Re: Paul Wellens retires : Wed Jun 24, 2015 5:53 pm
I think he's arguably the best player I've seen in my lifetime at Saints. Oddly, it's less an issue of the skills and talents he possessed - but rather the many he did not.I can think of no-one at Saints (with the possible exception of James Roby) who has achieved so much with so little. Whilst Paul did have good footwork from the beginning - he was never quick. He was never quick-off-the-mark. He is not a big man etc. etc.
For a good eighteen months after breaking into the side he really did flounder. Was he a scrum-half? Was he a stand-off? Not really. When he got his first opportunity at full-back I wouldn't have bet a penny on him still being at the club today with 200 tries.
A think a lot of fans (regardless of their loyalties) empathized with Wellens when he fell to his knees after the final whistle at Old Trafford. And I wasn't the only person who found his actions moving.
For a brief moment the shutters rolled back and you could see right into the heart of his soul. His face was that of a man scarred not by physical injury but the mental anguish of so many heartbreaking defeats. When he looks to the sky almost in supplication you sense that a terrible burden had been lifted from his shoulders. The thick lines and crevasses cut deep into his face by age seem to evaporate and in that split second you see the familiar boyish features of the Paul Wellens who won his first Grand Final so many years ago.
People love to talk about skills and talent and artistry - and yes, those things are important. But before all of that fans want players who CARE AS MUCH ABOUT THE CLUB AS THEY DO. It's a purity which (thankfully) no amount of money can buy and it isn't for sale anyhow.
Cathartic moments such as these involving a shared spiritual and emotional state are rare in the game. But their effect on fans is enormous. This is why stories about players like Paul Wellens, Jamie Peacock, James Graham, Sean Edwards etc. etc. will live on for generations whilst the exploits of perhaps more gifted individuals are lost forever in the chaotic maelstrom of time.
His ability to break the first tackle was ridiculously high, as soon as he caught that ball you knew he was making 5 metres more than he should have been allowed because he just had that knack of skirting out of a tackle. Gave everything and more, won everything and more, legend of the game indeed.
