\n Those span both rugby union and league \u2013 with Ray being a dual code international \u2013 and the world of education and the media.\n<\/p>\n
\n But at today\u2019s funeral service, Saints chairman Eamonn McManus used part of his eulogy to read out a message from Kangaroo legend Mal Meninga, who had a guest spell at St Helens in 1984-85.\n<\/p>\n
\n Meninga\u2019s signing was a catalyst for the club\u2019s most successful season for seven years \u2013 and sent a ripple through the town.\n<\/p>\n
\n Key to that coup of a signing was Ray French, who was over in Australia on BBC commentary duties, but was Saints\u2019 secret weapon when he slipped into the changing rooms of Lang Park, Brisbane after the second Ashes test in 1984.\n<\/p>\n
\n When Ray left the dressing room, a folded contract with the signature of the big Australian centre on the dotted line was safely in his pocket.\n<\/p>\n
\n The rest, as they say, is history with Big Mal helping Saints to Lancashire Cup Final and Premiership Final successes \u2013 with Ray providing the commentary.\n<\/p>\n
\n In part of the chairman\u2019s tribute to Ray \u2013 he read out the tribute submitted this week by Meninga .\n<\/p>\n
\n Big Mal\u2019s message reads:\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI will always remember Ray in the spirit he richly deserves \u2013 a true gentleman and advocate of our game and a passionate fan of St Helens.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI know that I will be forever grateful that Ray was there when I signed for Saints \u2013 it struck me right away that if he were an example of the St Helens club then I would be more than happy to play for it.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cOf course, \u00a0it was a great experience, but my endearing memory to this day\u00a0is of Ray\u2019s commentary.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHis voice exuded the exhilaration of our great game \u2013 I loved to watch the English games to hear Ray \u2013 and nothing had changed; welcoming, passionate and exciting.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe will be sorely missed but we are very fortunate that he lives on in our memories.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhen I reflect on my time in rugby league and at the Saints his name will always be at the fore.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Those span both rugby union and league \u2013 with Ray being a dual code international \u2013 and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-70294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70294","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=70294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}