SAINTS prop Alex Walmsley has hailed Saturday’s World Club Challenge victory over Penrith Panthers as the greatest achievement in the club’s 150-year history.

Walmsley was a tower of strength in taking the game to the back-to-back NRL Premiers - with the Saints pack fronting up to the Panthers six.

After Saints had seen a 12-0 lead snatched away from them in last 75 seconds of the game, there was a real belief coursing through the veins of the men in the red vee.

And that contributed to Saints keeping their heads up as they attacked the extra time period, leading to Lewis Dodd’s Golden Point winner.

Walmsley said: “For me, this is the best and we have won some incredible things over the last four years, but I'm not going to undersell this.

“This is the greatest achievement of our team’s history, but also in the club’s history as well.

“To come over to the NRL and play the back-to-back champions – and to get a result on their home patch and in those conditions, then I'm not going to undersell that.

“It's one of the greatest achievements for me, for Super League, St Helens and for English rugby league as well.”

But given the deference towards all things NRL few gave them a prayer.

Australian broadcaster and former player and coach Phil Gould was quoted as saying that ‘Penrith would be able to declare at half time.’

None of that diminished that Saints belief, and Walmsley said: “We came over here and were given no chance, there was probably 17/18 men in there, plus coaching staff, and 800 fans who came out and believed in us.

“The rest of the world gave us absolutely no chance whatsoever which we embraced, we acknowledged and we came with that steely attitude that said we are going to show everyone what we are about and what we are made of.

"They have been NRL champions back-to-back in the NRL, the best league in the world for two years straight and nobody has touched them, but we have come over here on their side of the world and beaten them - and it’s a ‘get that into you’.

"We have such an inner belief and inner strength we believed we could come over and do it.

"I'm genuinely so proud of all of our team but also for Super League and for English rugby league.

"For our sport back home this is massive - we don't have the finances and the infrastructure of Australia.

“It means so much to us as a sport. We are a working class northern sport who look after one another – we have done this for us but also for Super League as well.”

Saints had not won the World Club Challenge since 2007, with just coach Paul Wellens and skipper James Roby remaining from that night.

Since then, defeats by South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters have kept Saints’ name off this coveted trophy.

After being denied competing this past two years, due to Covid lockdown, this was the last chance for this golden age of players led by Roby to take out this prize.

“We talked about an opportunity – one we have not had for four years. We came up against the Roosters in 2020 and not been given opportunity since then for obvious reasons.

“There's one thing about elite sport – and that is that you only get given so many opportunities to succeed and do amazing things.

“And we wanted that, we were not going to let that slip and we were going to give it absolutely everything to make sure we got a result.

And if we had fell short then would have held our hands up and said, fair play, but thankfully we've got a result against a team that has absolutely dominated the NRL for two years straight and will probably dominate this year as well.

“We can hang out that scalp, when we're done and retired we can say we did something special tonight,” Walmsley said.