Of course, his continuing Saints career means that Dream Team inclusion is not on the cards right now. Instead, you can choose from three outstanding candidates, each of whom made considerable contributions for club, country or both.
ANDY JOHNSON
303 Appearances (1956-75)
23 Points (7 Tries)
With Hall of Fame props David Powell and Ron Jacobs on either side, for a few seasons at least Johnson was at the centre of one of the fiercest front rows in Saints history.
In a golden era for the club it wasn't just up front that the Saints boasted star quality. Of course, the likes of Bob Taylor and Don White were also part of fearsome packs in the late 50s and early 60s, but there was also a backline boasting the likes of Jim Hetherington, Jeff Butterfield, Lewis Cannell, Frank Sykes, Roger Hosen and Dickie Jeeps, the list goes on.
While the careers and appearances of the afore mentioned Saints legends didn't all overlap, Johnson managed to turn out with each, having come into the first team fray in 1956. That was the same year that another top hooker in Trevor Smith had left the club and Johnson would hold onto the number two jersey for some two decades.
While an impressive tally, his 303 appearances might have been even higher, had injury not plagued Johnson in the mid to late 60s. Despite a career threatening kick to the head that resulted in a blood clot on the brain and an 18-month absence from the game, he returned to reclaim his place in the side.
In fact his popular return was to such success that the former schoolboy international earned a place on the reserves bench for England, many believing him unfortunate not to earn a single cap in the place of first choice John Pullin.
A further injury, this time to his back, forced Johnson to retire in 1975, though he would go on to coach many of his former team mates for the following season.
FEDERICO MENDEZ
46 Appearances (1998-2000)
65 Points (13 Tries)
Argentina Caps: 74
While Mendez doesn't boast a Saints career spanning anywhere near as long as his two rivals for the Dream Team shirt, the quality of his two seasons with the club make him nailed on for the nominations at least.
Flanked by two of Garry Pagel, Matt Stewart or countryman Martin Scelzo, Mendez was the central pillar of a front row that would rival even today's front three at the Saints.
Capped 74 times by Argentina, including during his time with the Saints, Mendez was already well-known when he joined the club from Bath in 1998, mainly for his infamous punch that laid out Paul Ackford at Twickenham in 1990.
A teenager at that point, Mendez was the complete article by the time he arrived at the Gardens and was of course a vital player in the superb 1999/2000 season.
Upon capturing the Heineken Cup, the final of which was his last game for the Saints, Mendez became the first player to win the trophy twice, having done so in his last game with Bath in 1998, too.
That season almost provided the Saints with an unprecedented treble and while they eventually finished second in the League and as cup runners up, the capture of Europe's most prestigious prize means Mendez's name will forever be etched in Saints history.
STEVE THOMPSON
193 Appearances (1998-2007)
140 Points (28 Tries)
England Caps: 66
British & Irish Lions: 2005 (3 Caps)
A World Cup winner and Lions hooker, Thompson may unlikely have enjoyed such a successful career were it not for the decision of Ian McGeechan to convert him from a back-rower at the age of just 18.
Some 15 years and 66 caps later, 'Wally' hasn't looked back and can claim to have played a crucial hand in the defining successes of both the Saints and England.
Just two seasons into his senior Saints career, the 22-year-old product of an Old Scouts club that has also yielded Ben Cohen and Courtney Lawes shared the hooking duties with legendary Argentine Federico Mendez as the club lifted the 2000 Heineken Cup and within three years he had the starting spot nailed down for both club and country.
Thompson would start five of the six wins en route to England's finest hour in 2003, including the final in Sydney, but the international accolades wouldn't end there. In 2005, Thompson was the only Saint included on the Lions tour of New Zealand, and he would start all three tests against the All Blacks, too.
Some two years later however, Thompson and the Saints would suffer a double blow, when a neck injury sustained toward the close of the 2007 relegation season forced his immediate retirement from the game.
Following consultation with medical experts in Brive though (where he had taken up a consultancy role), Thompson returned and has since represented both the Top 14 side and Leeds, his form putting him back on England's radar. Now signed to Wasps, the veteran will challenge Saints' own Dylan Hartley for hooking duties as England go in search of yet more World Cup triumph.
His outstanding career continues, one that was built in the main during his nine years at Franklin's Gardens.
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