No, just his highlights done and his nails manicured. -


Wish Radders had scared him to death instead of making Vella his pants.

No easy draw like 2005?
We played 5 Super League teams, including that season's champions, the previous season's champions and the cup holders (who went on to win the LLS that season). It was arguably a harder run because of the teams we played and the fact it was an extra game because of the format change.

Round - 2005 opposition - 2016 opposition
4/5 - Wakefield Trinity - Bye
5/6 - Bradford Bulls - St Helens
Quarters - Leigh Centurions - Catalans Dragons
Semis - St Helens - Wigan Warriors
Final - Leeds Rhinos - Warrington Wolves

2005 was harder IMO.

But you did say that if you (Hull fans) are still harking back to this in forty years, it would be an indicator of failure over the intervening four decades. My point is whether those years are good or bad (it’ll almost certainly be a mix), fans will rightly hark back to those wins, so I don’t it is a good indicator.

That you’re not very interested in your club’s history shouldn’t make me sad - we all take our pleasures in different ways and you’re understandably very happy with recent triumphs. But it does a little - these clubs are such valuable and interesting civic institutions, with so many varied and fascinating stories. As time passes, the passions fade but we get new and, in some ways, more meaningful perspectives.

I do wonder if, to some extent, seeing that we’re struggling in the here and now, while you’re flying high, you want to play down the past in an effort to deny us the consolation of brief refuge there. But it won’t work. As I type this, I’m looking at my Dream Scene picture that doesn’t fit with the decor of our house at all, and which contains only one player that I properly remember seeing play, right towards the end of his career. Maybe that is sad too, but since I started taking a real interest again circa 2006 (#bandwagoner), i’ve had a hundred little morsels that have made it worthwhile, and mitigated the misery of Wembley 2015 and the 2016 MPG. Most would mean nothing more to you than your Clint Newton story means to me - but they’re not there to be rhetorical weapons, they’re a shield, an impenetrable comfort blanket.

So (and well done if you’ve made it this far, but I know the day is probably dragging with HullKRfans still down), if you prefer to pay little thought to Kemble and Norton anD Whiteley, or to how Hull F.C. emerged from and was shaped by its local community, then that is your loss alone and its extent depends on how much you really do think that history is just so boring.

Reet, can somebody help me down from this pulpit?

There’s my new thing learned for today. Just looks like a way to over charge for Angel Delight though.

As an alternative view from a slightly younger generation, I only started following regularly in 2000 having been to a few games between 94-99 as a young kid (and being sucked in by the early Premier League hype). I didn't witness the Wembley defeats, or even see any Wembley finals. I also didn't hear any Rovers fans singing about it except for a a meaningless annual friendly that began in 2003 (as they weren't in SL) so winning at Wembley wasn't really important to me - winning a trophy was. I didn't care where. I just knew that we hadn't won anything for a very long time and that it was always the same faces. In the time between 2000-2004, Leeds, Bradford, Saints and Wigan were in EVERY final. To break that duck was impressive enough, and to finally get to a final after so long was intense for me, but to go on and win is a moment I'll never forget. I just didn't think we could and was happy just to get there. The game was also one of the best I've been to in terms of drama and excitement.

In the following 11 years, we had higher expectations and different challenges. We reached the Grand Final the following year and winning that seemed the logical next step for us. When our form dropped dramatically, we became unrecognisable from just 2 years prior so the new dream seemed to just fade away - yet we still managed to reach another Cup Final. That one was important to me because it was my first ever trip to Wembley, but wasn't as big for me because we'd been spoilt with 3 finals in 4 years and we'd already won.

As our form picked up slightly, but still pretty bang average, expectations of winning the league slipped, a number of derby embarrassments began to build up, so winning at Wembley became more important. The nilling at Wembley was embarrassing, and the stick we got irritating, so it became it more important for us to win at Wembley and get that monkey off our back. For Rovers to get absolutely embarrassingly humiliated the year before made 2016 incredibly sweet, and to win there after seeing us lose twice and the collapse we'd had between times was incredible, as well as the history.

But for me, 2005 was the beginning of the making of the era. We had a bit of a bump, but are now back in track. That one will always be my fondest memory I think. It's what created my expectations for all future seasons. I think only a Grand Final win can top that... then a World Club Championship away from the UK!

you mean like "hand carved ham, served in a French bauette, with layers of tomato and lettuce and a mustard jus" aka, ham sandwich?

food hasn't got better, kust more expensive, and poncy.

(how the heck we derailed quite here is beyond me)!

I wouldn't know what a [ipossett[/i was if it slapped me in the face (the power of the tinternet eh).
Sounds marsupialian to me.

But butterscotch Angel Delight, wow, now you're talking.
A staple of a proud council home upbringing.

Yes I do. let’s do one for the pattie buttie.

Hand molded smashed Lincolnshire potatoes with mixed herbs, battered and deep fried in beef dripping from grass-fed Somerset cattle, and served in a soft white barm.

Want one now.

Oh hell - I am so suggestible when it comes to food. I’d pay through the nose for a Pattie buttie and some butterscotch angel delight now.

But it’s Easter Sunday and I live in Leicestershire, so even that simple pleasure is denied me. It’s a hard knock life.

Oh Heston. You've certainly got a way with words!!

Corned beef hash (large Argentinian tins of it, nicked off Hull docks that kept the estate going for a year) and a butterscotch after.
Now that was living alright.

Just to add my two pennorth to this thread, I was there (as a child) when Wigan beat us in 59 and again the following year when Wakefield repeated the dose of sadness. (I cried). Due to work committments over the years the next final I could attend was Cardiff n 2005 and oh the joy (I cried a different kind of tear then). Having now retired I was able to visit Wembley in 16 and 17 and was delirious with the success that Adam and Radders have brought to our club. It doesn't mean I'll forget the misery of those losing finals but will regard them as stepping stones to the success we've had since and will hopefully continue to have in the future.