Jonah Cunningham: Son of St Helens great Keiron relishing chance to shine as head coach

A hooker, just like his dad, Cunningham was always aware comparisons with his father were inevitable.

And that was always going to be tough.

Wales and Great Britain international Keiron was a one-club man, making 496 appearances in a trophy-laden career that included five Super League titles and seven Challenge Cup wins.

He then went on to become Saints head coach, taking charge of 76 games in a two-and-a-half-year spell that ended in April 2017.

“He was one of the best players in the club’s history. There’s a statue of him outside the stadium and unfortunately I just decided to pick the exact same position as him,” Cunningham said.

By his own admission, Cunningham’s career “dropped off a lot sooner” than his dad’s, and although he progressed through the academy at Saints and was promoted into the first-team squad in 2017 as a 17-year-old, the breakthrough never came.

After several loan spells that included stints with Leigh, Oldham and Rochdale, Cunningham quit the game to “build a career rather than trying to push my way into sport”.

Then came the move away from St Helens – and rugby league – initially to Suffolk, where he ended up playing rugby union for Southwold.

That move brought not only a fresh challenge but some welcome anonymity.

“One of the really nice things that happened to me on that [first] day was a good few lads came up to me and asked if I’ve ever played rugby before,” he said.

“The year before I was obviously in a professional set-up so it was really nice to not be Jonah Cunningham. I was just Jonah.

“People just knew me as me, rather than my dad or that figure above me.”