ENGAGE SUPER LEAGUE GRAND FINAL
Venue: Old Trafford Date: Saturday, 2 October Kick-off: 1800 BST
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, BBC Radio Merseyside 1485 MW, DAB and online at bbc.co.uk/liverpool, BBC Sport website and Sky Sports 2  Keiron Cunningham will be a tough act to follow
Rugby league will say goodbye to one of the all-time greats when Keiron Cunningham hangs up his boots this weekend after Saturday's Grand Final against Wigan. The hooker has played 17 seasons, all of them for St Helens, which is quite phenomenal in such a physical sport as rugby league - even more so for someone who plays in the front row. To have kept himself fit and at the top for so long is incredible. Not only that, he bows out playing some of the best rugby of his career.  | His performance in the last ever game at Knowsley Road, the 42-22 play-off win Huddersfield, summed up his career as well as any game I can think of. |
Keiron has a remarkable scoring record - something like one try in every three games - and he is virtually unstoppable from 10 yards. But it is not just his physical contribution that marks him out as one of the best, it is his all-round game. He leads from the front and has an amazing tactical brain. He has been an inspirational leader for Saints. You can sense the lift he gives the whole team when he plays, especially when he comes on for the last 20 minutes of a match, just as he did in the play-off game against Huddersfield last week. The Giants were within inches of beating Saints but Cunningham helped turn the game. Despite being in such good form and still only 33, he has made the right decision to retire. I have spoken to him at length about it. Mentally he has had enough. The game takes its physical toll but the mental side of the game is vitally important, too. When the adrenaline is flowing and Old Trafford is in sight, it maybe tempting to carry on. But the tough part comes when the match finishes and it is time to contemplate getting going again in January. There comes a time when your mind says 'I've had enough'. That is where Keiron is now. He is finishing at the top with nothing to prove. | 606: DEBATE |
His Great Britain career ended a while back and he never got the same level of recognition at international level as he did with Saints but he made a conscious decision to concentrate on club rugby when injuries started to affect him. The fact he has been a one-club man is very significant. The salary cap means that clubs constantly have to re-jig their squads, allowing players to leave that they would prefer to keep hold of. So it shows how important Keiron is to Saints that at no stage did they ever consider letting him go. From his point of view, the only tempting offer he ever had was from rugby union, who showed a lot of interest, but he insisted he was "a rugby league man" and stayed true and loyal to his game. Throughout his career, Keiron has been the engine driving the team and has never been a headline-grabber. That is only something that has happened recently. Amazingly, he has never been voted Man of Steel, which is a big oversight on the part of his fellow players. They must have thought he had won it earlier in his career and that box had been ticked. There will certainly be some sighs of relief from the opposition when Keiron retires after Saturday's game at Old Trafford. There are plenty of people who have sustained bruises or broken bones attempting to stop him from five yards out.  The 2007 Challenge Cup is just one of many triumphs in Cunningham's career |
Keiron's decision to go coincides with Saints leaving Knowsley Road. So next season will be a real shock for the club, who will miss their former home and one of the cornerstones of the team. It will be a culture shock to fans, too, who will pick up their match-day programmes and see someone else at number nine. But I think Keiron would be the first to tell you that James Roby is a wonderful replacement. Roby may not be as big as Keiron but has different attributes and I think he will be there for many years to come Keiron's performance in the last ever game at Knowsley Road - the 42-22 play-off win Huddersfield - summed up his career as well as any game I can think of. The Giants hit Saints with everything and were within 20 minutes of their first win there for 32 years. When former St Helens man Lee Gilmour scored on the hour, Huddersfield looked destined to win. The home fans were silent and the Saints players were confused. But Keiron came on, made a plunge down the middle and the crowd roared. His team-mates responded by lifting their game and the team went on to scored four tries. Fittingly, Keiron scored the last ever try at Knowsley Road and I believe we witnessed the finest 20 minutes of his career. Ray French was talking to BBC Sport's Julian Shea
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