FIGURES revealed this week show that Saints are the undisputed kings of giving homegrown talent a break into Super League.

For the fourth year in a row Saints have topped the list with an average of 11.76 club trained players out of the matchday 17.

That figure is ahead of Leeds on 9.56, with neighbours Wigan and Warrington trailing way behind on 7.76 and 6.6 respectively.

Rotten luck on the injury front meant Saints had to rely heavily on youngsters in 2010– and they stood up well with Jonny Lomax, Matty Ashurst and Andrew Dixon continuing their development and dead-eye goalkicker Jamie Foster nailing down a spot on the flanks.

Talented backrower Sean Magennis and teenage stand off Lee Gaskell also made their marks in their debut year – and will be better for it next term Saints’ high performance manager and head of youth Mike Rush said the figures are a tribute to all those involved, from the volunteers and up to the chairman.

Rush said: “Without all the grassroots volunteers, who go out with their teams on a Sunday morning, you haven’t got a system so they get the first pat on the back.

“But you also need a head coach who is will to back the academy players.

“One of the first things Daniel Anderson did when he arrived in 2005 was play Ian Hardman and James Graham at Leeds. He was prepared to back the kids.

“Mick Potter carried that policy on – and although some criticise him for not winning any trophies he may have left the club with the best legacy possible with the number of young players he has actually fielded and blooded over the past two seasons.”

It is quite a turnaround from the early noughties when short term signings like Heath Cruickshank, Leon Felton and Gray Viane were brought in to fill holes rather than backing young, locally produced players.

Rush believes a change in culture at board level has also been key and he praised chairman Eamonn McManus for continuing to invest in the development budget.

“Eamonn knows about rugby and he wants to see local lads come through and accepts that youth development is the club’s lifeblood.

“As such there has been a change in the last half of the decade and he has said no to buying in over the hill veterans instead of going with the kids.

“We stopped buying players to win the next game or to do well that season,” Rush said.