As they prepare to take on Penrith in the World Club Challenge, St Helens players and officials have revealed the role of the back-to-back NRL premiers in their record Super League dominance.
While Penrith are aiming to become the first NRL club to achieve a three-peat since Parramatta 40 years ago, Saints have won four consecutive Super League premierships and the success of the two clubs is no coincidence.
Like the Panthers, who had nine juniors in last year’s grand final winning team, St Helens place a strong emphasis on development pathways and the policy has paid off.
Saints marching toward glory
However, the links between the recent triumphs of Penrith and St Helens on either side of the globe go far beyond a shared philosophy about producing home grown talent.
Since 2004, most of the squad to play the Panthers have toured Australia with a Saints under 18s academy team to play junior representative sides from NRL clubs.
The likes of Parramatta and South Sydney regularly feature on the itinerary but regardless of which other teams they play, each St Helens Academy tour finishes with a match against Penrith.
“The first tour was in 2004 and the club did it every two years up until COVID hit,” said former Castleford coach Dave Woods, who has worked in development for both Penrith and St Helens.
"The halfback, Lewis Dodd, was on the last tour in 2019, and [winger] Jon Bennison was also on that tour. Jonny Lomax was on the 2006 tour and most of the squad have been on tours in between.
“The tours have been really successful for St Helens because playing against Australian teams is a bench mark for them.
In all the games over the years St Helens have only been beaten twice on those tours.
“They have played against Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo and Jarome Luai. We try to mix it up, but Penrith is always the last game on every tour.
"They are the pinnacle because of how successful they are with their junior development, so we always have that as our benchmark to finish the tour."
It's a great opportunity for our club: Cleary
Of the 34 players who travelled from St Helens for the two matches against St George Illawarra and Penrith, 15 have previously been to Australia on the club's academy tours.
They include:
- Jack Welsby (2017)
- Tommy Makinson (2009)
- Mark Percival (2011)
- Jon Bennison (2019)
- Jonny Lomax (2006)
- Lewis Dodd (2019)
- Matty Lees (2015)
- Morgan Knowles (2015)
- Jake Wingfield (2017)
- Sam Royle (2017)
- Lewis Baxter (2019)
- Jumah Sambou (2019)
- Matthew Foster (2017)
- Taylor Pemberton (2019)
- Daniel Moss (2019)
As well as training and playing, the players do activities such as surfing lessons, scuba diving, Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb, jet boating in Sydney Harbour and water skiing at Penrith's Cable Wake Park, where they usually stay.
"I was only 16 so I was still getting babied by my mum and dad at home," Welsby said. "Coming out here and having to fend for yourself almost, it was probably more off the field that it helped me.
“The games that we played, we were coming up against lads who were bigger than us, stronger than us and faster than us, and that built that real team aura. I think that has carried on throughout.
"A lot of the players at Saints have come through the academy so we know each other from a young age to the top, and I think that is probably a key to our success."
Welsby's lessons prepare him for biggest test
Knowles and Lees, who were England World Cup team-mates last year, were members of the 2015 Academy team which was unbeaten in matches against Wests Tigers, Central Coast, Parramatta and Penrith.
The Wests Tigers Cubs included Ryan Papenhuyzen, Adam Doueihi, Moses Suli and Alex Seyfarth, while Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai played for a Panthers SG Ball outfit beaten 28-10 by St Helens.
"That was the last game that we played, against Penrith, which they have done every tour," Knowles said.
I don't remember too much about the game but I know that we beat them.
"We struggled in the first couple of games and got better as the tour went on.
“Apart from the first tour, there is someone in our squad from every age group that has done it, and it has been really good for our club.
"It is not a coincidence. It is definitely beneficial to come out here at such a young age and to have some of the life experiences as well. "
Woods said the tours had also been beneficial for St Helens staff, with assistant coach Ian Talbot, strength and conditioning head Matt Daniels and head physio Nathan Mill having been to Australia previously with Academy teams.
“The club promotes its own and makes sure there are pathways for not only the players but the staff," Woods said.
“Saints hold the Panthers in high regard because of who they are and what they have done.
"It is not that you try to copy anyone else but you know that they are successful, so Saints look to do that as well and they have won four grand finals."