The RFL

It’s fair to assume that if Paul Wellens had never made it as a player for St Helens, he’d be in the crowd cheering them on at Saturday’s Carnegie Cup Final.  He did that at five Wembley finals as a youngster.

“I was there in 1987, ’89, ’91, ’96 and ’97,” he said, “so I’ve experienced victory and defeat as a supporter there.  I was only seven when I first went in 1987, and we got beat by Halifax 19-18.  Then in ’89 we got beat 27-0 by Wigan – that was bad enough, but then we lost again to them in 1991.

 “We finally won it in 1996 against Bradford Bulls.  We went behind and I must admit I thought ‘Here we go…we’re going to get beaten again’.  They were 14 points ahead with 20 or so minutes left, but then Bobby Goulding put three high bombs up for three tries and it got us back into the game.”

 Also celebrating that day was an eight year-old Paul Clough, although he only watched on telly.  “This will be my first visit to Wembley,” he said, “so if I’m picked to play it’ll be even more special.”

 Read more about Paul Wellens and his achievements in the game in Saturday’s Carnegie Challenge Cup Final programme priced £5.

 Catalans Dragons versus St Helens is live on BBC ONE this Saturday, kick off 3pm.

 Those travelling to Wembley for the game are reminded it is a public transport destination.  For further information, please visit: http://www.wembleystadium.com/gettingtowembley/transportinfo/

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