City (A). [DH] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 27 [14 Sep 07] L 12-20 v Wigan (A). [DH]
[View] Finals Week 2 [28 Sep 07] W 10-8 v Leeds (H). [DH]
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2006 International Test Matches
Great Britain Lions
1 games; [View] XXXX Test [27 Jun 06] W 46-14 v New Zealand (H). [DH]
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2006 engage English Super League
St Helens
27 games; 6 tries, 24 points.
[View] Round 1 [11 Feb 06] W 40-16 v Harlequins (A). [BE]
[View] Round 2 [17 Feb 06] W 44-8 v Castleford (H). [BE]
[View] Round 3 [24 Feb 06] W 13-4 v Leeds (H). [DH]
[View] Round 4 [03 Mar 06] W 18-10 v Warrington (A). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 5 [12 Mar 06] W 18-16 v Huddersfield (A). [BE]
[View] Round 6 [17 Mar 06] W 38-16 v Bulls (H). [DH] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 7 [24 Mar 06] W 46-0 v Hull (A). [DH]
[View] Round 8 [07 Apr 06] W 16-6 v Harlequins (H). [BE]
[View] Round 9 [14 Apr 06] W 48-10 v Wigan (H). [BE]
[View] Round 10 [17 Apr 06] W 34-20 v Les Catalans (A). [DH]
[View] Round 11 [21 Apr 06] W 12-10 v Salford City (A). [DH]
[View] Round 12 [28 Apr 06] W 34-8 v Wakefield (H). [DH]
[View] Round 13 [06 May 06] L 16-19 v Huddersfield (A). [BE]
[View] Round 14 [12 May 06] W 34-22 v Warrington (H). [DH]
[View] Round 15 [27 May 06] W 28-14 v Wigan (A). [DH]
[View] Round 16 [08 Jun 06] L 26-27 v Hull FC (H). [DH]
[View] Round 17 [16 Jun 06] L 18-20 v Bradford (A). [DH]
[View] Round 18 [24 Jun 06] W 28-6 v Salford City (H). [DH]
[View] Round 19 [02 Jul 06] W 52-36 v Wakefield (A). [DH]
[View] Round 20 [07 Jul 06] W 52-26 v Les Catalans (H). [DH] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 21 [14 Jul 06] W 30-24 v Harlequins (H). [DH] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 22 [22 Jul 06] W 18-14 v Leeds (A). [DH]
[View] Round 23 [04 Aug 06] W 56-8 v Huddersfield (H). [DH] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 24 [13 Aug 06] W 72-4 v Castleford (A). [DH]
[View] Round 26 [01 Sep 06] W 34-12 v Wakefield (H). [DH]
[View] Finals Week Two [29 Sep 06] W 12-8 v Hull FC (H). [DH]
[View] Grand Final [14 Oct 06] W 26-4 v Hull FC (H). [DH] 4 Pts; 1t
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2005 Tri-Nations Test Series
Great Britain Lions
4 games; [View] Tri-Nations Match 3 [29 Oct 05] L 26-42 v New Zealand (H). [BE]
[View] Tri-Nations Match 4 [05 Nov 05] L 6-20 v Australia (H). [BE]
[View] Tri-Nations Match 5 [12 Nov 05] W 38-12 v New Zealand (H). [BE]
[View] Tri-Nations Match 6 [19 Nov 05] L 14-26 v Australia (H). [BE]
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2005 English Super League
St Helens
30 games; 12 tries, 48 points.
[View] Round 1 [11 Feb 05] W 40-18 v Widnes (H). [BE]
[View] Round 2 [18 Feb 05] L 18-30 v Rhinos (A). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 3 [25 Feb 05] W 34-24 v Huddersfield (H). [BE]
[View] Round 4 [04 Mar 05] W 18-16 v Warrington (A). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 5 [11 Mar 05] W 46-12 v Salford (H). [LK] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 6 [19 Mar 05] W 64-16 v Wildcats (H). [BE] 8 Pts; 2t
[View] Round 7 [25 Mar 05] L 20-22 v Wigan (A). [BE] 8 Pts; 2t
[View] Round 8 [28 Mar 05] W 34-27 v Bulls (H). [BE]
[View] Round 9 [08 Apr 05] W 60-16 v Leigh (H). [BE]
[View] Round 10 [16 Apr 05] W 30-20 v London (A). [BE]
[View] Round 11 [24 Apr 05] W 36-22 v Huddersfield (A). [BE]
[View] Round 12 [29 Apr 05] W 31-30 v Warrington (H). [BE]
[View] Round 13 [13 May 05] L 6-44 v Hull (A). [BE]
[View] Round 14 [21 May 05] W 29-22 v Widnes (A). [BE]
[View] Round 15 [27 May 05] W 38-24 v Rhinos (H). [BE]
[View] Round 16 [05 Jun 05] W 66-4 v Bulls (A). [BE]
[View] Round 17 [10 Jun 05] W 33-22 v Salford (A). [BE]
[View] Round 18 [17 Jun 05] D 28-28 v London (H). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 19 [03 Jul 05] W 38-26 v Wildcats (A). [BE]
[View] Round 20 [08 Jul 05] W 18-10 v Hull (H). [BE]
[View] Round 21 [15 Jul 05] W 40-18 v Wigan (H). [BE]
[View] Round 22 [22 Jul 05] W 27-20 v Leigh (A). [BE]
[View] Round 23 [05 Aug 05] W 30-10 v Warrington (A). [BE]
[View] Round 24 [12 Aug 05] W 60-4 v Wildcats (H). [BE]
[View] Round 25 [20 Aug 05] W 50-4 v London (H). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 26 [04 Sep 05] W 78-4 v Leigh (A). [BE] 4 Pts; 1t
[View] Round 27 [09 Sep 05] W 38-12 v Wigan (A). [BE] 8 Pts; 2t
[View] Round 28 [17 Sep 05] L 18-32 v Bulls (H). [BE]
[View] Qualifying Semi-Final [30 Sep 05] L 16-19 v Rhinos (H). [BE]
[View] Final Eliminator [07 Oct 05] L 18-23 v Bulls (H). [BE]
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Cunningham, Keiron
