4 of a kind is the worst hand of all!

If anyone can commiserate with the St. Helens Rugby League Club, it would have the be the NFL's Buffalo Bills. This might, on the face of it, be an unrealistic comparison, but I remember clearly the painful years from 1991-1994 when the Bills won 4 consecutive AFC Championships only to be beaten each time in the Superbowl by NFC opponents. It is a harsh and grating record, especially to the Bills fine quarterback and 2002 Hall of Fame selectee, Jim Kelly.

Like the Bills, St Helens' (above in blue) suffered their fourth straight grand final defeat after losing 22-10 to the Wigan Warriors yesterday; and three previous deciders on the trot to Leeds. It was a sad way for Super League great Keiron Cunningham to exit the game after 496 matches, and 18 seasons, for the Saints. The defeat was also a dispiriting end to Mick Potter's two-year reign at the club. He leaves for Bradford as the only St Helen's coach not to have lifted a trophy in the Super League era.

It is clearly debatable whether the bitter taste of four straight defeats in a championship could possibly be sweetened by the fact that a team deserved to be in the contest. Probably not. The Buffalo Bills have never won another championship and probably haven't even come close. It remains to be seen whether the Saints will follow suit. Hopefully both teams can engineer a comeback or two over the next few seasons.