On the Wire forum there is a topic about truly great teams and a poster suggests that because of the Cap we will never have a 'truly great' team again like the Wigan teams of the 80's and 90's.

I disagreed and said that the Saints team that won the BBC team of the year approx 4 years ago was a truly great team.

Can anyone remember what year it was and what your best 17 was that year.

Thanks FB

2006

Wellens
Gardner
Lyon
Talau
Meli
Pryce
Long
Graham
Cunningham
Cayless
Gilmour
Wilkin
Sculthorpe (Hooper if unfit)

Roby
Anderson
Maurie
Bennett/Clough/Fozzard

Best Saints team I have ever seen. Completely dominated the comp that year.

The only down side to 2006 was that in the majority of the games, Saints hit top gear from the off and the game was usually decided by half time

Agree with that although the 2000 Saints team was probably our most exciting. They can't compare though with the invincibility of the 2006 team.

We might never get a team which dominates the competition as regularly for over the same time period but we will still get great teams. There have been several great teams during Super League and plenty of opportunities for more to emerge in the future.

Won it all? 2006?

The 2006 World Club Challenge was held on Friday, 3 February, 2006, at Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield, UK. The game was contested by Bradford Bulls and West Tigers.

i'm fairly sure that in 2006 Saints won every competition they entered.

Nice try. Quite what a game qualified for by 2005 squads has to do with our 2006 squad, I'm not sure.

Just so you know, we won the WCC that our 2006 squad qualified for.

Good luck against St George BTW.

Exactly - a really good team that hit its straps for a year.
Wigan's run of 8 years will never be equalled (IMO) so long as the division has 1 teir of professionalism marshalled by salary cap.

Will take a mighty effort from any club to get close to what we achieved in 2006. Not just to win every competition we entered as stated but didn't we only lose 4 games that entire season, with margins of 1, 2, 3, and 4 points?

correct - and we almost won one of those games with our reserve team in France the week before the Cup Final.

That was a side that made Ade Gardner and international. For that reason alone it is the best British Rugby Leage side EVER.

Oh, and it winning Coach of the Year and BBC Team of the Year.

IIRC, Fozzard and Anderson missed out on both cup finals that season, so that highlights the quality and depth we had in the squad.

I'm sure Vinnie featured at Twickers.

Just checked the Heritage site and according to that he didn't. Tried to post the link but it kept coming up with the 2004 Challenge Cup Final for some reason.

I should have put P Anderson, but yes Vinnie and Foz struggled to make our full strength team.

Wigan's team is better. They have Pat Richards. He invented god, whupped Olympus' ass, created earth and then signed for the immortal Wigan side to complete their unbeatable and completely unstoppable team that romped to success last season, defeating every team they played by at least 100 points.

And he can find the G Spot.

That's by far one of your more sensible posts.

Fantastic but so true.

Thats correct, both didn't make the 17 for both finals.

Big bad bennet kept vinnie out!

Mike Bennett was a quality squad player. WOAH MIKE BENNETT!

It wasnt just the cups the team won, we got every player away available, player of the year, man of steel, young player of the year, coach of the year.

I always felt your 1996 and 2000 sides were better, definitely more entertaining than under Anderson

McCrae used to get some stick from fans for us being conservative in 96.

The 2000 side was more entertaining due to the players in it, for sure. That's what riles me about these coach comparisons and people talking about who coached the most entertaining rugby - had Potter had outside backs like Iro/Newlove/Sullivan and a young Martyn/Long/Cunningham/Sculthorpe at his disposal, I'm sure we'd have been more entertaining that we were in his two years.