BACK IN 1986

The last time Hull Kingston Rovers and Leeds (before they became the Rhinos) met in a major Challenge Cup tie, 1986, the rugby league world was a very different beast to the one that we now take for granted.

Winter rugby, cash strapped clubs, no Sky TV, two divisions, no play offs, County Cups, the John Player Trophy, Kangaroo and British Lions Tours and no Eddie and Stevo plus Hull KR won more trophies than Leeds did……..which might surprise a lot of current supporters of both teams.

In the rest of the world at that time Margaret Thatcher was still Prime Minister and would be for another 5 years, Ronald Reagan was President of the USA and his country was still coming to terms with the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion and Britain and France announced plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.

Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen

In football Alex Ferguson was winning trophy’s with Aberdeen and making a name for himself before his move to Manchester United later in the year, Bobby Robson was ready to lead England to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and Liverpool, led by Player Manager Kenny Dalglish, were closing in on their 16^th League Championship title with local rivals and defending Champions Everton, led by top goal scorer Gary Lineker, finishing runners up. Liverpool would also go on to complete the much heralded League and Cup double for the first time defeating Everton in the first all-Merseyside FA Cup Final as well.

Unbelievably to most people these days Oxford United were playing in the First Division (no Premier League in them days) and went on to win the League Cup with a victory over QPR. Other members of football’s elite division at that time were Sheffield Wednesday, Luton Town, Nottingham Forest, Coventry City and Birmingham City.

Iron Mike Tyson

In other sport Joe Johnson unexpectedly won the World Snooker Championship defeating the legendary Steve Davis, Eric Bristow had won his 5^th and final World Darts Championship, Chicago Bears won the Superbowl and a certain Mike Tyson was making his destructive way in the boxing world on the way to becoming the youngest ever Heavyweight Champion.

At the time of the classic 1986 semi-final and replay between the two sides, Rovers were gunning for a third successive league title having won the old first past the post the team at the top of the table at the end of the season are the League Champions old fashioned thing in both the 1983/84 and 1984/85 seasons.

They were still led by the legendary Roger Millward who had become the club’s most successful ever coach with 3 league titles, 2 Premiership Trophy’s, 1 Challenge Cup, 1 John Player Trophy, 1 Floodlit Trophy and 1 Yorkshire Cup and they had top quality players like George Fairbairn, Mike Smith, Australians John Dorahy and Gavin Miller, who would go on to win the Man of Steel Award at the end of the season and New Zealand internationals Gary Prohm and Gordon Smith.

Leeds had a new coach in former Bradford Northern and Great Britain coach Peter Fox and were superbly led by Australian stand off Cliff Lyons who showed some fine form inside his fellow Australian Tony Currie. Young forwards Roy Powell and Paul Medley were putting in some powerful performances, veteran forward Jeff Grayshon had followed Fox from Bradford and they had brought in young Batley three quarter Carl Gibson for a fee of £50,000.

The Headingley side had not won the League Championship since 1972 or the Challenge Cup since 1978 and were desperate to halt that run.

Hull KR had already won the Yorkshire Cup earlier in the season, defeating Castleford 22-18, and had lost the John Player Trophy final narrowly, 11-8, to Wigan in January. Winning the semi-final would mean that they would play every game possible in the 85/86 season – something that they would pay a high price for at the end of the season.

In the month of March Leeds had played Widnes on three consecutive weekends – back to back league games ended with home wins before the teams met in the Challenge Cup quarter final at Naughton Park. The game ended in a 10-10 draw so the teams met for the fourth consecutive occasion in the replay at Headingley 3 days later. Leeds won 5-0.

A league victory over Castleford preceded the Easter Weekend semi-final and Leeds entered the game in good form.

On the other hand Hull KR had lost 2 consecutive league games leading up to the semi-final, losing at home to eventual champions Halifax and away at Warrington.

The 1985 Challenge Cup final between Wigan and Hull was widely celebrated as one of the greatest games of all time – the semi-final and replay would prove to be equally as good, if not better.

A crowd in excess of 23,000 filed into Elland Road on Easter Saturday and were treated to a wonderful ebbing and flowing game of rugby league.

David Creasser and John Dorahy traded early penalty goals and it was Leeds three quarter Creasser who scored the first try of the match as he dived in at the corner away from a despairing Fairbairn cover tackle. Leeds led 6-2 before one of the pivotal moments of the match occurred.

Cliff Lyons

After Terry Webb had extended the lead with a drop goal his fellow Australian Tony Currie powered through the Rovers defence and scrum half Paul Harkin led with his legs in attempt to stop Currie from scoring – the impact did not stop him from staying on his feet and crashing over the line to extend the lead. Immediately the try was awarded referee Robin Whitfield sent Harkin off – Rovers would have to play a significant part of the match with 12 men.

Creasser’s conversion hit the post but Cliff Lyons was successful with another drop goal and Leeds led 12-2.

Rovers had also lost international forward Chris Burton with a broken arm and they had a real fight on to regain their composure and discipline and get back in the game.

Unsung winger David Laws helped them do just that when he swooped on a Leeds error and scored in the corner just before half time. Rovers were back in it and trailed by 6 at the half time break.

Rovers brought on Gordon Smith at half time and he brought greater control to Rovers game but it was the other Smith, long serving international Mike, who would be instrumental in powering Rovers in front.

Mike Smith

Unbelievably, by the 60 minute mark Hull KR’s 12 men led 24-14. Laws scored his second try before Mike Smith cut a swathe through the Leeds defence twice to score tries on both occasions.

Peter Fox had instilled some steel into a previously flimsy Leeds team and they did not lay down and accept defeat but merely played some fantastic rugby that added to this epic semi-final.

Currie scored his second try, converted by Creasser, to leave Leeds just 4 points down against a tiring Rovers defence. It was left to the powerful 19 year old second rower Paul Medley to level the scores as he crashed over the line with just a few minutes left. Creasser could not win the game for Leeds and the final hooter sounded with the scores locked at 24-24.

The teams did it all again 5 days later in a match that reached an even higher level in front of a jam packed crowd of 32,485 at the same venue.

The first 40 minutes passed in a flash as both teams played some brilliant rugby with hardly a scrum, penalty or handling error interrupting the flow of the game. Both defences were outstanding and could not be breached so the tie was still level after another exhilarating 40 minutes.

It was Hull KR who stepped up to the mark in the second half and took the game by the scruff of the neck. Paul Harkin put the first point on the board with a drop goal before Australian prop Peter Johnston scored the first try of the game – his only try of the season and probably the most important of his career. Dorahy missed the simple conversion but added a penalty soon after to give Rovers a 7-0 lead.

Rovers were now in control and Miller, Dorahy, Harkin and Phil Hogan were causing all sorts of problems for the Leeds defence.

Substitute John Lydiat scored Rovers second try and the Rovers fans, along with Lydiat, roared and danced with delight as they had finally broken the spirit of a strong Leeds side.

Second row forward Andy Kelly added a further try, converted by Dorahy, close to the end of the game to confirm Rovers as Challenge Cup finalists with a 17-0 victory that Millward described as ‘’the most complete performance in my time as coach.’’

Rovers hopes of landing a third successive league title were ruined by their success in all of the Cup competitions.

After the semi-final replay Rovers still had 9 league games (nearly a third of their entire league fixtures) to complete before the end of April.

They managed to win just 3 more league games as they were forced to play those 9 league games in a 16 day period from the 6^th to the 22^nd April including 5 successive homes games in 7 days and were playing games at 2 day intervals and even played Leeds and Salford on consecutive nights (beating Leeds 28-12). At times they had to play on pitches that at other times of the season would have seen the games postponed.

The defending Champions slid to 7^th in the league table and went on to lose the Challenge Cup Final 15-14 to Castleford – a last minute Lydiat try could not be converted from the touchline by Dorahy and Rovers had struggled all match because the inspirational Gavin Miller was clearly not fully fit after suffering a thigh injury just prior to the final.

It was the beginning of the end of the golden period in the history of Hull Kingston Rovers and the last time that Hull KR played at Wembley until this Saturday when they take on massive task of preventing the Rhinos from winning a second successive Challenge Cup Final.

Albert Kelly

There are parallels with the 1986 final in that Hull KR’s 2015 talisman, Albert Kelly, has not played for 4 weeks since the brilliant semi-final defeat of Warrington Wolves. A knee injury suffered in that game has prevented Kelly from playing since but he has been named in the Rovers squad of 19 and will undoubtedly take his place in Rovers starting line-up.

Can Rovers upset the odds this time and defeat a Leeds Rhinos team intent on sending off club legends Kevin Sinfield and Jamie Peacock in the best possible way?

It will be tough but let’s hope the calibre of the match is up to the standards of the 1986 semi-final and replay.

SIX TO GO – LIZZIE JONES, SLAMMIN' SAM AND HAYNE THE PLANE

Welcome to the latest edition of Six to Go, looking at some of the things that have caught my eye over the past week or so.

Lizzie Jones and twins.

Lizzie Jones to sing at Challenge Cup Final.

Obviously I am really looking forward to taking my 4 kids (one of them a Hull FC fan!!!!) to Wembley on August 29^th to watch our team, Hull Kingston Rovers, take on the mighty Leeds Rhinos. It is Rovers first Challenge Cup Final since 1986 – 29 years since we lost to Castleford 15-14 – and, therefore, our first visit to the ‘new’ Wembley Stadium. I have only driven around the outside of the stadium and seen the arch when I have visited North London for work and I always said that I would not visit the stadium until Rovers got there – I thought I’d be waiting a lot longer to be honest.

So, we are all looking forward to the day and are very excited about seeing Rovers play on the biggest stage in the game in front of a huge attendance.

What has made me look forward to this game even more was this week’s announcement that Lizzie Jones, the widow of Keighley Cougars half back Danny who tragically died after a match earlier this season, will be singing ‘Abide with Me’ prior to the game.

The song has been a fixture at Challenge Cup Finals since the first Wembley Cup final in 1929 and is very emotional – it was actually written as a poem by Henry Francis Lyte in 1847 and is set to music by English Composer William Henry Monk called ‘Eventide’.

The fact Lizzie is singing this song will make it even more emotional and it is wonderful that she has been given this opportunity to thank the Rugby League public for the amazing support that she and her family have received.

Would this happen in any other sport?

Lizzie is a professional singer and I am sure will do a brilliant job and will do Danny and her two young twins proud – I think the welcome she will receive when she is announced will be as loud as when the two teams walk out together.

All I need now to improve the day further is a fit Albert Kelly in a Challenge Cup winning side – I never thought I would invoke the Black Eyed Peas but ‘’I gotta feeling’’!!

Sam Burgess in action v. France.

‘Slamming Sam’ makes an impact

The presence of Sam Burgess in the England Rugby Union team is one of only a few ways you would get me to watch a Union match on a Saturday night (the missus didn’t seem to mind either for some reason) but I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the match and the Sky coverage which was full of insightful and informed commentary and analysis from intelligent and highly respected former players and coaches who have achieved great successes (World Cups, Heineken Cups etc).

I thought England played some exciting rugby and you could see, on occasion, that some of their coaches and players are influenced by rugby league.

The two tries scored by Anthony Watson were superb and the kind of tries Jason Robinson would have been proud of whilst the try by his opposite wingman, Johnny Mays, would not have looked out of place on a rugby league field as England used block runners before the full back, Alex Goode, put in a precise kick for Mays to charge on to unchallenged as the French defence had been pulled in and left a huge overlap.

Anyway, I wasn’t intending to bang the drum for Union, just Slammin’ Sam who I thought had an excellent debut.  You can see some highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6oaZ6Qv3T4

He may have been overshadowed by his fellow centre Henry Slade, who was outstanding and showed some wonderful skills, but Burgess showcased all of the skills that every League fan knew he possessed.

He tackled strongly and fearlessly and some big French lumps certainly knew who Sam Burgess was at the end of the match but he also showed ability with the ball in hand and was involved in the move for England’s second try although he blotted his copybook slightly by being sin-binned for 10 minutes for obstruction – a minor offence really that just deserved a penalty.

The big question now is whether he will be a part of the final England squad of 31 for the upcoming World Cup.

England coach Stuart Lancaster see’s Burgess as a centre whereas he plays in the back row for Bath and it is likely that England will take 4 centres to the World Cup.

Better judges than me say that Jonathan Joseph, England’s player of the year, and Brad Barritt are certainties to fill two of the centre spots whilst Burgess, Slade, Luther Burrell and Billy Twelvetrees fight it out for the final two spots.

After seeing Slade, also a debutante, play on Saturday night and the fact that he can cover fly half it would be difficult to leave him out. According to Jeremy Guscott, Twelvetrees will definitely not make the squad, and with Burrell forming the centre partnership with Joseph throughout the 2015 Six Nations campaign, during which England scored 18 tries, then Sam will be hard pushed to make the final 31.

His Bath coach, former Rugby League international Mike Ford, believes Burgess has done enough to make the squad whilst World Cup winning scrum half Matt Dawson was not impressed with Burgess’ performance and believes he should not make the squad.

It would be an outstanding achievement if Burgess makes the World Cup squad just 10 months after his Herculean performance in the NRL Grand Final for South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Jarryd Hayne.

Jarryd Hayne debuts for San Francisco 49ers.

Another former Rugby League star who also made an impressive debut at the weekend was former Parramatta, New South Wales and Australia full back and three quarter Jarryd Hayne who played his first game of American Football for the San Francisco 49ers in a pre-season trial 23-10 loss to the Houston Texans.

Hayne appeared as a running back and kick returner and made an impact in both positions with a 53 yard rush on one carry alone and recorded a total of 63 yards from 5 carries. He also had a 33 yard return from a kick off and went a long way in showcasing his attributes and gave himself a huge chance of earning a place in the 49ers final 53 man roster for the 2015/16 NFL regular season.

If Hayne manages to pull this off and get on the final roster I believe that this will be an even bigger achievement than if Burgess makes the England Rugby Union World Cup squad.

Burgess is back in his home country with a huge reputation and pay packet and is at least playing a sport that is similar in many ways to rugby league whereas Hayne has totally left his comfort zone by moving to a new country where he has next to no reputation apart from what people have seen on YouTube and no contract offer whatsoever.

He has had to go through spring training camp and prove himself over and over again before even being given the opportunity to suit up and take the field in a proper game of American Football and even though he impressed team mates and commentators alike in his debut outing he still has a hell of a job to earn a place on the final roster.

It would be a huge achievement and already a number of NFL scouts are making contact with Australian agent’s to talk about NRL stars who could potentially be willing to take a punt on a career in the NFL.

NFL teams have player budgets well in excess of US$100 million and the salary’s of the best paid NRL stars will be seen as peanuts.

Here are the highlights of Haynes performance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtgEme7IQAA

James Lowes.

James Lowes appointed assistant England Coach.

Shaun Wane, Chris Chester, Paul Anderson, Daryl Powell, Lee Radford, Denis Betts – all English Head Coaches of Super League clubs who have had varying degrees of success in their positions.

Wane has won the Super League title and Challenge Cup with Wigan, Chester has taken Hull KR to their first Challenge Cup Final in 29 years in his first full year in charge, Paul Anderson took Huddersfield to the League Leaders Shield in his first season at the helm and has made them a top 4 team, Daryl Powell is the reigning Coach of the Year, Lee Radford is working hard to improve Hull FC and Denis Betts is overseeing a steady improvement at Widnes Vikings.

Wouldn’t you think that if the Head Coach of your National team, who is based in Australia, is looking for an assistant for an important upcoming home Test Series against the number 1 ranked international side in the world he would look at the men who are currently in charge of a Super League side and will have all of the knowledge that he will need to help him have a crack at New Zealand.

Steve McNamara is clearly his own man and instead has appointed his old mate, Championship side Bradford Bulls Head Coach James Lowes.

I was full of admiration for Lowes as a player but just remind me what Lowes has achieved in his coaching career to earn this appointment?

I know a Head Coach needs to be comfortable with his assistant and be confident in his abilities but I would much rather see an experienced Super League Head Coach help with the preparation of the squad for what could be McNamara’s last throw of the dice as National Head Coach with a young up and coming coach or recent former player who has recently retired working alongside them as well.

I personally do not see what James Lowes will bring to the England squad and believe that, in particular, the likes of Powell and Anderson would bring much more to the squad and give us a greater opportunity to win the Test Series.

Maybe McNamara doesn’t want to give them on the job interviews to take over his position!!

'Frank the Tank' Pritchard

Hull FC’s quality recruitment

As much as I hate to admit it I think that Hull FC have recruited really well for 2016 and, in particular, their pack will be full of monsters that will give many teams a nightmare.

FC already have a very good back row in which Mark Minichello, signed from Gold Coast Titans last year, has been one of the stand out performers in Super League this year alongside former England international Gareth Ellis, when he’s fit, and the enigmatic Joe Westerman who, on his day, can be devastating.

This season Liam Watts has really come to the fore in the front row alongside Mickey Paea and the ever reliable Danny Houghton.

They are losing Paea to the Newcastle Knights and I’m not too sure that Ellis will fully recover from the Achilles injury that he suffered in the final Derby of the season at Hull KR on July 17^th.

However, the players that they are bringing in will strengthen their pack tremendously.

Former Hull KR prop Scott Taylor has signed from Salford Red Devils and the majority of Salford fans will agree that he has been their form forward this year and has got back to the form that persuaded Wigan Warriors to sign him from Rovers 3 years ago and they have strengthened their back row even more with the signings of former New Zealand internationals Frank Pritchard and Sika Manu.

Frank the Tank is a beast and has 27 Test Caps for New Zealand and nearly 250 NRL appearances for Penrith Panthers and Canterbury Bulldogs over the last 12 years whilst Manu has 14 Test appearances for the Kiwis and nearly 150 NRL appearances over the last 8 years for Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers. Both of them will bring a great amount of physicality to the Hull pack and make them an even more formidable proposition.

The main problem for Hull will be getting their backs to fire off these forwards, in particularly their half backs.

This is where they have struggled for so many years and the new pairing of Leon Pryce and Marc Sneyd, hailed as the clubs best half back pairing since they won the Challenge Cup in 2005 with Richard Horne and Paul Cooke, have not played as well or as consistently as the fans expected and only Tom Lineham in the back line has proved a constant threat to opposition defences scoring 21 tries in 20 Super League appearances this year. He will be sorely missed when he leaves for Warrington Wolves at the end of the year but his replacement, Mahe Fonua, looks exciting and could have a huge impact on Super League.

Fonua has been signed from Melbourne Storm and was the first Melbourne born player to represent the Storm in the NRL and has scored 24 tries in 50 appearances since his debut in 2012. Despite not gaining a regular berth in 2015 after a successful 2014 season Fonua will be only 23 at the start of Super League XXI and at over 6’ and nearly 16st he and Fetuli Talanoa could form a destructive wing partnership next year.

Add in the versatility and professionalism of Danny Washbrook, who has re-signed after 4 years at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, the unknown quantity that is Carlos Tuimavave from Newcastle Knights and the improving Steve Michaels and Curtis Naughton then you have a team that could easily claim a top 6 finish - but things never seem to work out as they should over in West Hull do they!!

 

Manu Vatuvei

New Zealand injury crisis

I wrote in my last column about the disappointment I felt about Shaun Johnson being ruled out of the forthcoming New Zealand tour to England due to a serious ankle injury and now I feel even more disappointed because ‘The Beast’, Manu Vatuvei, has this week also been ruled out of the tour because of a shoulder injury he suffered earlier in the year.

The Kiwis will also be without another experienced and long serving wingman, Jason Nightingale, for the tour as he is out of the game indefinitely with an ankle injury.

That’s a lot of fire power and experience to lose – Vatuvei is the Kiwi’s record Test try scorer with 22 tries in 28 Tests and Nightingale has 16 tries in 25 Tests and was the top tryscorer in last year’s Four Nations tournament – add these to the loss of Johnson and experienced hooker / half back Thomas Leuluai and you are removing a lot of the skill and talent that would have excited the English crowds and made England’s life a lot more difficult.

Penrith Panther’s young wingman Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who was selected ahead of Vatuvei for the 2014 Four Nations opener and ahead of Nightingale for this year’s ANZAC Test but unfortunately pulled out of both games with injury, is also unlikely to make the tour as he suffered a collapsed lung earlier in the year.

First choice centres Dean Whare and Shaun Kenny-Dowall are also currently out of the game for different reasons so there could be a host of places open to some young guns to come through and make an impact or for some former Test players to reclaim a jersey.

The Kiwis have a host of young guns who would not look out of place in the Test side.

Canterbury wide man Curtis Rona has run in 20 tries in 20 appearances in the NRL this year, Antonio Winterstein is a regular tryscorer for North Queensland and has been for a few years now, Warriors three quarter Solomone Kata has had a very good first year in the NRL with 11 tries in 21 appearances and the likes of Winterstein’s fellow wingman at the Cowboys Matthew Wright, the Warriors Ken Maumolo, Jordan Rapana from the Raiders and Cronulla’s Sosaia Feki mean that the Kiwi’s have plenty of youngsters that they can cast an eye over.

Former Test players Gerard Beale, Bryson Goodwin, Sam Perrett, Matt Duffie and Josh Hoffman will also be looked at as potential replacements but none of them will have the impact of ‘The Beast’.

 A bit of extra time thinking……

Keegan Hirst

Batley Bulldog’s captain Keegan Hirst should be respected for having the strength of character to announce his homosexuality – a lot of people don’t and have to lead live’s that they are not happy with that have consequences that are sometimes tragic. It is a shame that so far into the 21^st Century that Keegan had to battle a lot of demons before being able to tell his wife let alone make it public.

One of my best memories from Hull KR’s Challenge Cup semi-final win over Warrington Wolves was our supporter’s rendition of Erasure’s ‘A Little Respect’ at the final hooter. What a great and totally unexpected song choice that was. Erasure front man Andy Bell has sent the team a good luck message and given them permission to record their own version of the song which is available to download from iTunes and Google Play. All money raised will be split between the charity’s Freddie’s Friends, Downright Special and the Terence Higgins Trust. You can see the video here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzfqh6xQtuI .Check out the moves of Kevin Larroyer and Kieran Dixon – it’s great fun – my 6 year old just loves to watch it over and over again!! 

Will Albert Kelly be fit?

It is such a shame to see players miss major Cup Finals at any time but even more so when they are in their final season with a club. Leeds Rhinos hooker Paul Aiton has been brilliant for them this season but unfortunately he broke his arm and dislocated his wrist in the recent heavy defeat of Warrington Wolves and has played his last game for them before his move to Catalans Dragons next year. Jamie Jones-Buchanan has also been ruled out for 9 months after suffering a serious knee injury in the semi-final defeat of St. Helens but you can be sure that no player will work harder to ensure that they come back fitter and stronger next season. I am just praying that Hull KR half back Albert Kelly can overcome his own knee injury to take his place in our Challenge Cup final side next week.

Some serious number being thrown around in the Australian TV deals for both the NRL and AFL (Australia Rules) in the last weeks or so. The NRL thought they had pulled off a great deal with their 5 year ‘free to air’ Aus$925 million with Channel 9 which will run from 2018 to 2022 and will include 4 live games of rugby league live to prime time terrestrial viewers every week plus the State of Origin series as well – imagine ITV being able to cover 4 live games a week and you get the idea. This deal appears to have cheesed off Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation who, in a short space of time, came out and announced they have agreed a 6 year Aus€2.508 billion with the AFL (Australian Rules Football). The NRL still have another 4 games a week that they need to sell off for the same period but it seems unlikely that they will raise anywhere near the income that the AFL have negotiated. 

You can follow me on Twitter @sharpster69

SIX TO GO – MIDDLES 8’S, BBC AND REFEREE ABUSE

Welcome to the latest edition of Six to Go. Due to work commitments and holidays it is over a month since my last column and a lot has happened in the world of Rugby League in that time. Below I take a look at some of the things that have caught my eye over the past month or so.

Hull KR land first blow in Middle 8’s

Hull KR haven’t done anything easy this season and that trend continued in the opening game of the Middle 8’s on Saturday afternoon against Championship Title winners Leigh Centurions.

Leigh had not lost a home game for nearly 2 years and Rovers away form, in Super League at least, has been atrocious this year with just 1 win from 12 away games so there was no surprise that the Centurions were heading into this game in confident mood and this really was an acid test for them to confirm that they were good enough for Super League.

Dane Chisholm

Rovers came into the game on the back of their brilliant Challenge Cup semi-final win over Warrington last week but started the game with Dane Chisholm in the halves in place of the talismanic Albert Kelly who missed out with a knee injury that may well keep him out of the Challenge Cup Final according to Head Coach Chris Chester – personally I’m hoping the mind games have started early!!!!!

The first 40 minutes could not have gone much better for Leigh. They went in at half time 24-6 up despite Chisholm opening the scoring with a 90 metre try for Rovers – that was the only positive for the Super League side, for the rest of the half they were awful and just could not handle the open and swift style of rugby league that the Centurions were throwing at them – if it wasn’t for the intervention of Kris Welham and Ken Sio then Leigh would have had 2 more tries and the game would have been out of the reach of the Super League side.

The Greg McNally try when he followed a Ryan Brierley break and kick on was brilliant.

Half time was the best thing to happen for Hull KR but I still did not expect Rovers to get the win – however, Leigh came out and did not play with the same confidence that they did in the first half and lacked composure and discipline (especially Gareth Hock who became a liability) – whereas Rovers tightened up on ball control and discipline and ground the Centurions down.

Kieran Dixon got Rovers off to the best possible start in the second half when he backed up a Graeme Horne half break to scorch down the right wing to score under the posts. A Leigh penalty goal was all they could muster in the second half as Rovers scored 30 points to record a 36-26 victory.

Rovers fans knew this game would be tough but Rovers first half performance was unacceptable and Chester needed to vent his spleen at half time to get the reaction he wanted from his team – in the first half Leigh played superbly and caused Rovers all sorts of problems and they would have blown any Championship side away before half time – but Super League sides tend to stick around and play for the full 80 minutes and this is where Leigh failed.

Their composure and discipline disappeared in the second half when Rovers started piling the pressure on and the game management of the Rovers half backs Chisholm and Maurice Blair was far superior in the second half.

However, the Centurions can be very proud of their effort but the question is still out as to whether they will make it to Super League at the end of the Middle 8 qualifiers – at the minimum they will be in the ‘million pound’ game that will decide the 12th Super League team for 2016 – but they will now be fully aware of the tough task they have ahead of them.

BBC beats Sky

Coming back to Sky’s coverage of Rugby League this weekend after sampling the BBC coverage of last week’s hugely entertaining Challenge Cup semi-finals was like going back to drinking cheap wine from Asda after spending a week sampling the wares of a world class vineyard – put simply it was boring, bland and irritating.

Mark Chapman - leads the BBC coverage very well.

Not only were the Cup semi-finals two outstanding games of RL but everything about the BBC coverage, in my view, outstrips the Sky coverage – from the quality of the commentators and analysts obviously, the pitch side analysis of Robbie Hunter-Paul, the studio analysis made up of current intelligent rugby league players such as Jamie Peacock, Jon Wilkin and Eorl Crabtree, all held together by the professionalism of Mark Chapman who clearly has a passion for the sport.

Add in the BBC’s vast archive of Challenge Cup history that they have in their vaults, the regular nod to the games greats plus the innovative ‘player mic’ and the fact that terrestrial TV makes the game more available to the wider public and pulls in bigger audiences than satellite TV, 1.3m viewers for the Friday night semi-final between Leeds and Saints and 1.4m for the Saturday afternoon Hull KR v. Warrington semi-final, and you have many plus points for having more rugby league available on terrestrial TV. The BBC also have the high quality Super League Show.

The only swap I would make is Brian Carney for Jonathan Davies – Davies is a legend of both codes but I think his preference is for Union and he certainly has more knowledge of the modern day Union game than he does of League whereas Carney is a shining light of the Sky coverage and should front all of Sky’s Rugby League coverage.

Chris Sandow joins Warrington.

Chris Sandow’s debut for Warrington Wolves did not go to plan on Friday night as the Wolves suffered a heavy 49-10 defeat at Leeds Rhinos in their opening fixture of the Super 8’s.

Warrington have struggled all season to find a successful half back combination and have never quite got it right – I suppose it is fair to say that they have never found a suitable replacement for Lee Briers. The likes of Chris Bridge, Richie Myler, Stefan Ratchford and Gareth O’Brien have all shone at times in the half back positions as individuals but it has been finding the right combination of halves that has eluded them this season.

Chris Sandow - not the best debut.

Landing Chris Sandow from Parramatta Eels a little earlier than they expected – he was released early by the Eels after falling out with Head Coach Brad Arthur and has agreed a 2 ½ year deal with the Wolves – should give them a boost as they head into the Super 8’s with the hope of moving up from 6^th spot, where they finished after 23 rounds, into the top 4 after 30 rounds and the opportunity to play for the right to make the Grand Final for the 3^rd time.

The Wolves are currently 4 points behind 4^th place Huddersfield Giants and it will be hell of a task to make up that gap in the remaining 6 games – it is possible though and the Sandow magic could be just what they need to fire their back line but even though he has been playing regularly for Parramatta Eels in the NRL it will still take him time to settle in at the Wolves and produce the kind of skill and imagination that he is capable of.

Sandow is anything but predictable and is very much a player in the mould of Albert Kelly, who has been outstanding for Hull KR this season, and I believe the space and time he will have in Super League, the ability of his outside backs and his desire to prove a lot of people in Australia wrong will take Warrington Wolves to another level in the long term.

He is fast and strong, skilful, plays off the cuff and has a solid kicking game and I believe he will light up Super league IF he keeps his mind on the job and does not get distracted or fails to settle in the North West.

Sandow struggled with the pressure of being a high earning NRL star and has never quite fulfilled the potential that he clearly has and he was fond of often returning to his hometown of Cherbourg, a remote Queensland town, when the pressure got too much – no chance of him doing that from Warrington!!!!

I don’t think Sandow’s talents will be enough to get the Wolves into this season’s semi-finals but from next season onwards I think Sandow will become one of the stand out performer’s in Super League and could be a contender for the 2016 Man of Steel – I think Super League is made for him.

The next England coach?

USA Coach Brian McDermott

Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McDermott garnered some unwanted press attention with his comments regarding Salford owner Marwan Koukash after the Rhinos embarrassed the Red Devils 70-6 a few weeks ago.

McDermott obviously has strong views on the situation at Salford and you can understand his comments as the club seems to be falling apart behind the scenes. The ridiculous situation with Head Coach Iestyn Harris still being on ‘sick leave’ and never being mentioned in any kind of press release that Koukash makes, the Kevin Locke debacle, Theo Fages attempting to terminate his own contract, Rangi Chase rumoured to be heading to pastures new, Cory Patterson being linked with Leigh Centurions, poor crowds all season apart from when free entry is given etc etc – it sure must be tough being a Red Devils supporter.

However, my main concern with McDermott was him being named as the Head Coach of the USA and the news that he will be leading them into the 2017 World Cup that is being held in Australia and New Zealand.

How has this been allowed to happen?

McDermott is certainly the best English born coach in Super League – if not the best coach – and the fact that he will not be leading England into the World Cup diminishes our chances of having a major impact on the competition in my opinion.

He is a winner, his record at the Rhinos (2 Super League Titles, 1 Challenge Cup and 1 World Club Title) is outstanding but more importantly his teams play exciting rugby league and he puts faith in young players and is currently successfully re-building a Leeds side that will be without a number of long serving star players next year.

The RFL should have made it clear to McDermott that he was their choice to lead his home nation to the next World Cup – instead the mighty USA have got in there and got the services of a top level coach with a proven successful track record at the top level of the game in a major Rugby League playing nation – it beggars belief it really does.

It also begs the question as well – who will lead England into the 2017 World Cup?

I think Steve McNamara has done a good job as England Head Coach but I also think that he has taken the team as far as he can – we need a coach who can win the big games against Australia and New Zealand and not just make us competitive, I think McDermott would have been that man. He is clearly respected by his players and has a confident no-nonsense approach.

But that option is now closed and there is no other English born coach that I would like to see in charge of the National side – I certainly don’t want Shaun Wane as the next England coach and I think Paul Anderson needs to gain more experience but is an option for the future.

So, who will it be??

Busy Dragons

It seems every day for the last few weeks there has been a story about Catalans Dragons in the press and they have certainly been busy re-building their squad for 2016.

My concern for the Dragons though is that they are losing some top quality players and I don’t think there replacements are going to be of similar quality and they may struggle to make the 8 in 2016 – a bit early to say that I know.

To lose one high class second rower, with Elliot Whitehead moving to Canberra Raiders next year is bad enough, but to then lose his partner in crime and without doubt one of their stand out players this year, Zeb Taia, to the Gold Coast Titans is near enough a disaster. Add in the fact that Benjamin Garcia, an outstanding young French back rower, is also heading to the NRL, with Penrith Panthers, and there are some big boots to fill.

Dave Taylor

I’m not sure that there replacements, former one time Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative Dave Taylor who has been signed from Gold Coast Titans and Justin Horo, signed from Manly Sea Eagles, are up to the job.

Taylor is a big unit, 6’2” and over 19 stone, and on his day the ‘coal train’ can be rampant and damaging but his form over the last 2 years has been patchy and he has been dropped from first grade recently by the Titans whilst Horo is a solid player at best.

The loss of Scott Dureau and Ian Henderson will hit the Dragons just as hard and whilst the signing of Leeds Rhinos hooker Paul Aiton should fill the gap left by Henderson – Aiton turned down a new deal with the Rhinos to head to the South of France – I’m clear that Richie Myler is not in the same league as Dureau.

Myler is another one that can be devastating when he is on form but he has been dropped numerous times by Warrington Wolves since being signed as the most expensive teenager in the world for £200,000 from Salford for the start of the 2010 season and has not been selected for an international squad since 2012 – he has immense talent but he needs to be more consistent and the Dragons will be hoping that a fully fit Todd Carney can form an effective half back partnership with the enigmatic Myler.

Former Wigan wingman Pat Richards has signed from Wests Tigers and whilst he has been outstanding on his return to the NRL he will be 34 by the start of the 2016 season. He may replace Michael Oldfield who has been looking at the possibility of returning to the NRL himself.

Whilst the Dragons are losing quite a few players, you can add young powerhouse Gadwin Springer to that list after he joined Castleford Tigers earlier this year, they have extended the contract of three quarter Tony Gigot who has been a stand out performer this year and have awarded full time contracts to Academy players Lucas Albert and Fouad Yaha – both have made their Super League debuts this year and Yaha, in particular, impressed before a shoulder injury ruled him out for the season.

One interesting question is whether they will keep hold of former New Zeal and international Krisnan Inu beyond the end of this season. Inu signed a short term deal from French Rugby Union a couple of months ago and has been outstanding – the Dragons squad will be a lot stronger if he is in it.

So, it has been a busy time at the Dragons in the last few weeks and they will have an overhauled squad in 2016 – it will be interesting to see how it performs.

Fifita twins should miss Finals

Fifita Twins

As a Junior Rugby League coach who has 3 sons playing the game at Junior level and who has refereed the odd game I was appalled at the behaviour of the Fifita twins, Andrew and David, at a recent Penrith Junior Rugby League game in Australia.

The Fifita twins, both professionals with the Cronulla Sharks, Andrew has played State of Origin for NSW and international Rugby League for Australia – have been found guilty of intimidating Junior League officials.

David was acting as an on field trainer and Andrew was spectating and both have been found guilty of intimidating the three match officials – one of them an off duty police officer who filmed the incident – and local league officials have said all three match officials were ‘’rattled’’ by the incident and had to be escorted to their cars for their own safety.

Apparently, one of the brothers had to be restrained to stop him from getting to the referee and Andrew entered the playing area unsanctioned to try and stop the official recording the incident on his phone.

The Penrith Junior League have served a 12 month ban on both brothers which stops them attending any Junior game organised by the Penrith League – a decent ban without a doubt and wholly warranted.

This intimidation of Junior League match officials took place in front of other children and families and as high profile professional players the Fifita brothers should have known better and should have been caned by the NRL.

Instead they have both been handed 6 game bans, backdated to the date of the incident, which means they will miss the rest of the regular season but WILL be available for the play-off series which the Sharks look likely to qualify for – all very handy.

Both will perform 25 hours Community Service to support match official across the Cronulla Sutherland District and Andrew has been fined AUS$30,000 and will undergo an anger management course – obviously, he was the one who tried to physically attack the referee.

This is all a bit too light for me – what is AUS$30,000 to an experienced NRL player on a big contract? They probably have 25 hours spare per week so will have the Community Service done in no time and will be nice and fresh going into the Finals series.

What message does this send to match officials about the protection they receive and also what message does it send to children AND parent’s when they see professional player’s behaving like this – if he can do it, so can I?

Both players should have been banned for the rest of the playing year and been made to do a referee’s course and referee Junior games every week until their Penrith Junior League ban expired – without referee’s there is no game and we need to be encouraging younger people to take up refereeing.

I have seen abuse of match official in my local league on and off over the years and am aware of referee’s being followed home and have seen them attacked on pitches – no way would I want to be a referee – it’s a thankless task.

A bit of extra time thinking…

I was sad to see the news that New Zealand half back Shaun Johnson has been ruled out of the end of year Test series in England. Johnson suffered a serious ankle injury when scoring his second try of the match for the Warriors against Manly Sea Eagles at the back end of July. Johnson is the current holder of the Golden Boot and has been instrumental in helping New Zealand gain the world no. 1 ranking that the Aussies had held for so long. Whilst his absence gives England a greater chance of winning the Test Series in November it will be a great shame that this hugely entertaining and exciting young player will not be showcasing his skill on our shores. Plus it would have been nice to get him back for his last minute try in the 2013 World Cup semi-final. 

Just a quick nod to a couple of former Hull KR players currently plying their trade in the NRL. Last season’s co-captain and hooker Josh Hodgson is earning rave reviews for his performances for Canberra Raiders. The Raiders where a lot people’s favourites for the wooden spoon this year but coach Ricky Stuart has recruited well and whilst they have not set the NRL alight they have suffered some close defeats that, if they had gone the other way, would have seen the Raiders in the top 8. Hodgson has played superbly all year and is already a major favourite with the Raiders fans. The other ex-Rovers player I want to mention is Clint Newton. ‘Mean Machine’ was a huge favourite at Craven Park during his 4 year spell at the club from 2008-2011 and is still remembered fondly. He has announced that he will retire at the end of the year and I know that every Hull KR fan will wish Clint the very best for the future and will hope that he will return to East Hull for a visit early in his retirement.

Many Sea Eagles have finally confirmed that Head Coach Geoff Toovey is going to be replaced with the untested Trent Barratt in 2016. This has caused consternation amongst Manly fans and members who do not like the fact that a club legend has been removed from his position a year early and also that a coach with no affiliations to Manly or any Head Coach experience will be taking the helm. The decision is tough on Toovey. He has taken the Sea Eagles to a Grand Final and the play off’s in the other 2 season and it is only this year that they have struggled for form under Toovey and even now they are making a late charge for the play offs. Barratt is making sure there is a major clear out of players and backroom staff for next year so the former Australia international will be under intense pressure right from the off next year.

You can follow me on Twitter @sharpster69

We're the Greatest Kingston Rovers and we're off to Wembley!!!

24 hours before our first Challenge Cup semi final for 9 years I was sat under a canopy in the bar of my hotel sheltering from 45 degree temperatures, following an early morning swim in the gorgeous pool, in the South West Turkish resort of Marmaris watching England finish off the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston whilst waiting for the coach transfer to Dalaman Airport for a late night flight to Leeds Bradford Airport.

We landed at Leeds Bradford at 0130hrs on Saturday morning and the first thing I felt was rain – welcome back to the UK – we arrived home in Hull shortly before 4 a.m.

Mcdonald's Breakfast

After just 4 ½ hours sleep me and 2 of my sons, Kelland and Kingsley, headed back west to Leeds (after a McDonald's breakfast) to watch the mighty Hull Kingston Rovers take on Warrington Wolves for the right to play in the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 29th August - exactly 120 years to the day since the birth of the game in the George Hotel in Huddersfield.

Rovers have not played in a Challenge Cup final since losing to Castleford in 1986, one of 3 Cup Final appearances in the 1980's - all of which I attended, whilst Warrington have won 3 Challenge Cup finals in the last 6 years and have also appeared in 2 Grand Finals since Tony Smith took charge in 2009 and turned them into winners after years of under-performing.

2015 has been an inconsistent season for both teams, more surprisingly for the Wolves than Rovers who have had a large number of new signings come in throughout the season and failed to qualify for the top 8 whereas I expected the Wolves to take out the Grand Final this year but they have struggled to string wins together and have really struggled to have a settled half back partnership throughout the year. They finished 6th after 23 rounds and will find it hard to break into the top 4 after the next 7 rounds of fixtures which will determine who plays for the right to play in the Grand Final in October.

When the semi-final draw was made, the vast majority of Hull KR fans were delighted with drawing Warrington - we had played well in the quarter final defeat of Catalans and had comfortably beaten the Wolves in the League just a couple of weeks earlier so felt confident that if we finished the season well, we had a real chance to win the semi-final.

Two days after the semi-final draw we edged Salford Red Devils at home for our fourth straight win - confidence was high and the Wolves were struggling having only just overcome the challenge of Championship favourites Leigh Centurions in the quarter finals.

Then our season imploded because, unfortunately, we are not allowed to play every game at home - put simply our away form this year has been atrocious and has cost us a top 8 spot.

8 of our 9 league wins have come at home with our ONLY away win coming over Easter at Hull FC - we have lost all of our other 11 league games played away from the KC Lightstream Stadium - only bottom team Wakefield have a comparable record - Catalans have only won one away game also but at least they got a draw at the Magic Weekend against Huddersfield.

On the back of defeats away to Huddersfield and Salford (after leading 18-4 at half time) at home to Hull FC and a final game hammering at St. Helens, it is fair to say that Rovers confidence would not be at it's highest going into the semi-final - however we have usurped our away form in the Cup registering away wins at Championship side Bradford Bulls and the famous last 16 win against Wigan Warriors - a defeat that amusingly devastated Warriors coach Shaun Wane.

On the other hand – Warrington have won 3 of their 4 league games since losing 36-10 at Rovers and last Sunday they dismantled the Castleford Tigers 44-6 at The Jungle – Tony Smith has been quoted as saying that the defeat to Rovers ‘’had turned their season around.’’

So, after a few hours sleep and a quick breakfast at McDonland’s we headed west along the M62 looking forward to a good day out but not hoping for too much – certainly not daring to dream about a first visit to the ‘new’ Wembley Stadium.

We reached Leeds in good time but hit the expected heavy traffic around the Yorkshire TV Studios on Kirkstall Road and up in to Headingley – there were scores of Hull KR coaches, mini buses and cars making the same journey as us and we encountered Warrington fans the closer we got to Headingley.

Having found a decent parking spot ½ a mile from the ground we walked towards the stadium and became engulfed in a sea of Red and White and Primrose and Blue as we made or way into the ground.

The boys at the Cricket venue.

One of the many things I like about Headingley is the opportunity to have an unhindered view of the wonderful Test Match cricket arena situated just behind the North Stand and as we walked around the Test Match venue to get to the Western side of the North Stand where we were to be seated we saw Leeds Rhinos Chief Executive Gary Hetherington in a very snazzy pin striped suit and former Rovers full back Shaun Briscoe – now working on the Community Development side for Warrington Wolves and I also bumped into an old friend, David Howes, who has held many positions of power in the game of Rugby League and is one of the best MC’s and compere’s on the after dinner circuit as well – he is a very nice chap and a Hull Kingston Rovers fan.

The BBC crew.

We found our rightful seats and as we were climbing the stand I saw another old friend of mine who I have known for many years and played rugby alongside as well – we had a good chat and we took some photograph’s of the BBC team of Mark Chapman, Jamie Peacock, Jon Wilkin and Brian Noble who had just started presenting the programme on BBC1 and my youngest son Kingsley had a photograph taken with Rovers mascot Rufus the Robin along with one of his school friends, Harvey, who he also plays rugby alongside for Skirlaugh Bulls U6s.

As we took our seats I saw another 3 ex rugby playing colleagues from my amateur days and another two at half time and also one after the match had finished– it really was a case of a Reckitt’s old boys day out.

Officially, Rovers had sold over 6,500 tickets for the semi-final – the most of any of the four semi-finalists – but there must have been at least 9-9,500 Rovers fans in a crowd of around 13,500 and the atmosphere when the two teams came out was exceptional with the Rovers fans making far more noise than their Wolves counterparts.

As you will all know by now this was an epic match with the result in doubt until the last few minutes and you will realise that I am one very happy Hull Kingston Rovers fan as I write this over my first beer of Saturday night.

However, we made the worst start possible as we cocked up the Wolves kick off, had to drop out and then conceded a try to Ryan Atkins all in the first couple of minutes – to say we felt slightly deflated and worried was an understatement as the Wolves continued to pummel our defensive line – but something happened that hasn’t too often this season – our defence held and some wonderful last ditch heroic defence held the Wolves at bay.

Somehow we managed to restrict the Wolves to just one try and then we started to get a foothold on the game in the second quarter – a great back line move saw Kieran Dixon put Super League’s top scorer Josh Mantellato in at the left corner. Mantellato did really well to score the try as the pass from Dixon was high and he had to collect it at pace and throw himself in at the corner. Mantellato hit the post with the conversion but it wasn’t long before Rovers actually hit the front.

Ken Sio scores.

A great high kick by Albert Kelly saw the on rushing Ken Sio jump higher than his opposite wingman Gene Ormsby to juggle the ball before collecting and diving over for Rovers second try. Mantellato converted this time and Rovers led 10-6.

The game was now on and Rovers were giving the Wolves a real hammering in defence and Ben Harrison felt the effects of the tough tackling when he had to be taken from the field suffering from concussion not to be seen again in the match.
 

It wasn’t all Rovers though.

The Wolves back line was looking dangerous and their swift handling moves were causing problems but the Rovers defence held firm.

The problem was that Rovers were making headway into the Wolves half but would then make an unforced error or concede a penalty and would then be consistently defending within their own 10 metre line and anyone who has played the game will tell you that this is the toughest area of the field to defend because you are under constant pressure but unbelievably they didn’t crack and the Wolves started making some unforced errors of their own.

Rovers eschewed a couple of earlier opportunities to kick penalty goals but eventually they did so at the third time of asking and Mantellato converted to give us a 12-6 half time lead.

I spoke to a few of my former rugby playing colleagues at half time and we were all of the opinion that the Wolves would come out fired up after half time and that Rovers needed to get the first score – I had seen this position so many times as a Rovers fan and seen us blown away in a quick fire 10-15 minute spell – I was not certain that this would not happen again. I still did not dare to fully believe!!!

But in fact it was Rovers who made the stronger start – the Wolves certainly were not as fired up as I expected them to be and the boys extended their six point half time lead to an almost unbelievable 14 points.

French second rower Kevin Larroyer somehow took four defenders with him and he managed to squeeze a hand out near the line to touch the ball down – referee Richard Silverwood went to the video referee, having given the no try signal, but it was clear that Larroyer got the ball down and the refs verdict was overturned and the try was awarded – cue hysteria amongst the Rovers contingent.

Mantellato converted and kicked his second penalty shortly afterwards and Rovers had a 20-6 lead – this was scarcely believable, Garry Schofield thought the game would be over by half time and we know he is always right!!!!

I was keeping an eye on the clock and I wanted us to retain that 14 point lead until the 60^th minute – probably just a psychological thing but I just felt that one Wolves try would quickly lead to another and we needed to keep them out as long as possible.

Richie Myler scores.

Sadly, it was not to be. The game was being played in atrocious conditions and the Wolves piled the pressure on the Rovers line and scrum half Richie Myler was the man who kick started the Wolves comeback as he forced his way over for O’Brien to convert. It was now 20-12 and those Mantellato penalty goals were looking very important but Rovers were going to experience a torrid 10-15 minutes.

Within a few minutes of Myler’s try, the Wolves thought they were over again – they created the overlap and Joel Monaghan threw himself in at the right corner but the cover tackle of Kieran Dixon and Kris Welham was enough to dislodge the ball from his grasp and after a number of views by the video referee it was declared a no try and there was a huge sense of relief but the pressure was still on and Rovers started to make some unforced handling errors.

First Adam Walker lost the ball in the tackle before Kris Welham did the same thing close to our line and this time it cost us dearly.

The Wolves quickly moved the ball left and a brilliantly delayed pass by Myler allowed Ben Currie to charge over the line – O’Brien again kicked the conversion and there was now just two points in the game with 13 very long minutes to go – the confidence was draining out of me but the boys were showing tonnes of character and spirit in tough conditions and the Rovers fans were making enough noise to carry them through – hopefully!!

Lunt scores the match winner.

We needed a score and I wasn’t sure where it was going to come from – the conditions were too poor for us to try and spread the ball through hands quickly and at the end of the day we didn’t need to score but something was needed to settle my nerves and it came in the shape of Cumbrian hooker Shaun Lunt who, somehow, managed to break a couple of tackles, quickly push off from the ground and just about touch the ball down on the line – it was another decision that went to the video referee and when the try was awarded the roof came off Headingley as every single Hull KR fan in that ground realised we were going to Wembley for the Challenge Cup Final for the first time since 1986.

I missed Mantellato’s fifth goal of the day as I was still busy celebrating the fact we were going to Wembley with my two boys and singing ‘’We’re Hull Kingston Rovers’’ – the final couple of minutes was played out to a chorus of Hull KR songs and the noise was so loud it reminded me so much of our trophy laden heyday of the early to late 1980’s.

At the sound of the final hooter we raced down to the side of the pitch and waited for the players to come around to our side of the pitch and sang ‘’A Little Respect’’ by Erasure while we did so – we all certainly are so in love with our team after this semi-final performance.

The boys celebrate.

As the players came around to our side of the stadium in the pouring rain we had a hand shake with Shaun Lunt, a big hug with Kieran Dixon who looked in shock and got a wave from Chris Chester and John Boudebza – what a find he has been this season – he was outstanding once again.

Man of the Match Mantellato.

I know Mantellato took the official man of the match award and he played very well as he always does – again what a find he has been – but for me the stand out performer was Kris Welham.

He tackled everything in sight and constantly made good yardage from dummy half – he really has been outstanding this season after looking like he was on his way out of the club before the season started and there also has to be a special mention for Maurice Blair – he might not grab the headlines like his former Gold Coast Titans team mate Albert Kelly but we would be a lesser team without him and his defensive effort, along with all of his team mates, was absolutely brilliant.

See you at Wembley. (I still can’t believe it)