SAINTS’ team of 2007 were dealt a pretty hard act to follow given the exploits of the previous year but on the whole there were some landmark triumphs for Daniel Anderson’s team which saw them collect three of the four pieces of silverware on offer to them.

And yet the season would end in disappointment as Saints met the team that would become their Old Trafford nemesis.

Saints had replaced the departed Australian wizard Jamie Lyon with the classy flick-passing skills of Matt Gidley in the centres and industrious prop Bryn Hargreaves stepped into the boots vacated by Paul Anderson.

Apart from that, it was a similar 17 to the one that had swept all before it in 2006 with injuries meaning skipper Paul Sculthorpe again had an injury plagued year which ended prematurely in June.

Sculthorpe had a few more lines to pen first, though.

Saints started the season poorly, losing two of their opening three games with the defeats against Harlequins and Wakefield not being the ideal preparation for a clash against Wayne Bennett’s mighty Brisbane Broncos.

But the match was an absolute cracker, fired by the appearance of the inspirational Sculthorpe from the bench.

Saints had looked jittery, trailing 8-0 when the two-time Man of Steel threw off his tracksuit to stride on to the field to visibly lift the men in the red vee.

And just before the break Saints got their toe-hold when Ade Gardner stepped inside Darius Boyd, which Sculthorpe superbly goaled.

But the Broncos stretched their lead when Boyd touched down Darren Lockyer’s precision kick to make it 12-6.

This, however, was simply setting the stage for Sculthorpe to add his lines to the Roy of the Rovers script when he hit Keiron Cunningham’s flat pass to surge over the line.

Although the Broncos nudged back ahead with a penalty, Saints snatched the lead back when Gardner leapt boldly on to Sean Long’s cross kick to pluck the ball from the air and plant it down over the whitewash.

The rest was just about hanging on and defending – Saints were World Club Champions again.

The next trophy up for grabs was the Challenge Cup and after easy wins over Batley and Rochdale, the holders overcame derby rivals Warrington in the quarters before seeing off Bradford Bulls in the semis at Huddersfield.

The privilege of playing in the first final at the new Wembley was the prize for Saints and Catalans Dragons, the shock conquerors of Wigan in the other semi.

The final was not a classic, but it did take a special piece of play from James Roby, who came off the bench to break the deadlock with a solo try in which the young hooker displayed every tool from his locker.

It went some way to securing the Man of Steel award for the former Blackbrook junior, ahead of Trent Barrett.

Saints eventually defeated Mick Potter’s Dragons side 30-8 with Gardner’s brace, and singles from Paul Clough and Paul Wellens being the other scorers.

Although they were nowhere near as invincible as they were the year before, Saints were still the strongest team in Super League, and they topped the table for the third consecutive year – but only just.

Among the league highlights was the first Magic weekend win over Wigan in Cardiff – a game which saw Wellens crown a fine display with four tries in front of 32,384.

Saints topped the table with 19 wins and 8 losses from 27 games, a point ahead of Leeds.

However, there were signs that Tony Smith’s Rhinos appeared to have it over them, completing a league double.

The two sides met in the semi-final at Knowsley Road, which Saints squeaked 10-8 to reach Old Trafford.

The final itself provided a massive shock to the system with Leeds running away with the second half to win 33-6.

Rarely has a season that yielded three trophies felt so disappointing as the curtain came down, but we had been spoilt.