Aye.. After being fairly certain FC would win earlier in week I'm starting to get that hopeful feeling we will go there and do a job. Pretty typical in Derby build up and will probably flip flop a few time between now and KO. Certainly not going to bet heavily on the game.Just Linnett 1st try and Tomkins last try for a bit of fun at big odds.

Looking at FC squad for Fri if there isn't a switcheroo and Shaul doesn't replace Wynne then we must pepper him with high balls.For all he's done well it's a big ask for him so early in career,also Logan isn't specialist winger so those 2 need peppering until crack. Fairamo spilt a few last time out also so we may get some joy from bombing the back 3? Sounds easy in theory but often doesn't go to plan.

Don’t forget your pepper.

Apparently you can't mention sharks on the sharks forum or Karen gets right rajed.
It's turned into the Snowflake city derby.

I liked the guy who didn't want Israel Folau to potentially sign
For them because it could affect the public perception of the franchise pilferer's?
Anything negative about Hull is Fake News.
( Come on,it is Derby week and I've been pretty fair )

You can mention the sharks all you like for me, but it is 20 years ago you know, it's really about time you got some new material. It's not like there isn't plenty of other stuff for you to go at.

Both teams have their dirty laundry. The fuss made about our loss in 2015 at Wembley i never got? Leeds that day were somewhere near unplayable with a raft of big names retiring and that treble was something special. For me I was proud and a little surprised to get to the final after 29 year between drinks. The Sharks/Thunder merge was a murky deal and a franchise up and leaving in any sport is a bad thing but if it was my club saved at the expense of another then as a fan I'd pretty much expunge it from my memory. MK Dons Hudds/Sheffield and FC all left behind an organisation in tatters.At least Newco Rangers took their demotion and fought their way back up if at the expense of forming a new club. Was it 99 it happened? Who knows what would have happened if Barry Lilley hadn't vetoed the old FC organisation joining the Northern Ford?Possibly a merged side of KR/FC eventually? All speculation now but there will be a generation of FC fans unaware of the merge and thinking Wembley wins are commonplace.Nowt wrong with a bit of Horrible History on both teams imo.

Only one club in Hull would ever consider a merger and it is that soulless horrible lot in West Hull. Tim Wilby, Kath Hetherington or Adam Pearson they are the enemy. As for the wembley wins comment it makes me wonder, if it wasn't for Hull City where would they be? Interesting question for sure.

Think if a Hull teams merge was going to happen it would have in the 90s. A large number of supporters of both sides would never attend but a new generation of fans would have eventually ,especiallly if they had regular success. Hudgell and Pearson nowadays talk a good rivalry but are tied financially and genuinely get on. Someone mentioned a while back after the COHA cooperation both FC and KR would end up sharing training facilities and another step towards one team? Somewhere along the line due to 1 or both clubs struggling I think it may get proposed again bearing in mind RFL want New York Toronto etc in,that will be at the expense of someone? Like EHUTR says it's an interesting speculation

Did Lilley have a veto, or did he just vote against it like others?

It’d be naive to think that there wasn’t a political element to it, but the key one, certainly outside of Hull, was around the damage done to the RL ‘family’ by the SL split and promotion and relegation (or lack of it). That Rovers had the power to unilaterally deny Hull entry to the Northern Ford is a bit of a false narrative, as I understand it.

50-0. I think, finally, I am over it. Once things pass from recent to historical you see them in a different light, as they get weaved into the story. I don’t blame Hull fans the occasional chuckle at that or our other misfortunes, it’s part of the fun of the rivalry. In some ways I imagine the Sharks episode is similar for Hull fans - not something they look back on fondly, but part of their journey nonetheless.

If not a veto he definetly led the denial of a berth for our friends in the then Northern Ford. I would have done the same. Ironically it led them to the promised land and no negative repercussion for mismanagement like ourselves who had 12 years of mud and 2nd tier. Water under the bridge now but I do think our recent tribulations make us much more grateful for what we have as a group and if we lose tomorrow I will only be massively upset rather than full on despair. Plan is diet fry up, few pints, Game then head back to watch Saints match. Victory Pints or Consolation Pints?

i hope and think we will never merge, well not in our lifetimes, as for fri 50/50 imo as usually the case in a derby, the catalan win took a bit of pressure of us but we should still be looking for 2 points, having 3/4 forwards back will help, looks like there is gonna be a bumper crowd,

It's my first away Derby game ever. We took advantage of the Community Club ticket offer and sadly we're the only Rovers Supporters in my Lads age group so we'll be surrounded in West Upper! Can't say I'm massively looking forward to it. I'd rather be with all the other Rovers fans in North. However I'm told there will be pockets of Rovers in West Stand anyway.

As for a merger, I think Sky were all over that in the early days and yes if it had have happened back then the new generation would have been all over it by now. Look at the NRL, some famous names got swallowed up, Balmain Tigers to name one, and it's worked out great for the NRL. Unless something seriously happens with franchises in Super League I doubt it will ever happen here. And to say that All fans would suddenly support one Hull team is a fantasy. It's hard enough getting them lot to come to Craven Park to watch their kids play on a Tuesday night!

Id be interested to know rovers fans thoughts on when the relationship between the clubs became so bitter in the recent past. The fans have always had the banter etc which on a couple of occasions perhaps went a little too far.

I started going to rugby in the early 80's and seem to remember there not being any real animosity between the likes of Colin Hutton and Roy Waudby, but those were days of trophy wins and finals on both sides of he river.

Was it that rovers looked with envy on Hull during the 2003-2006 period of Hull's relative success whist rovers were in the lower league? Was it that Hetherington / Plummer didn't understand the level of rivalry between the two after rovers are promoted? Was it the Cooke transfer?

Personally I think both Pearson and Hudgell have done a reasonable job at trying to bring the RL community in Hull a bit closer. The rivalry and the banter should always be there, a merger should never happen, there is too much history between the clubs to throw it away in a forced amalgamation.

I think you will be surprised at the number of rovers fans who will be in the West Upper, it will be a much more even split than just pockets of rovers fans.