WHEN I was a kid in the 70s my mam regularly took me to Horace Street library to 'get a book on rugby'.

Trouble is they never seemed to have any books on rugby league - the closest I ever got to a book on the 13-aside game was the autobiography of dual code Welshman David Watkins.

I think Watkins’ was the last RL biography I had read until Ray French's My Kind of Rugby came along in 1980.

It was obviously a lot harder to publish a book in those days, but advances in technology and printing makes it so much easier in 2014.

You can tell - there are now so many more rugby league books on the shelves, allowing the characters to tell their story of a life in our game.

I enjoy writing the occasional book in my spare time and over the past four months have completed two more – Saints 2006 and assisting Steve Prescott with his story.

So far I have been pleased with the response from fans to As Good As It Gets - the book about Saints' Grand Slam winning team of 2006.

That year's team was so special that the players, coaches, backroom staff and chairman deserved to have the feat documented.

That team swept up the Challenge Cup, comfortably finished top to grab the League Leaders' Shield, losing only four genes all year by paltry margins of 2,1, 2 and 4, and then beat Hull to win the Grand Final.

So yes 2006 was special and in the words of coach Daniel Anderson, "The stars aligned for us that year."

And I am so glad that - among others - Daniel, strength and conditioning coach Apollo Perelini, Man of Steel Paul Wellens, the face if the Challenge Cup Jon Wilkin and prolific scorer Ade Gardner gave up their time to put their perspective and insight into the book.

It was a special season - and as magical as he was - it was about more than simply the input of Australian superstar Jamie Lyon.

Back in 2006 there were probably plenty of fans and maybe even some players who took success for granted, became blasé about it and maybe it has taken this last few years, to really put that year in proper focus.

A special year – but as good as it gets? Let’s hope not.