2009 St Helens R.F.C. season

St. Helens entered their 137th year in 2009, and were in contention for of rugby league's Super League and Carnegie Challenge Cup competitions. == 2009 season == === Super League XIV === ==== Round 1 ==== Saints came back from a 14-nil deficit early in the second half to beat Warrington Wolves 26-14. ==== Round 2 ==== Saints turned over the much improved from last season Huddersfield Giants 23-6. ==== Round 3 ==== Hull Kingston Rovers inflicted Saints' first defeat of the season, with Michael Dobson scoring a late penalty goal to give the Robins a 20-19 win. ==== Round 4 ==== Saints scraped past newly promoted Crusaders in the lowest scoring game in the Super League; Tom Armstrong scoring the only try in a 4-nil win. ==== Round 5 ==== Saints brushed aside the Salford City Reds by 38 points to 12. ==== Round 6 ==== Saints edged a heated epic with Leeds Rhinos - winning 26-18 at Knowsley Road. ==== Round 7 ==== Saints hammered Wakefield Trinity Wildcats by 42-18. The Wildcats are in mourning for reserve player Leon Walker, who died in a reserve game. ==== Round 8 ==== Saints scraped past a fired up Wigan Warriors outfit, winning 19-12 after being 6-nil and 12-6 down. ==== Round 9 ==== Saints bounced Hull F.C. in the second game of the Easter period by 44-22. ==== Round 10 ==== Saints became the first team in Super League XIV to surpass 60 points, winning 68-22 at Castleford. Tony Puletua scored 4 tries but the game is halted for 30 minutes as Joe Westerman suffered a serious head injury. ==== Round 11 ==== Saints suffered only their second defeat of the season as Bradford come back to win 34-30. ==== Round 12 ==== Saints produced arguably their worst display of the campaign, losing 38-18 to arch rivals Wigan at the Magic Weekend. ==== Round 13 ==== Saints defeated Catalans Dragons for the second time in a week, by coming back from 22-10 down to win 32-28 to move them back to the top of the table. ==== Round 14 ==== Saints survived a second-half rally from Harlequins RL to win 22-12. ==== Round 15 ==== Saints eased past the challenge of Hull FC, winning 30-6. ==== Round 16 ==== Saints thrashed Castleford for a second time this season in a 50 points to 10 success. ==== Round 17 ==== Saints set a new record of 16 consecutive away wins in Super League after cantering to a 44-18 success over Bradford Bulls. ==== Round 18 ==== Saints shut out the Celtic Crusaders for a second time in the season - in a 30-0 win. ==== Round 19 ==== Saints lost their fourth game of the season in a shock 20-10 loss to Salford. ==== Round 20 ==== Saints beat neighbours Warrington for the second time in the league, in another fantastic game, this time by a margin of 40-26. ==== Round 21 ==== Despite outscoring their opponents Wakefield by 5 tries to four, Saints crash to their second defeat in three games, losing 22-20. ==== Round 22 ==== Saints bounce back from two defeats in three games with a convincing 44-24 win at Harlequins to take them back to two points clear at the top of the table. ==== Round 23 ==== Saints edge a third game of the season against Wigan, with Kyle Eastmond scoring a late try to secure a 10-6 victory. ==== Round 24 ==== Saints lost their third game in six as they crashed to a 26-10 loss at Hull KR. ==== Round 25 ==== Another below-par performance saw Saints scrape past a youthful Huddersfield outfit by 12 points to 10, after being 10 points down. ==== Round 26 ==== In a much improved performance, Saints were edged out by bitter rivals Leeds 18-10 in a third superb encounter of the season to all but end their hopes of a fifth consecutive League Leader's Shield. ==== Round 27 ==== Saints were beaten by Catalans in the last game of the regular season to finish second in the league ladder behind Leeds. === Challenge Cup 2009 === ==== Round 4 ==== Saints edged past a second epic in two weeks against Leeds in a bruising encounter - pulling through 22-18. ==== Round 5 ==== Saints thrashe Catalans Dragons 42-8 to reach the Quarter Finals. ==== Quarter-Finals ==== Saints trounced a spirited Gateshead Thunder side 66-6 to advance to a record ninth consecutive Semi-Final. ==== Semi-Finals ==== Despite a Francis Meli hat-trick of tries, the holders Saints were beaten 24-14 by Huddersfield. === Play-Off Series === ==== Week 1 ==== Saints beat Huddersfield in Week One to progress to the qualifying round in a 15-2 success. ==== Week 3 ==== Saints reached a fourth consecutive Super League Grand Final after beating Wigan in a thrilling 14-10 win. They will take on Leeds for a third consecutive time at Old Trafford. ==== Super League Grand Final ==== Saints lost the grand final to Leeds Rhinos 18-10, this being the third consecutive Grand Final they lose to Leeds. === Upcoming Fixture(s) === Saints will round off their Super League XIV campaign against Leeds Rhinos at the 2009 Super League Grand Final. === News === It has been announced that, for the 2010 Super League Season, Saints have signed New Zealand World Cup winning centre Iosia Soliola from the Sydney City Roosters on a three-year deal. Additionally, Scrum-half Sean Long will be leaving Knowsley Road after a 12-year stint. He is joining Hull F.C. on a two-year contract. Lee Gilmour is also on his way out of St Helens. The second-row has agreed a two-year deal with Huddersfield Giants for the 2010 season. Young half-back Matty Smith will join Salford City Reds for the 2010 season in a loan agreement. Prop-forward Jason Cayless will be leaving Saints too after 4 seasons with the club owing to a shoulder injury. He will return to Australia. Hull Kingston Rovers prop Nick Fozzard will re-join Saints after being released from the final year of his Rovers contract. === Current squad === == 2009 transfers == === Acquisitions === === Losses === == Fixtures and results == == League table == == 2009 Squad == As of 29 July 2009: 1 - Meli and Puletua won caps for New Zealand before switching to Samoa 2 - Pryce is of Jamaican origin 3 - Fa'asavalu switched his allegiance to England under the residency rule == References == == External links == St Helens' official website engage Super League official website