Saints v Giants Classics - Quinlan's Fleeting Glory

Two years of Justin Holbrook’s leadership have left the Keiron Cunningham era feeling like the sort of strange dream that I imagine you might have if you had an experimental approach to recreational substances. We never finished outside the top four during Cunningham’s tenure, but it nevertheless occupies a space in mind reserved for turmoil, angst and Travis Burns.

Yet there were some bright moments. Moments of genuine excitement which if nothing else were faithful to the Saints tradition of coming away from the game and thinking ‘what the actual fuck have I just witnessed?’. One such moment came in 2015 when a man on debut crossed for a hat-trick of tries as Saints beat this weekend’s opponents Huddersfield Giants by the odd point in 69. Adam Quinlan didn’t even play that well. There were signs even on this night of the open all hours defending that would eventually see him packed off to Hull KR where they like that sort of thing.

Saints had started that season superbly in terms of results. Six wins on the spin to open their defence of the Super League crown had everyone excited about the prospect of a repeat performance. All of Catalans Dragons, Salford, Castleford Tigers, Wakefield Trinity, Widnes Vikings and Warrington Wolves were vanquished in February and March. It wasn’t until late March that Saints suffered their first defeat of the campaign, a 24-22 reverse at Hull KR in which Atelea Vea picked up an injury that would see him fail to ever recapture the form he had shown in that early part of his Saints career. By 2017 both he and Cunningham were putting the band back together in Leigh to allow Holbrook to transform Saints fortunes. But there had been promise in Vea after his move from London Broncos.

After that Hull KR defeat it was a mixed bag for Saints for much of the rest of the way. Fullbacks came and went like storms with unnecessary, alphabetically ordered names. Two further defeats followed the one at Craven Park as both Wigan and Hull FC got the better of Saints over Easter. It was the Giants who provided Saints next win in a quite dreadful affair that ended 11-8 to the visitors at the John Smith’s Stadium. Eventual treble-winners Leeds Rhinos were on a path to greatness at this point and they emphasised that by royally stuffing Saints 41-16 in mid-April, before Saints recovered with wins over Widnes and Wakefield. Saints lost 33-26 in Perpignan but then went on a five-match winning streak started by victory over York City Knights in the Challenge Cup sixth round and continued with success over Hull FC, Warrington, Salford and, most enjoyably, Wigan. A one-point loss at Castleford preceded further progression in the Challenge Cup at the expense of Widnes. Then it was on to Headingley to face the champions elect once more. It was a very similar experience to the home fixture, as Saints were blitzed 46-18 by Brian McDermott’s side.

There was some mitigation for Saints iffy progress in Super League. By the time Saints brought Quinlan in from Parramatta Eels Cunningham had been forced into using no fewer than six fullbacks during the campaign. Paul Wellens and Lance Hohaia both retired midway through the season while Jonny Lomax and Tommy Makinson were both sidelined through injury. The same fate befell Shannon McDonnell, who some of you might recall spent two and a half seasons at Saints after spells with both Hull clubs. There was no reserve team in 2015 so Quinlan was brought in initially on a short-term contract to fill the void. His impact was instant, but hardly enduring.

Wearing the number 37 shirt because, frankly, Saints were that deep into their squad with all the injuries they had suffered, Quinlan reacted first in the 16th minute to James Roby’s grubber which ricocheted off a Giants defender. The diminutive Quinlan picked the ball up to scamper over and around under the posts for his first try in the red vee. Jack Hughes cancelled that out six minutes later, but before the half hour Quinlan was over again. This time he benefitted from some good fortune as Andre Savelio lost the ball close to the Giants line and it travelled backwards and kindly into the path of Quinlan who scooped it up to score.

The first of Jermaine McGillvary’s brace on the night followed just three minutes later. The England winger latched on to Scott Grix’s kick close to the Saints try-line to touch down in the corner and bring the Giants level on the scoreboard at 12-12. Yet before half-time Quinlan had completed an unlikely hat-trick, supporting Roby’s sensational break to take his pass and go over for what was undoubtedly the pick of his tries. Leroy Cudjoe (remember him?) was next to score and we were all tied up again at 18-18 just a few minutes into the second half. Mark Percival was next to score following Luke Walsh’s hopeful kick which absolutely epitomised the Cunningham era in the space of a few seconds. Seconds that were joyous and yet agonising in equal measure. Yes, we had scored, but God it was ugly. McGillvary completed his brace on 55 minutes and the sides were locked up again at 24-24.

Another forgotten man got on the scoresheet next. Joe Greenwood, a man who somehow ended up at Wigan via a stint with Gold Coast Titans and who was recently farmed out on loan to the most underwhelming Leeds Rhinos side since last year, put Saints back in front with just over 20 minutes remaining. Saints looked to have settled the argument when Percival went over for his second from Walsh’s pass with 16 minutes remaining. Crucially, the Australian halfback could not add the extras this time and when Eorl Crabtree spun out of a three-man tackle to score by the posts the Giants were back within range at 34-30. Further trouble was brewing, as Aaron Murphy crashed over to once again level the scores at 34-34. A game of eye-poppingly low quality had nevertheless morphed into something of a classic. The last word went to Walsh, who took Roby’s dummy half pass with two minutes to go and expertly slotted over the winning one-pointer.

Quinlan’s star never shone so brightly again in a Saints shirt. Saints fell one game short of the Grand Final in 2015 after losing 20-13 to that all-conquering Leeds side, a side that had also knocked them out of the Challenge Cup at the semi-final stage. It would take four more years to get back to and win a Grand Final. By then, Quinlan had played the last of his 12 matches for Saints. He moved back to Australia for a spell in 2016, making four appearances for the other Saints of St.George-Illawarra in the NRL, before returning to England to join Hull KR where he still can be found occupying their treatment table. He has scored 25 tries in 51 appearances for Rovers, yet it is a safe bet that none of them were quite as unexpected or curiously exciting as his debut hat-trick for Saints.