Who needs viking speedway, we've got daniel divet!!

I was gutted when Busby left, don't know particularly why but I was well angry about it.
Jackson goes without saying
Vaikona was very down about

Some of the players left when retiring or back to NRL is different IMO, different feeling

Only saw Sterling play once in a Hull FC shirt and that was when I came in 1985 to see them play Wigan at Wembley. His Parramatta half-back mate Brett Kenny spoiled the day for him and me by scoring his long range try although it was one of the best Challenge Cup finals I had ever been to with the attendance just short of 100,000.

On influential players in the clubs history the one that I must add is Roy Francis who as a player and coach took the team from mid-table average to a top competitive force in the game during his time at Hull FC. The star studded forward pack he assembled was the best that I ever saw in my days of attending the Boulevard(1946-66) featuring Whiteley, Harris,Jim and Bill Drake, Scott, Sykes and Coverdale.

As a player he was blessed with a 'Rugby brain' and as a coach was innovative and a wonderful man-manager.

What about Bill Ramsey brought in by DDD to make a dogs back leg in to a pack and my how he did that.

Freddie Miller you missed out my bodyguard as a kid big Harry Markham

You are so right and it was because I associated Harry playing before Roy Francis arrived and it was Mick Scott not Harry that was already at Hull. Wasn't Harry a fish-filleter working on the fish dock when he played for Hull? Harry played in the 1955/56 championship winning side at Odsal (when Colin Hutton landed the winning goal from near the touchline) and played for England.He finished playing in 1957.

Finally just a look at the period from 1955 when Francis started coaching Hull after playing for them since 1949. There were 30 teams in the league at this time.

1955/56 ...............................Champions ( after playoff)
1956/57 ...............................2nd in the league.
1957/58.................................Champions (after playoff)
1958/59.................................7th in the league. Beaten at Wembley in Cup Final.
1959/60..................................3rd in the league. Beaten at Wembley in Cup Final.

The period under coach Bunting in the late seventies/ eighties was the only one comparable to his record that I can recall.

Have to be honest, never understood the hype about Swain

I can't tell if you're being serious or not.

Used to love all four of those players.

Hasler was a class above anything we had had at the club since P Sterling and was at the top of his game when he came over.

Jeff Doyle was also a fantastic player who was the ultimate professional. Wasn't he the first player signed by the then newly formed Perth Western Reds? I know he became their first signing and I managed to get one of their shirts and got it signed by him at the end of season awards night the was held at LA's that season.

Danny Divet was a great player for us who wore his heart on his sleeve. Remember a CC game at the Boulevard against Wigan when they were in the middle of their unbeaten run. I think we were about 19 points up at ht, but ended up getting beat despite an amazing performance from Divet.

Jimmy Grant had pace to burn and seemed to score from long range at will. I remember a game at Headingly against leads where we were getting tonked by 20+ at ht. Royce Simmons must have really got into the boys and they came out all guns blazing. Grant scored 2 of the best tries of the season. Hull were something like 30-34 down when Grant got the ball and went on a 80 meter run only to be tackled by Alan Tait about a foot short of the line just as the final hooter went. One of the best games I have ever seen.

I can't believe that after 12 pages Tony Grimaldi has only had one mention. At that time we had been used to over paid average at best overseas signings. Grimaldi was a fantastic player who did all of the hard graft and was a great leader. He left us to go back to Canterbury Bulldogs and had another 3 or 4 good seasons for them in the NRL. At that time it was very unusual for players to go from super league to the NRL and be succesfull, which he was and indicated to me what a great player he was.

Wasn't "Jungle" Jim Grant basically responsible for ending John Gallagher's career ?? Gallagher was the biggest name to defect from RU and the All Blacks of his generation, who signed for Leeds. It was a midweek game at the Boulevard and someone (presumeably Greg Mackey) put up an enormous bomb. Grant must have ran 50 yards across the pitch and put the cheapest hit on Gallagher when he was in the air collecting the ball. Gallagher was carried off and never really did anything after that.

Either in spite or because of, I really liked Grant, good player.

Although he never hit the heights, I liked Brad Webb too. Rumoured to have signed for us straight from prison. Another half a yard would have meant all his half breaks would have been clean breaks. Lots of good players in the team around that time. I know he hung up his boots to become coach but I would have liked to see Noel Cleal carry on playing.

Kearney, Mcmenemy, Maher, Grimaldi and Swainy sad to see them go

I relly liked Dave Maiden thought he always played well for us i think he went back to Aus and started a gym in Cairns.

I'm being quite serious, I know off 4 hookers I've seen that i would prefer over Swain. Lee Jackson, Terry Newton, James Roby and Keiron Cunningham.

You sir, are a tool.

Don't get me wrong, the players you mentioned are great players.

BUT Swain was one of the hardest working players I've ever seen. Shall I remind you of how he heroically charged down Kevin Sinfield's drop kick (when no-one else saw it coming) in the last minute of the 2005 CC Final ensuring we would win the game. A legend of the game IMO.

To be honest I thought it was bloody obvious a drop goal attempt was going to happen then.

Most hookers are hard working, its the nature of their position. Top tacklers at most clubs will be their No. 9

Swain was a great player as his attitude to training and to the team performance were paramount. But wouldn't you expect that of any player in a professional sport. The key thing about Swain was that he made very few mistakes, his did the basics very well and he played in a team that was on the up and doing well. Great player, yes, legend of the game, not for me.

agreed, he was good at his job, but he also caused division in the squad (if what has been said is true) and cost Kear his position (rightly or wrongly, I know not)