AS part of our 50 Years of St Helens Star coverage of Saints we are looking back at a key player from every year from 1973 to present day.

Today we move on to 1982 and Chris Arkwright.

The tough, but skilful former Saints skipper came from good rugby league stock with his dad John and granddad Jack playing in the pack for the club in the 60s and inter-war years respectively.

But Chris made his own mark after graduating from the Saints Colts in 1978 and between October 1978 and May 1990 he played 273 for his hometown team - starting off in the centres, before switching to stand off and then loose forward.

At the back end of his career at Knowsley Road he finished up at prop.

Tough as teak, but classy with it, Arkwright was a fine reader of the game and a decent finisher.

Knee trouble looked as though it was going to derail his career, but he bounced back to become a key figure in the team that had gone through some transition.

Arkwright was desperately unlucky not to tour Australia in 1984, after being selected in the initial squad.

But he was in his element in the 1984 campaign - playing stand off in the club's first silverware for seven seasons when they won the Lancashire Cup and Premiership Trophy.

St Helens Star:

The following year Arkwright made the Great Britain team for the brutal series against New Zealand.

When Harry Pinner went to Widnes, Arkwright moved up to take his number 13 jersey and armband.

He skippered the side to Wembley in 1987, but alas Saints were pipped by a point against champions Halifax.

St Helens Star:

The back end of his spell at Saints was again disrupted by injury - but when he played the opposition knew about it. A fierce competitor, Arkwright always put plenty of venom into his tackling.

He had scored 90 tries in the red vee before he moved on to join Highfield, then based at St Helens Town's Hoghton Road ground in Sutton.