ONE of the interesting aspects of reviewing 20 years of Super League in the Star during the off season has been looking at how the squads changed under the different coaches.

You look at some squads - take the 2000-02 one, or the one from 2006, and you can understand why the Saints team won things.

Coaches take plaudits – and when the going gets tough they get the brickbats too.

Reviewing the years you see that some coaches have been dealt a harsher hand than others.

Who would want to be at the helm when that golden age of legendary players – Sean Long, Paul Sculthorpe, Paul Newlove, Chris Joynt, Paul Wellens and Keiron Cunningham are no longer there? And let’s throw James Graham on to that list.

It is worth making the point this week – a moment when Cunningham has had his contract extended at Saints until at least the end of 2018.

This move gives the club stability and continuity going forward and stops some of the talk that undermined Cunningham’s three predecessors.

After Ian Millward’s dismissal after five-and-a-bit years in charge we had Daniel Anderson at the helm from mid 2005 until the end of 2008.

Both of those contrasting characters had decent squads and both were given time to stamp their authority on them and shape them into the playing units they wanted.

All the time Saints were winning things, just over the other side of the lump Wigan were still coming to terms with a level playing field after dominating the pre-Super League era.

The reaction to their coaches underlined that, with the doors at Central Park and then JJB revolving pretty rapidly.

After Anderson left Knowsley Road in 2008, Saints had similar traumas. Mick Potter, who had the double misfortune to inherit a weaker side at a time when the game decided that we needed slow rucks.

The fans were soon on his back and it was obvious before a ball had been kicked in 2010 that he would not be building a legacy here.

His successor Royce Simmons came within a hair’s breadth of winning the title on the road in 2011, but that final defeat left such deep scars that relieving him of his duties in early 2012 was almost like a mercy mission.

And even Nathan Brown, who had done everything he could to get the team trophy-ready, got plenty of flak from fans even in the weeks before guiding the team to that incredible 2014 Grand Final triumph.

Nobody ever says stick with a coach, purely for continuity, sometimes hard calls have to be made. But it is pleasing that Saints are allowing Cunningham to shape not just the first team but the playing culture across the club.