KEIRON Cunningham paid tribute to the fans in his press conference following the 38-34 win over Leeds Rhinos.
“The crowd were immense for us tonight,” he said. “It was the style of game they enjoy; a bit free flowing and plenty of points and I thought they brought us home in crucial areas. Kyle Amor’s try … we had them pinned down in their area and he got off his line with the wind behind him from the fans and put Zak (Hardaker) in a bad spot.
“They were immense and it meant as much to us and it did to them to get the victory tonight.”
He continued: “It was some game for sure. It was definitely one for the cameras and one for the fans … and to be fair we could have quite easily come away with nothing. But you can’t be critical when as a team you keep fighting and working hard. Ok, we didn’t want to play defence and just play offense, but we were pretty good at it!
“It was an emotional night. Jonny and Percy (Mark Percival), getting them back was important, but especially Jonny. I have been there for a long period with him and we have a close affiliation.
“To hear the Saints fans in full roar as he went over meant a lot to me as it meant a lot for the fans to see him again in Saints shirt. I also saw how much it meant to Jonny at the end of the game too.
“He kept going. He hasn’t played for 14 months and we rolled him in different positions too to freshen his legs. He did a great job and had an influence on the game from start to finish.
“It is scary where he could take us as a team. We will take it week by week with him though as we will with all the players. Joe (Greenwood) and Til (Atelea Vea) did a solid job. We lost Matty Dawson at half time which meant Louie heading into the centres but I thought Morgan Knowles did a good job in the middle too.
“It wasn’t the best defensive display but we will take the two points.”
KC was also pleased with his side’s start.
“It is something we have focused on all week,” he added. “At Headingley we gifted them 16 points without a breath. We started big against a team that have been playing well and got a good win over Hull FC last week. We got that 10 point buffer but couldn’t seem to shake them off. It was cat and mouse.
“Leeds are a great attacking side and Rob Burrow was running around like he had spiders on him! Brian Mc should be proud of how they kept going for him whilst down on numbers.”
