Rugby League: Bench was key to our big win - Pryce

Aug 27 2007 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

LEON PRYCE believes the strength of St Helens’ bench was the key to their second successive Carnegie Challenge Cup triumph.

The first final at the new Wembley was in the balance after a tense and scoreless opening half-hour but a flurry of activity culminating in winger Ade Gardner’s injury-time try delivered a cruel blow to the Catalans Dragons.

It paved the way for a one-sided second half, with Gardner putting the seal on a 30-8 victory with his second try, just before the end.

But Pryce pinpointed the first-half injury time score as the pivotal moment.

“For the first 20 minutes it was a bit like a game of chess but, after that, James Roby made a massive difference for us and James Graham made a massive difference,” said Pryce.

“Any try just before half-time is crucial because the other team seem to go in with their heads well down.

“I think we knew we could take control from there. We had just started to get the upper hand and I’d say our bench was a little bit stronger.”

Roby, whose only appearance at the old Wembley was in the schoolboys curtain-raiser to the 1997 final, broke away from dummy half and beat four defenders to earn the distinction of scoring the first try at the renovated national stadium.

“I just ran from dummy half and broke the first line of defence,” he explained. “I could see the line so I just kept my head down and, luckily, I got past the full-back and someone fell off me.

“I was made up with that. I can now say I scored the first try at Wembley and I’ve got that with me for the rest of my life.”

Another substitute, Paul Clough, just 19, also got in on the scoring act while full-back Paul Wellens grabbed his 23rd of the season in an accomplished display that earned him a share of the man-of-the-match award as the French club wilted in the 28-degree heat.

Stand-off Pryce, who had a hand in three of his side’s five tries in an impressive return from a three-match suspension, tied with Wellens in the voting for the prestigious Lance Todd Trophy, which will be shared for only the second time in history.

“I was a bit surprised,” said Pryce. “I thought I probably needed to do a little bit more to win it. I didn’t think there was anyone who particularly stood out. I thought it was a team effort.

“There’s nothing more prestigious than playing at Wembley and, to get the man of the match, it doesn’t get any better than that. It’s the best feeling you can get. Just to play at Wembley is my dream come true.

“I’ve watched rugby since I was nine or 10 and to play on the same stage as my heroes is something I’ve dreamed of. I could retire happy now.”

Pryce and Wellens, the reigning Man of Steel, now join the select band of players who have won both the Lance Todd and the Harry Sunderland Trophy, which goes to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final.

“I think, if anything, it makes it even more special to share it with one of your team-mates,” said Wellens.

“Leon has been fantastic for us, considering he hasn’t played for the last three weeks due to suspension, and to come out and put in a performance like that speaks volumes for the man.”

Wembley has undergone a dramatic transformation in the eight years since it last staged the Challenge Cup but some things never change.

St Helens, who have yet to lose a final under coach Daniel Anderson, matched their back-to-back wins at the national stadium in 1996 and 1997 and have now won the famous knockout trophy 11 times, four of their successes coming in the last seven years. While the 20,000 Saints fans celebrated in familiar mode, the neutrals in the sun-kissed crowd of 84,241 were left to appreciate the occasion as the Cup final came home.

Rugby league fans caroused in Cardiff, made merry in Murrayfield and even tackled tradition at Twickenham but this was Wembley, where all the rugby league clan come together to celebrate, even when the match itself fails to live up to the occasion.

“It was a great atmosphere but, if you get a derby game – Leeds-Bradford or Wigan-Saints – it will be even louder than it was today and it was loud,” said Pryce.