TODAY'S sports nutritionists would probably tear their hair out but Paul Wellens' pre-match preparation ahead of his first of 10 Grand Finals could be described as classic St Helens.

While most of that 1999 team of fully fledged internationals were loading up on pasta, the then 19-year-old's pre-match routine was just like any other Saturday and involved wolfing down what was then the town's favourite delicacy.

Wellens said: "Every Saturday afternoon I used to go to Pimbletts for my dinner.

"Sure enough the afternoon of the ’99 Grand Final I walked into town and had two steak and a meat and potato and then got on the coach to Old Trafford.

"It is bizarre because I’d never do that now, but at the time I was a casual young kid taking a big game in my stride."

Wellens came off the bench in that game as Ellery Hanley's Saints recorded a surprise 8-6 victory over the highly fancied Bulls and the following year it was Super League ring number two with the former De La Salle lad now holding down the full back berth.

His career at the club began under Shaun McRae and he was given his first taste of senior rugby against a strong Wigan side in front of more than 15,500 spectators at Central Park on Boxing Day 1997.

Although that side, largely made up of youngsters, suffered a 46-2 mullering, the 17-year-old Wellens was delighted not least because he had chalked up his first points.

"It was brilliant. At that time I was a fully-fledged St Helens supporter, travelling home and away, getting the bus with my mates from outside Parry's paper shop.

"If I had not been playing I'd have been up in the stand watching so it was surreal in that respect. It was a great experience to taste Saints v Wigan atmosphere at such a young age.

"It whetted the appetite a little bit, even though it was not a great result it was a wonderful experience. A lot of the lads said to me that I am basically a fan who plays."

He credits skipper Chris Joynt with helping him integrate into the side that was chocker block full of star names and seasoned internationals.

He, too was soon an international, being elevated into the England World Cup squad in 2000.

"The thing about that St Helens team of that time was you had to be international standard to get in. Standards were high and that helped – Joynt, Cunningham, Long, Sculthorpe, Newlove and Iro were all players that had been there and done it,” he said.

And he soon was on top of the world, with a second Grand Final success meaning they could have a crack at Australia's elite Brisbane Broncos – and even a broken cheekbone could not stop him smiling after Saints edged it 20-18 on a freezing night at the Reebok.

He recalls: "At the time thought I’d just have a bit of a black eye after getting whacked in the face by Brisbane centre Stuart Kelly.

"It was such a big game you are reluctant to even consider coming off. I tried to blow my nose at half time and it all puffed up around my eye.

"I knew it was not right but just cracked on with it. I don’t think now, under the new guidelines, that I would be allowed to play on – back then you were left to your own devices and I carried on and it is an iconic image, at the time it didn’t feel like a big deal.

"A lot of my teammates would have done exactly the same."

Alas a boot to the face in the 2002 Grand Final inflicted greater damage – and that affected him.

"The one against Bradford was considerably worse, I fractured my cheekbone in three places and my eye-socket was crushed into bits.

"I had to have a plastic one put in – it took some getting over, not from a physical point of view, but more from a mental point of view.

"The year after I was going into challenges protecting my face and it probably took me getting a whack on it for me to feel confident with it again. Once I got that confidence back I was OK."

The trophies continued to come, and from 2004 Wellens was untouchable as Super League’s number one.

He was spurred on in that by the way his fitness, after recovering from a knee injury, in 2003 had seen him lose form.

“For eight or nine months in my career it dipped and it is the only time I let myself down a little bit.

“I got that injury and certainly lost my form and fitness. I was not in good shape physically and it took a lot of real hard work to get back up to speed.

“Once I did I was determined not to let that happen to me again. I always kept on top of that physically from that point, and did my extras in the gym.

“Sometimes you need those wake-up calls and I got one very early in my career thankfully.

“So from 2004 to midway through 2008 they were my absolute prime years. physically and by playing in a fantastic team that was a joy to play in.

“Longy and Keiron did all the organising and then when we signed Leon Pryce I just floated around the field. I scored so many tries running off the back of Leon.

“The team of 2005-06 we had Jamie Lyon playing the way he could, and on the other side we had Willie Talua who was one of the most underrated players we have had at the club.

“They were international centres, similar to what we had in 99 with Iro and Newlove.

Wellens won Man of Steel for his role during that all-conquering year of 2006.

But the transition years started at the end of the decade, with big characters leaving and Saints moving out of Knowsley Road.

Wellens was skipper during this tough time, but can take credit for helping steer the club back on course.

"Post 2010, was the least successful time in my career but one of my most challenging because we lost a lot of big players.

"We had to revisit those standards that we had picked up in those most successful teams because a lot of the lads we were playing with had not experienced how to win.

"That was the real challenge – raising people’s expectations of what was required at the club. It took longer than we thought, but the penny finally dropped at the back end of last season when, with the backs to the wall, the boys really dug in for each other with effort and commitment.

"It was brilliant and my reaction at the end was a culmination of those years. Leaving Knowsley Road, the year at Widnes, moving into a new stadium and I don’t think anybody realised how difficult moving grounds would be.

"All the frustrations that were building up over the years, so last year it was like winning the Grand Final times five.

"It was a huge relief and that was clear for everyone to see," he said.

So with retirement from playing, Wellens will move on to a different career path and take some time to adjust to not playing anymore.

“It’s difficult because all my adult life I have been a St Helens player, I have got different things to focus on now, even though I am hugely passionate about the club and can bring a lot to the table from the other side of the fence.

“I will get my surgery done and look to recuperate as quickly as I can, maybe take the family on holiday and get some sun on my back and then come back reinvigorated and ready to jump into that next phase.

“The plan was to always stay on and I can bring a lot of experience to the table from my career, being a junior, senior, international and captain – I have been in successful teams and unsuccesful ones and experienced every facet of being a professional rugby player which is something I can pass on to our juniors.

“It will be primarily working with juniors within the squad and it is no secret that we are trying to promote them. Hopefully I can play a part in that,” he said.