Mick crane if he's classed as a 2nd row. different class.

2 of my favourites from the great 50's team Harry Markham and Bill Drake.

My dad talked about the exploits of Bob Taylor.

Boxall , Lloyd , Divet, Crooks , Maher , Manu , Regan , Tickle & Kearney are some of my favorite players over the years in that position .

Sean ryan? Jesus... the man never broke a tackle in his fc career. ..... anyways, each to there own

Shane mcmenemy. ... underated..... does tony grimaldi count? He was class..... but willie manu has to be our shout of 2nd rower of the decade at fc, differant class that man.. i honestly though fc had seen the best of him, but since hes left, hes won a grand final and now plays in the nrl for the roosters.( probably down to fitzgibbon) .. how wrong was i......

Of the post 2000 players i would consider Manu the best along with Kearney - but with him we are into the 'did he play for us long enough' debate again. But Manu yes, he is a great shout for consideration

Not wanting to pre-empt the vote for loose forward but what about Knocker and Mick Crane

Lots of choice here which means that we should really be considering those who put in a decent amount of time with the team so though I liked Rose, Muggleton, Cleal, Kearney and Fitzgibbon they miss out for that reason with me. Same applies to Ellis who is brilliant when fit but sadly that has rarely happened so far.

There were some fine servants who weren't quite international class but none the less good players like Tickle and Jon Sharp.

Taylor and Bill Drake were before my time but are obvious contenders and I'm sure there are some other worthy old timers I have neglected.

Of those I've seen it would be the young Lee Crooks in his 2nd row days and Manu.

However I have a soft spot for Keith Boxall who was Hull's main (only?) attacking threat in the mid 70's and scorer of some quite spectacular tries. I always think he suffered somewhat when representative selection came around because first he was playing for a not very good team and second his body shape was the opposite of the tall, rangy second rowers selectors liked. Still nearly 100 tries for Hull and around long enough to be part of the first climb out of the 2nd division - it was also his misfortune that as his career wound down the glory years were starting up.

Terry Kirchin

Agree with that completely, rhino was a class act, his go forward was fantastic and no mean tackler, that he could kick goals too was a bonus. 98 tries in just over 300 appearances even taking into account a lot of Div 2 games is no mean feat by any standard.

For me there are four automatic choices in the 13, Tommy Harris, Jack Harrison, Billy Batten and... Bob Taylor.
Outlandish freak of a man, he was a Greg Inglis, Wayne Pearce and Gordon Tallis rolled into one, aside from kicking the guy had it all. Scored 12 tries in 13 rep matches as well as his well known 164 tries in 307 appearances at club level.

As for the other second row, it's tough, very tough. But on balance I'd have to go with Lee Crooks, his craft, passing, indeed his pace, goal kicking and tenacious attitude was a stand out, his unflinching sublime offload in the GB v Australia match in '86(?) where he gets absolutely crunched whence feeding his winger (whom then passes inside to schoey to score) typified his abilities.

It's very close between Drake, Manu, Kearney and Rhino, on reliability and 100% every game, Boxall takes third spot for me, Manu/Drake next then Kearney.
No room for Lloyd, kicker extraordinaire but lacking in other areas, Rose was another crunching tackler that was one of those hard men from the 70s/80s but just doesn't do enough for me as much as I loved his out wide runs and big hits.

Knocker always used to say to me that when he was playing for that great mid 70s Cas side against Hull in his Wheldon Road days, that all the focus was always on stopping Boxall, The Cas changing room call was "We stop 'Box' we stop Hull" furthermore he said that Keith Boxall being a Hull player was one of the attractions of joining Hull.
For me, as a spectator I saw "Box" make more 30 and 40+ metre barnstorming runs after breaking a tackle and finding a gap then any 2nd row I recall. No-one even comes close in that dept.
As has been said by others "Box" played in a particularly poor era for Hull, he was an international class 2nd row who's loyalty to Hull meant more to him than chasing glory at a more successful club of that era. If he had signed for a club sitting at the top table in those days he would have been a RL legend in my opinion never mind a Hull legend. If we'd have seen Box in his pomp play for his top years in a good Hull Pack he would without doubt have been a shoe in for Hulls best ever 2nd row. The shame is we never really saw what he could have been in a Hull shirt, but his best anyway was still good enough to make the Legends Team. He still loves Hull FC today, attends the Ex-players get togethers and it it all means more to him than just his playing days. Hull FC is in his blood.

Top post, I've always said Keith was my favourite player as a kid, and you're right, that we didn't really get to see him in a top Hull side was a shame though still scored 7 tries in the 79/80 season. Would have topped over 100 tries were it not for only 4 appearances during 73/74.
As it is I'd have him in my 17 every single time, the type of forward that would make it in any era & would have busted tiring defences apart in SL, throw in loyalty and 100% endeavour and you have a very special player/person. I'm almost persuading myself to vote for him instead of Crooksy

Charlie Birdsall was another fine 2nd rower.

Lee Radford.......nah Stephen Kearnney. SL era anyway.

Shane Mc Menemy was definitely the most underrated but for me one of the best. Keith Boxhall was a favourite. Chris Chester was also a class act, played like an extra centre and made up for Yeamo's lack of passing ability.
Sammy Lloyd couldn't tackle !! Noel Cleal ?
How do we classify Steve Norton and Mick Crane ? they always played in the same team so one played second row, can't get beyond either of those two. Best back row forwards I've seen in a Hull shirt.