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Keiron Cunningham on St Helens v Huddersfield
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Keiron Cunningham says he plays every game like it's his last and Sunday's Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final against Huddersfield will be no different.
The 32-year-old influential St Helens hooker is very much in the twilight of his career and could yet quit the sport at the end of the season as he struggles with an on-going knee injury.
But the club captain said that whatever the outcome, he would put his "life and soul" into guiding Saints to yet more success this season.
"Every time I put on a Saints shirt, I like to play like it’s the last time," he said. "That way, you give everything you've got and know that if it is the last match then there's no regrets. Sunday will be no different."
Cunningham has become a Knowsley Road favourite for his never-say-die attitude during his 16 years at the club but the manner in which he puts his body on the line means the injuries are beginning to take toll.
Already, a troublesome knee has seen him miss some key games this season and caused him to limp off in the first half of last weekend's 10-6 Super League victory over Wigan, leaving him a doubt for Sunday's cup clash.
"As a player you never want to miss a single game and I've been lucky that my body's held together pretty well, until now that is," he said. "But that's not quite been the case this season and it's difficult to know whether that's a case of the game finally catching up on me."
Cunningham's current contract with St Helens expires at the end of the season and the former Great Britain international has hinted he might retire.
But he revealed he had recently held informal talks with chairman Eamonn McManus about the possibility of playing on for another season.
"I honestly haven't got a clue what I'll be doing next season and I really don't want to decide for definite until the end of this campaign," he said. "I need to take stock, see how the body feels and then make a decision that's right for me, my family and the club.
"But the chairman's done his bit by making me feel wanted. I need to know though that if I play I can play for the whole of the season and not be a bit-part player."
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Saints already have a like-for-like replacement lined up for Cunningham in Scott Moore, who has spent the last two seasons on loan at Castleford and Huddersfield respectively.
Cunningham described the 21-year-old, who he could come face to face against in Sunday's match, as "not just a star of the future but as a star of right now."
"He's putting pressure on me for my jersey and that's exactly what you need at a club like St Helens," said Cunningham. "I remember when I first saw him, I thought that's the future and he's proved me right."
Cunningham has a phenomenal record in Carnegie Challenge Cup finals. He has lost just one in eight appearances, although he played down the statistic.
"Those past performances mean nothing really as all that matters is the next semi-final you're facing," he added. "You can dwell on the good past results when you hang up your boots but, if you start thinking about what you've achieved, then you're cooked."
Sunday's game against Huddersfield is the pick of the two semi-finals, with Saints as Super League leaders the marginal favourites to win the contest, in part due to their credentials as defending champions - they beat Hull FC 28-18 last year to clinch the title.
But Cunningham warned: "They're such a well-drilled outfit, they're having a great season and they're possibly our toughest opponents out there right now. We'll back ourselves to do the business but they'll throw the whole of Huddersfield at us and it should be an epic."
Whatever the result and whatever Cunningham decides to do at the end of the season, his place in rugby league folklore is guaranteed. In 2007, he was ranked as the greatest player in the Super League era and has made more than 400 appearances in league and cup matches for Saints.
In all, he boasts five Super League titles, six Challenge Cup winners medals and has twice been on the winning side in the World Club Challenge final.
However, the praise does not sit well with Cunningham, who is arguably the most modest sportsman out there.
"I'm not sure I'm all that special," he said. "I've been lucky to have been surrounded by some good people playing the game I love."
