rrTr   the unofficial hull kingston rovers webzine           

"Trustin Morgan"

Like every supporter who visited Odsal on Sunday (and a fair few who didn't) that performance was pretty grim.However, those who are currently calling for the head of Justin Morgan seem unable to provide a creditable alternative. 

This 2010 season might prove to be the first since the dark days of Malcolm Reilly & (to a lesser extent) Martin Hall when improvement and progress hasn't been made, yet some feel it fit to demand a change at the helm.

Every coach, player and administrator makes errors and any doubts regarding aspects of Justin Morgan's tenure are rightly open to debate, however, at present I feel any concerns are still outweighed by the indisputable fact that the club is in a far better situation on the field than when he took over.

It is obvious that at least one more creative player is needed this 'close season' and as the contracts of players such as Webster, Galea and Walker expire at the end of this year it should definitely be a priority to get that player (No doubt David Howes little black book is being furiously thumbed through). 

The removal of relegation has negated the need for clubs to obtain a 'quick fix' and pay over the odds to maintain top flight survival so no supporter should seriously expect Rovers personnel to change dramatically this year. 

Justin Morgan is certainly not beyond criticism and lets not forget that in the last three SL seasons whilst the improvements have been massive we have still endured some turgid displays (Wire 60-24, Cas 18-10, Quins, 40-10 to name three) but ultimately the fact is that this squad of players is not the finished article - we remain a 'work in progress' - real strength in depth will come in the next 3 or 4 years as players such as Scott Taylor, Scott Spaven, Liam Watts and Kristian Bell etc. become recognised first grade players, the club will become more self reliant on talent as the youth set-up becomes stronger and more established. 

Personally, I feel it is a difficult task to make long term judgements during a season (only a couple of weeks ago we were world beaters after beating Warrington and we have been remarkably inconsistent this year, can we really make potentially far reaching decisions during such inconsistency ?) Ultimately, we could finish in a lower league position yet win a 'play-off' game (would that theoretically make us more successful again this season?) 

In my own mind the contact extension for Justin Morgan which runs to the end of 2013 is about right, the opportunity to bolster the current squad with fresh blood (both purchased and home-grown) along with the fact that we have had year on year improvement under his management should allow him that, however, that is not to say that his decisions are beyond criticism or reproach - but perhaps a level headed, balanced and reason critique of a coaches performance can only be measured at the end of a season ?

'Rally 'Round….'

Loinering   

As Rovers head to Leeds this Friday here at 'rrTr' we take a look at three games between The Robins and The Loiners (No Rhinos in this neck of the wood's fellas!) The three games saw a win for each and a very memorable draw.In November 1980 Rovers headed to 'Fartown' to play Leeds in the Yorkshire Cup Final - they were very much the form team having remained unbeaten by a club side since the previous April, the only team to have lowered Rovers colours were a Kiwi touring team which had featured such notables as, Gary Kemble, Gary Prohm, James Leuluai, Dane O'Hara and Mark Broadhurst in it's 20-12 win at Craven Park. In stark contrast opponents Leeds had come into the final on the back of five successive defeats.In front of a crowd of 9,751 the first half went to form as The Robins led 7-2 thanks to a Gary McHugh try created by Mike Smith supplemented by two Phil Hogan goals, Leeds reply coming from the boot of Kevin Dick.However, the second half saw the form book flying out of the window as an Alan Smith try followed by a touchline conversion and 35 yard drop goal by 'Man of the Match' Dick saw Leeds sneak home by 8-7.

Rovers starting line up that day was. 

Ian Robinson, Gary McHugh, Mike Smith, Phil Hogan, Wally Youngman, David Hall, Paul Harkin, Roy Holdstock, Ray Price, Steve Crooks, Phil Lowe, Len Casey and Mick Crane 

Fast forward to the spring of 1986 and the Challenge Cup Semi-Final draw saw Rovers face Leeds at the neutral venue of Elland Road !Both teams served up a 24-24 thriller, hailed as the best ever cup tie outside of Wembley. Outplayed in the first half (and thankful that there were no video referees to assess David Laws first half 'try'!) Rovers overcame the 33^rd minute dismissal of Paul Harkin and the earlier broken arm to international forward Chris Burton to comeback from 12-2 down to lead 24-14 after an hour (a further Laws try and two by Mike Smith) however, in the next eight minutes Leeds fought back with the extra man advantage to level at 24-24 thanks to tries by Tony Currie and Paul Medley and a David Creasser goal. The final twelve minutes proved nail biting as John Dorahy and David Ward failed with drop goal attempts.The following Thursday, April 3^rd a crowd of 32,485 packed into the same venue to witness further deadlock as both sides reached the break scoreless.Soon after the restart the rejuvenated and restored Harkin slotted over a drop goal before Aussie prop Peter Johnston and local lad John Lydiat crossed the whitewash as The Robins cut loose. Andy Kelly added the final try with two minutes remaining and Dorahy added his second goal to make the final score 17-0 in a game widely seen as the pinnacle of Roger Millward's tenure at Craven Park 

Rovers line up for the first game was 

George Fairbairn, Garry Clark, Mike Smith, Gary Prohm, David Laws, John Dorahy, Paul Harkin, Peter Johnston, David Watkinson, 'Zook' Ema, Chris Burton, Phil Hogan and Gavin Miller Substitutes: Gordon Smith, Andy Kelly

The replay saw Rovers line up as 

George Fairbairn, Garry Clark, Mike Smith, Gary Prohm, David Laws, John Dorahy, Paul Harkin, Peter Johnston, David Watkinson, 'Zook' Ema, Andy Kelly, Phil Hogan and Gavin Miller Substitutes: Gordon Smith, John Lydiat     

'The Swinging Sixties'

On May 4^th 1968 Rovers faced Wakefield Trinity (why did they ever add the ridiculous 'Wildcats' moniker!?!?!?!) in the fifty-seventh 'Northern Rugby League Championship Final' at Headingley, Leeds.It was the culmination of a memorable season for 'The Robins' - average attendances at Craven Park were 9,545 as almost a quarter of a million clicks of the turnstile were heard over the course of the year.In the autumn of 1967 Rovers, captained by Johnny Moore successfully defended the Yorkshire Cup by beating near neighbours, Hull FC 8-7 in the final at Leeds, as well as this memorable victory Rovers were featured live on BBC television playing the Kangaroo tourists in front of over 15,000 that same autumn. Whilst Aussie wingman McDonald grabbed a hat-trick of tries he was upstaged by 'Roger the Dodger' who managed the same feat himself as Rovers won 27-15 in a stunning game.In a season of real achievements both collectively and individually Roger Millward was a shining light. In his 38 games for Rovers he scored 32 tries (adding another 6 in representative games) - these 38 tries were a record for a stand-off breaking the previous record of Widnes star Frank Myler. Millward also played in Five GB tests along with 3 Yorkshire appearances.In that 67/68 season Millward was not the only Rovers player to wear the white shirt with red and blue 'v' as another five club colleagues represented GB, Alan Burwell, Chris Young, 'Flash' Flanagan, Bill Holliday and Frank Foster all turned out that season (a record five of them in one test against Australia - Burwell being the one to miss out that time) and Holliday had the honour of captaining GB in all three 'Ashes' tests.For the third time in six seasons Colin Hutton's charges went a record 17 games unbeaten with 14 wins and 3 draws before losing to Workington in early November 1967. It was also a season that witnessed the arrival of a new star as teenage second-row forward Phil Lowe began to make a name for himself, whilst Paul Longstaff was purchased for a club record fee from Huddersfield…In the league Rovers finished in third place and were Yorkshire League runners-up, the top 16 play-offs saw Rovers beat Swinton, Leigh and St Helens (a final ever game for the great Tom Van Vollenhoven) and so to Headingley for the meeting with Wakefield Trinity…Sadly for Rovers they were unable to stop a very strong Trinity side from retaining the Championship as they went down 17-10 in front of 22,586 spectators paying the grand total of £7697.Rovers lined up that day as - David Wainwright, Chris Young, Johnny Moore (1 Try), Alan Burwell, Paul Longstaff (1 Try), Roger Millward (2 Goals) Colin Cooper, Les Foster, Peter Flanagan, Brian Mennell, Phil Lowe, Terry Major and Frank Foster     

Can't Cooke won't Cooke  

Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of Paul Cooke and I'm pretty sure without his crucial displays in games in 2007 against Hull FC (twice), Wigan and Salford we might well be languishing in the second tier of English Rugby League, this is not meant to underplay the efforts of the rest of the 2007 squad but his arrival proved to be critical and, at 'squeaky bum time' his experience was vital.Following his early season RFL imposed suspension and subsequent misdemeanours prior to the 2008 KC 'derby' it seemed that all parties had taken a sharp intake of breath and moved on, after a period on the sidelines there followed a cameo display at the HJ which resulted in 'The Great Escape' and another outstanding 'derby' display as Rovers sent Hull back to the KC still chasing two of their elusive '8 easy points' Last season saw increasing displays of quality and consistency alongside Michael Dobson, although it seemed that if ever a player didn't have the full confidence of his coach then Cookie was that player. Following the heartbreak of the cup defeat against Warrington, 6 feet 5 and 14 and a half stone Cooke was 'rested' against Huddersfield as Justin feared his team would be out-muscled by the men from the West Riding. In my opinion Paul Cooke is technically the most gifted player at the club and some of his performances have been outstanding (in numerical terms certainly the equal of many other colleagues) however, like Marmite it appears that there is no grey area with Paul.By and large when player and coach / manager don't see eye to eye there is only one winner and this is a case that I think it's safe to say will not be any different.Ultimately, both parties might have regrets sometime in the future and sadly it seems likely that a player we could (and perhaps should) have built a team 'round will move on at the end of this season. Whilst I'd love to see Cookie as the fulcrum of a Justin Morgan coached team challenging for honours it just aint gonna happen I fear, maybe now is an opportunity for the less gifted (but in some eyes, more reliable) Chas I'Anson to make his own mark as a SL player and for Morgan to devise a style of play that suits the personnel he wants in his 17.Now of course all this supposition might be rendered incorrect and I'll be proved wrong (that is the peril of writing for a webzine and hindsight is a wonderful thing) but if am proved wrong I couldn't be happier (and I genuinely hope I am) 

Watch this space and more importantly…

…rally 'round !

A look back at this weeks opponents 

Season 1974/75 was a record breaking year for the Robins, albeit in the Second Division as both Ged Dunn and Neil Fox became record scorers as the club achieved promotion under the stewardship of Arthur Bunting.

Dunn's 42 try haul was a club record that lasted for ten seasons until broken by the legendary Gary Prohm (45 tries 1984/85) and Fox notched 146 goals and 333 points, totals subsequently beaten by George Fairbairn (166 goals 1981/82) and Steve Hubbard (366 points in 1979/80) as well as being topped by Mike Fletcher's feats in 1989/90

However, despite their record breaking feats Rovers were only runners-up to Huddersfield in the league campaign.

On Sunday, November 3^{rd 1974 Rovers travelled to 'Fartown' hoping to make up ground on the table-toppers after a shock defeat earlier in the season at Huyton.}

Despite going behind early Rovers soon hit back with an unconverted Max Rooms try followed by another from Mike Stephenson (not the balding oaf!) which was goaled by Fox to lead 8-5. Further tries by Dunn and Roger Millward both converted by Fox saw Rovers comfortably in front 18-5 with the half-time break almost upon them. However, as the hooter approached good handling from Cliff Wallis, Stephenson, Phil Coupland and RU convert George Fitzpatrick saw Aussie full-back Bob Smithies touchdown for another try supplemented by a Fox goal to give the Robins a healthy 23-5 interval lead.

Shortly after the break more attractive approach play saw Kirkpatrick increase the lead.

With ten minutes remaining the home side managed a consolation score but Rovers were not to be denied victory as Dunn scored his second of the game to leave the final score 29-8 to the visitors in front of 2,190 spectators.

Whilst Rovers were only runners-up in the Second Division they were victorious in the Yorkshire Cup that same season with a 16-13 win over Neil Fox's old team Wakefield Trinity, as well as reaching both semi-finals of the John Player Trophy and (bizarrely) the Premiership Trophy….

Rovers team that November day at Huddersfield was: Smithies, Rooms, Dunn, Coupland, Kirkpatrick, Millward, Stephenson, Dawson, Heslop, Millington, Wallis, Fox and Brown Subs: Hartley and

Moore

 ROVERS v WIGAN 1985

In March 1985 the bitter dispute that had caused grief to many parts of the country came to an end as the last of the NUM returned to work after 12 months…