THIS time 36 years ago came one of the landmark moments of Saints' post war history - Mal Meninga's debut.
The ending of the international transfer ban meant plenty of British clubs nipped down under to recruit quality Australians.
Wigan had signed Brett Kenny and John Ferguson, Hull FC had recruited scrum half Peter Sterling while Leeds signed Eric Grothe and a half a dozen or so more.
But in Meninga Saints had brought in a player that would revitalise a sleeping giant, galvanising a young team into winning things again.
He made an immediate impact, thundering through for two tries on debut against Castleford in a 30-16 win at Knowsley Road.
The 7,500 gate may not seem much in modern terms, but that was double the norm for such a Saints fixture back then.
Meninga was the catalyst for not just the team, but for getting the town back talking rugby again.
Meninga would go on to score 28 tries from 31 games.
And of course it was not simply Big Mal's debut, club mate Phil Veivers made the first of more than 380 appearances for Saints that afternoon in a stint that would last until 1996.
In a career in which he played full back, centre and in the pack, Veivers was a hugely popular character at Knowsley Road - and crossed for 98 tries.
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