Saints, Sinners and The Man from Uncle - the Wembley Wash Up

How was St Helens winning the Challenge Cup - again - for you ? They didn't do the Friday walkabout (they will if they reach Wembley in 2009, because the RFL now intends to make it compulsory) but Saints did walk off with the silverware after their 28-16 victory over a brave but outgunned Hull.

With apologies to Catalans Dragons last year, the atmosphere in the stadium this year was a notch or three above what we experienced in 2007. The Hull fans were magnificent, or so my wife who was in the crowd with a whole host of them told me. The Challenge Cup weekend is all about great and glorious tradition, which was observed - and in one instance not observed, to much anger, annoyance and tut-tutting about Saints not going walkabout at Wembley from the League, sponsors Carnegie, those broadcasters who pulled out as a result of their actions and, yes, we moaning devils in the Press.

One cup tradition, I'm glad to tell you, was upheld in the environs of the Press hotel - Spot the Celebrity on Kensington High Street. Hotly contested this year, with confirmed sightings of a surprisingly trim David Mellor on his way to see the New York Philharmonic at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall (with me, but not with me, so to speak), the actress Sarah Miles, of Ryan's Daughter fame and, most excitingly, Robert Vaughn, or Napoleon Solo from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. At least I think it was him. If so, he beats the challenge of the late Dirk Bogarde from the Old Wembley days.

Another fine tradition, which I can let you in on, is the pre-final night media party hosted by the cup sponsors. Carnegie had us all on a boat on the Thames last year, but this year pushed the boat out even farther with a splendid do at the Tower of London. Apart from our coach driver lacking The Knowledge, let alone a London A-Z, going round Piccadilly Circus twice and doing a hazardous three-point turn near Tower Bridge that sent the London rush hour traffic into even more of a spin, it was a great night. A bemused Ray French won an iPod - I'm not saying the BBC legend is a Luddite, but - and everyone witnessed an even older tradition than Ray's commentary and the Friday Wembley walkabout - the 700-year-old Ceremony of the Keys and the nightly locking of the Tower. Not that effective, I'd say, because we did get out.

There was also the tradition of ever so slightly patronising "colour" writers from some national newspapers getting their annual rugby league fix. One accompanying me to Wembley one year described league as a game precariously placed on the slopes of an active volcano. Quite bizarre. And this in one Sunday paper today from one such writer: "As ever, it was one of sport's happiest occasions. All the conventions were obeyed. There was best bitter before noon and sandwiches stuffed with cheese and pickle."

Just out of interest, how many of you were stuffing your faces with cheese butties and downing foaming pints with bits of beak and twig in it Saturday breakfast time ? I'm getting oop back t'north ...

* Read "St Helens motivated by fear of failure" here and the match report here, both of which appear in Monday's Times by Christopher Irvine. Also see here for Ed Hughes's cup final match report in the Sunday Times.

Comments

[Tony Hannan]

Late addition to 'spot a celebrity': on Sunday morning my better half and I shared a lift at the Copthorne Tara, Kensington, with Ron Mael, he of the odd stare to camera in Sparks. He got in at the mezzanine level. I can't tell you how thrilled I was (our lass didn't recognise him). He was dressed all in black, with slicked back hair and rather large boots on. Not sure where his brother was. Tempted to sing: "This lift ain't big enough for the both of us..." but didn't have the bottle.

[mike hunt]

Oh by the way I read th sunday mirror, heave knows why but their coverage of the CC was a single column in my edition with a postage stamp photo, The RFL want thier arses kicking totally usless at promotion.

[mike hunt]

At least Carnegie did spend some money on promotion very usefull, getting all the press pissed nice one!

Who is the coward, A sponsor? Name yourself, if you have something to say, you must be somebody from Carnegie, If so why are you sponsoring the Challenge Cup, was it desperate moves by the RFL who did not have a sponsor, or what you are known in Leeds and thats it.

[Andrew]

Lets get "back to basics " here
The sole purpose of the "walkabout" is to acclimatise the players to the stadium things such as getting used to the pitch dimensions ,the state of the playing surface and the facilities in the dressing rooms for the players and the back up staff .
The simple fact is that Saints having been there last year did not fell the need to interrupt their preparations on this(to them ) meanignless exercise.
Richard Agar the Hull coach has said that if Hull were to get back to wembley next year he saw no reason to do it again.
Phil Clarke has said that after Wigan had done it once at the old Wembley it was meaningless thereafter.
Regarding Smitty's comment I am not opposed to tradition at all, but would question how long this "tradition" of sponsors etc. being at the "walkabout" has actually been in effect .
I am surprised that if Smitty is such a traditionalist he actually even bothers with the game these days since we changed to summer.
If you are that petty that Saints not doing the "walkabout" this year will stop you returning to Wembley then sadly no you will not be missed

[Smitty]

Dear Andrew,
As you don't give a monkeys for tradition, I'll be cancelling my pub's annual Challenge Cup final trip. Sod tradition, who cares ? We've only done it for the last 25 years. We won't be missed. Maybe the pub up the road will stop their trip, and another, and another. Yep, before you know it, tradition has ended -and so has the cup. Is that what you want ?

[Andrew]

So are both LondonLouis & "A Sponsor" now saying that the only reason that this "bad PR" was noticed was purely because of the Times and Sporting Life ????
If so this surely goes against their own argument that this was a major "media event" does it not

I think I should add to the phrase "Mountain out of a molehill" as I mentioned on another page of this blog ,which it seems some were unaware of the phrase "Flogging a dead horse " of which they also appear ignorant.
There was and still is nothing in the "rules" FORCE Saints or any team to attend the "stroll on the pitch" and there never has been
The RFL did NOT insist that Saints were there.
There was a well advertised "Media Event" already in place by Carnegie .
Saints did not go because they did not have to
Get over it.

[A Sponsor]

Here here LondonLouis. You can't underestimate the importance of good PR. What Saints did was bad PR. That decision, as I said before, was very badly received by influential people, companies, sponsors and backers at Wembley on Saturday. It was a point well highlighted by The Times, Sporting Life and The Guardian. Vehicles like this blog on Times Online, which has a massive readership running into millions, are highly influential and respected. What they say carries clout. It's why the rule will change next year, because if you added up the lost publicity from the walkabout in terms of pictures going global on BBC World for instance, it'd run into tens, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds.

[LondonLouis]

Reactions to the Walkabout affair may be dragging on, Andrew, (do I know you?) but that's because it was a very silly decision by Saints in the first place; I certainly blogged to that effect before the event. "Sponsor" has merely confirmed that it mattered even more than I suspected.

This reinforces my feeling that Saints are an excellent team, but still have a small-time mentality. Public Relations is part of what serious clubs do, whether the RFL insists on it or not.

[Andrew]

Rather disrespectful to Hull then " A Sponsor" if people could only bother to turn up if Saints were there.
The simple fact is that it was NOT compulsory.
IF the RFL had said it was compulsory then all well & good the very fact that clubs can decide (up to this year) whether to attend or not shows that Saints did nothing wrong .
Saints non appearance was know DAYS before and if it was so important to the RFL , the sponsors & media then why wasn't more effort made to ensure Saints were in fact there on Friday.
Again the fact that certain people in the media are still making a big deal about this seems to me to be a very much a case of trying to denigrate the St Helens club for some reason

[A Sponsor]

As a sponsor, can I just reiterate what Chris Irvine has said on here. Saints pulling out of the walkabout on Friday proved very costly in terms of TV pictures especially. Sky News and BBC News pulled out their crews after Saints' decision not to visit Wembley on the Friday. I know for a fact that it wasn't just the league who were angry but fellow sponsors and backers of the sport. It was sadly the talk at Wembley on Saturday in the various hospitality lounges. People were rightly upset about Saints' decision. It was a huge own goal. I fully support the League's decision to make this visit on the Friday to the stadium mandatory. Rugby league cannot surely complain about lack of publicity if its leading club pulls a stunt like it did. Well done to them on winning the cup but Saints do learn to play the other game as well.

[Andrew]

Oh deary me yet more whingeing about the "Walkabout" is this going to be Mr.Irvine's "traditional " refrain whenever he writes about Saints
Chris mate get over it Saints didn't go the the "Walkabout" that over all the years I have been watching rugby league hardly set the media world alight .

Saints were the best team on the day and won the Challenge Cup... again (by the way I get the impression from the way you always say "again" that you are somehow exasperated by that fact )
Saints have been one of the best 2 teams all season yet all Mr Irvine can come up with are negative comments about the club over a petty matter ,with supposed RL writers ,like this who needs the kick & clap naysayers

[Daniel]

A strange coincidence - most of those 'colour' writers tend to be Rugby Union hacks with colossal shoulder-mounted chips and a hands-off approach to things like facts and research.

They all tick the same boxes with their drivel and adopt a patronising tone towards their betters.

Interesting that newspapers never get Rugby League writers to cover major Union matches, isn't it? Has anyone ever asked a sports editor why this is the case?

[Bazzaman]

I had a large glass of Fitou at 11.59am and a Camembert roll. Does that count for the esteemed Sunday paper man ?

[Alastair Darling]

Chris, you mean the sponsors didn't sink you lot in a boat, then they failed to lock you all up in the tower. Shame on Carnegie!

[Smitty]

Saints' actions have come back to haunt them, eh ? Great win by them but they obviously couldn't maintain another tradition. Lost publicity and lost goodwill with the walkabout fiasco. Do you reckon Daniel Anderson would have given the Grand Final Breakfast the heave-ho when he was coaching in the NRL ? No, I don't think so.