\n Peter Harvey and Francis Meli (Image: Alex Service)\n<\/p>\n
\n Peter \u2013 whose autobiography was entitled Redhead with Fire in his Boots \u2013 was a member of the all-conquering four-cups team of 1965-66.\n<\/p>\n
\n One of the very few Saints to be born in Scotland, the now 85-year-old is the son of a Lancashire coal miner.\n<\/p>\n
\n Educated at Holy Cross and West Park, then called the St Helens Catholic Grammar School, which was then an eminent rugby union school.\n<\/p>\n
\n That was a sport Peter embraced, going on to represent Lancashire and England Schools in the three-quarters, captaining both teams in the 15-man code.\n<\/p>\n
\n Peter Harvey – England international (Image: Supplied)\n<\/p>\n
\n After winning 20 senior Lancashire caps Peter trialled for the senior England team in 1963 but was not selected for the tour to Australia.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rugby union\u2019s loss would be league\u2019s gain when Peter switched codes with Saints that year and swiftly had the distinction of securing Lancashire caps in both codes.\n<\/p>\n
\n Although his Saints debut came at stand-off in August 1963, he spent most of that season on the wing, using his pace to cross for 22 for tries and winning his first medal in the Lancashire Cup final win against Leigh at Swinton.\n<\/p>\n
\n He doubled that Lancashire Cup collection the following year after the 12-4 win over Swinton.\n<\/p>\n
\n Alas, Saints were surprised by Halifax in the Championship final that year \u2013 a game in which Peter played on the wing outside Tom van Vollenhoven.\n<\/p>\n
\n But that must have intensified the side\u2019s hunger as the following 1965-66 season Saints won the lot.\n<\/p>\n
\n 1966 Wembley winners (Image: Saints Heritage Society)\n<\/p>\n
\n With Alex Murphy moved out to the centres, Peter partnered Tommy Bishop in the halves at Wembley during the 21-2 win over Wigan, then a week later played in the thrashing of Halifax to complete a four-trophy haul.\n<\/p>\n
\n What a team that was \u2013 power up front led by the mighty Cliff Watson, guile in the halves and two finishers on the wing in Voll and Len Killeen.\n<\/p>\n
\n That would be the pinnacle of Peter\u2019s Saints career and he was transferred to Warrington in July 1967, where he would eventually become coach.\n<\/p>\n
\n But he has retained a strong affinity with the Saints – through the Past Players Association and his co-commentating for blind supporters.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Harvey Family celebrates (Image: Alex Service)\n<\/p>\n
\n Francis Meli enjoyed a successful eight-year stint in the red vee after then coach Daniel Anderson brought him over from New Zealand Warriors ahead of the 2006 season.\n<\/p>\n
\n The big Kiwi international was different in style to Darren Albert, the wingman he replaced after the speedster returned to the NRL at the end of 2005.\n<\/p>\n
\n St Helens Francis Meli scores a try in the 2008 Challenge Cup Final. (Image: \/SWPIX.COM)\n<\/p>\n
\n Reflecting on the big wingman\u2019s contribution Anderson noted: \u201cFrancis brought power, pace and personality.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Meli was a prolific scorer, crossing 145 times in 224 Saints appearances between 2006-13.\n<\/p>\n
\n In the first three of those seasons he forged a strong partnership with centre Willie Talau \u2013 an often unsung contribution to the star-studded invincible team of 2006 that swept all before it.\n<\/p>\n
\n St Helens Francis Meli scores a try. (Image: VAUGHN RIDLEY\/SWPIX.COM)\n<\/p>\n
\n In his time at Saints Meli collected three Challenge Cup final winner\u2019s medals, A Grand Final ring and appeared in the 2008 World Club Challenge win over Brisbane Broncos.\n<\/p>\n
\n He switched to centre at the back end of his Saints career before moving on to Salford Red Devils in 2014.\n<\/p>\n
\n Francis Meli (Image: Alex Service)\n<\/p>\n
\n Francis Meli and Ade Gardner (Image: Alex Service)\n<\/p>\n
\n Meli was presented with his award by former teammate Ade Gardner – another member of that 2006 team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Peter Harvey and Francis Meli (Image: Alex Service) Peter \u2013 whose autobiography was entitled Redhead with Fire in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-641070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}