Season review with picture gallery: Flaky start, strong finish: 2016 - a year that exposed frailties that need fixing

The team finished with a tremendous flourish and had they got the calls in the semi the would have been at Old Trafford seeking to regain the trophy they won in 2014.

But that did not gloss over the cracks - 2016 showed where work was needed and where changes were neccessary.

A shaky start, another disappointing Good Friday defeat, an early Challenge Cup exit and a mid season run of defeats culminating in the Magic debacle put Saints into something of a hole.

And even when Saints slowly but surely began climbing out of that low point, the response from a good section of the support was still lukewarm.

It was particularly noticeable at home, where the quiet Langtree Park atmosphere at times hung pretty heavy at times and was probably worth a few points start to the opposition as it must added to the anxiety in the camp.

There were reasons for the gloom – and a heavy 44-10 televised defeat at Salford followed by a dismal 38-12 World Series defeat by a youthful Sydney Roosters lingered over the club early on.

Saints’ form after that could best be described as patchy and inconsistent; Win a couple, lose one and then so on.

But the games that really mattered were lost, defeated badly at home to Wigan in front of a sell-out Good Friday crowd.

That game was more or less done and dusted by half time, with Wigan going in 16-0 up to make it another Easter ruined.

The year was tough and Saints will have learned plenty from the dark days in May and June when the awful Challenge Cup knockout at home to Hull, losing 47-18, triggered a collapse in confidence.

It is never good to go out of the Challenge Cup – a comp Saints have a proud record in. But defeat stretches Saints dangerously close to the 1978-87 absence from the national stadium.

It was the manner of the defeat, too, with the team not showing up.

It was no surprise it affected the morale.

Four losses on the spin, including a 48-20 trouncing by basement side Huddersfield at Newcastle left them with plenty of soul searching.

Changes began to be made to the playing group, Andre Savelio was sent out on loan to Castleford, out of favour half back Travis Burns went to Leigh where he teamed up with Matty Dawson who was sold to the Super League-bound Championship winners.

It was obvious where Saints were deficient – with the lack of leadership and experience being identified by the coach.

It was not just maturity and a depleted backline where Saints lacked.

Up front the failure of new signing Lama Tasi to deliver and seeing Andre Savelio return physically more equipped to play back row rather than prop left the team heavily reliant on Kyle Amor and Alex Walmsley in the middle.

There was a silver lining to that cloud, with a maturing Luke Thompson giving the pack that an extra bit of fire and energy with some strong carries and an increasingly tighter defence.

But Amor should take a bow for anchoring that pack all term; always taking the hard carries, never flinching or taking a backward step.

The popular big-bearded Cumbrian was player of the year and could count himself unlucky not to have earned an England call-up.

Walmsley improved as the year progressed. Having missed out on two successive pre-seasons due to injury, it was bound to take its toll.

But from the middle of the year he began to find the form that put him on the Man of Steel shortlist the previous year.

Weaknesses and inexperience in the remaining props meant it became difficult for Amor and Walmsley to work in tandem which would have posed a bit more threat to defences.

Saints’ front row deficiencies have been significantly fixed for next term with the signing of Luke Douglas and Adam Walker.

James Roby was once again the team’s Mr Consistency – although it has now become clear that to prolong the former Man of Steel’s career and to maintain his impact on the park that 80 minutes every week needs to change.

Another major plus of the campaign was the way young Cumbrian Morgan Knowles made himself a regular in the first team.

Industrious, dedicated, enthusiastic and keen to learn, Knowles embodied a good spirit that remained in house despite the ups and downs.

Billed by Cunningham as a future captain, Knowles will be keen to retain his place next year in a bolstered pack.

Although something of a Marmite player, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook had a strong season in the back row, earning a new contract as a result.

A character on and off the field, the Londoner’s battling spirit was underlined when he was at the centre of the flare-up with Wigan’s wrecking ball Frank-Paul Nuuausala in Saints’ best win of the campaign.

With Joe Greenwood continue to learn and develop, Saints should have a more formidable pack next term.

The backline posed altogether much more of a threat once Jonny Lomax returned to the full back berth.

His rehabilitation was managed, with the Billinger flitting between wing and full back while he got used to the intensity and workload.

And what a night it was when Lomax chimed into the line and strode through the Leeds Rhinos defence to mark his comeback.

But with Mark Percival missing spells, Tommy Makinson missing the latter part of the campaign after picking up a knock at Widnes on Easter Monday and Dominique Peyroux being a hit and miss signing, at times the backline looked pretty threadbare.

At the times when Lomax, Percival and Adam Swift combined – Saints looked good. But maybe through necessity, given their personnel limitations through injury, Saints often played a conservative brand of football that proved unpopular with the supporters even when it was producing wins.

It took a run of games away from home – especially the win at Wigan and the Super 8s triumph at Warrington – for the belief that had begun to grow among the playing group to spread on to the terraces.

The playing group found something there and from it looking like the season was going to be over prematurely, Saints strung together a winning sequence of 11 wins from 12 matches – including wins against all the top sides sent Keiron Cunningham’s men through to the play-offs as the form side.

Ultimately the semi-final against Warrington turned on a few bad calls from the referee to deny them a trip to Old Trafford; something that was considered a pipe dream back in May.

For all that, had Saints got the fair calls against Warrington – the iffy Tom Lineham touchdown and the Peyroux no-try Saints would have been at Old Trafford.

Referee’s calls aside, had Saints been able to move the ball more against Warrington – having seen in the first half that it was a tactic that could be effective – they would have progressed to the Grand Final and then who knows.

The semi was disappointing, not least because departing scrum half Luke Walsh failed to get a grip and became increasingly anonymous as the game wore on.

The way the game meandered and drifted summed up plenty that has been wrong with Saints in big games for a few years.

They ended up playing the game in the wrong part of the field and when they did get near the Wolves line they seemed to lack composure at the end of the sets and finished them poorly.

Although Matty Smith’s signing from Wigan may not be universally popular, and he will have to win over swaths of the home support, that is clearly an attempt to put a steady hand on the tiller every week.

And dropping centre Ryan Morgan into the backline next term gives Saints strike on both edges for the first time since Willie Talau departed.

The return of a confident and classy Lomax, after the best part of two years on the sidelines, was almost like a new signing.

He offered plenty on both sides of the ball, and the way he organises the defence has improved no end since he inherited Paul Wellens’ number one jersey in 2014.

His call up to the England set up for the Four Nations, along with that of the classy centre Percival was a just reward.

Saints have seen some high profile departures from last year’s crop – Atelea Vea failed to recapture the form he brought after signing from London until injury struck. He was switched from the edge to plug a role in the middle, but has now moved on to Leigh.

Tasi, too, has re-joined Salford after playing just one year in the red vee and missing out at the back end. Signed as ‘Mose Masoe with more minutes’ the Bondi Bruiser failed to deliver what was needed.

Savelio, who was ineffective in the front row at the start of 2016, has moved on to his hometown club Warrington where the chance of playing back row in the long-term injury absence of Ben Currie.

Jordan Turner, who provided some powerful if unorthodox play at six, has headed Down Under to join Canberra.

His half back partner Walsh was told he could look for another club during the season – and he moves across the English Channel to join Catalans.

It was a shame – Walsh clearly has the skills and some days he was magical.

His dreadful injury in his first season took some getting over – and credit to him for even getting back on the field after seeing his leg and ankle in such amess.

Saints’ failure to produce the goods and grab the bull by the horns in the big games is probably the reason he was allowed to leave.

Saints will hope that the players who have earned their spurs in 2016, complemented by next year’s new signings will move the club up that notch that all desire.