348 The Dentist Diary
Carry on Grinning!!!!
It’s been another memorable weekend, with an amazing
atmosphere at the KC, a brilliant performance and now after a
shocking start to the 2013 campaign we proudly stand fourth in
Super League. We might not be potential winners of the
League but at least at present we are contenders.
Not since those great and halcyon days of the 70’s and 80’s
(when, if we didn’t beat anyone, running on sheer guts and
determination, we always beat Leeds), have we witnessed a
performance where we sank the old enemy, almost without
trace, simply on togetherness, passion and a tenacious belief in
each other. On Friday night we all witnessed just such a
performance, with a deal of skill thrown in for good measure
too......and I loved it.
If the first half was total rugby which had me rubbing my eyes in
disbelief, the second saw me fidgeting and fretting with my
mouth dry and the clock seeming to be going backwards, as for
a short spell after about an hour Leeds got their only ten or so
minutes of dominance. The thing was we all knew what they
were capable of, however after their try, with some great
defence and Ellis rallying the troops we wrestled the initiative
and momentum back and for the rest of the game we simply
dominated the exchanges. It was just a superb effort and the
passion and will to win was a joy to behold. No doubt too it was
a real eye opener for all neutrals watching on TV, as we were
victorious against the best ‘Get out of Jail’ team in the game. I
was so proud of all our players and as the last five minutes
ticked down, so great was the relief and joy around me that I
thought I was dreaming and that any minute I would wake up at
home in bed!
So after grinning all week about the Ganson fiasco, I’m now
wearing a happy smile this Monday morning and quite frankly
although past and bitter experience dictates that I am still
wondering how long it will go on, boy am I enjoying it while it
lasts!
.....................................................................................................
Wow, that was great entertainment played out in as good an
atmosphere as I have experienced at the KC for many a year.
If, for whatever reason, you thought about going but didn’t, then
you missed a cracker. Watching afterwards on TV, when at
times you couldn’t hear the commentators for the roar of the
crowd, I realised that in those circumstances there is still
nothing quite like being there. Come the 1st July when we play
our next home game, (on a Monday night against Wakey),
everyone who can, should get along to the game and support
this young team, because it’s going places. It may not quite be
ready just yet, for going all the way this season, but the
transformation, passion and youthful exuberance we have seen
since Pearson arrived and brought in Peter Gentle, has built
and built and now compared with a few seasons ago it’s a
different world! The atmosphere was simply electric last Friday
and when the KC is rocking like that it’s an amazing place to
be.
For a team that are Champions and who average 25 points a
game, to keep Leeds to just one score is a brilliant feat in
anybody’s book, but the manner of the victory was something
everyone who was there will savour for a long time. I absolutely
loved it and there is little doubt that Pearson (mentored by
McCrae) and Peter Gentle are building something very, very
special at the KC.
Unlike a lot of the glory seeking fans across the game, the FC
Faithful revel as much in uncompromising and brave defence
as they do in flashy slick passing movements, so this game had
us on the edge of our seats for the full 80 minutes. Never short
of both passion and comedy the animated crowd were on top
form, with chants of “We want Ganson” when Yeamo’s try was
disallowed by the video referee and of, “There’s only one Stevie
Ganson”, before the game kicked off, it was quite magical and
typical of the ‘theatre’ generated by the FC Army over the years
on such occasions.
The difficulty at present seems to be keeping the youngsters
feet on the ground, as the blend of experienced old heads and
raw talent takes us forward into June with tons of hope and a
deal of expectation. “They were all yapping at a hundred miles
an hour at half time and we had to calm ‘em all down and get
their feet back on the ground”, said Peter Gentle on Radio
Humberside after the game and what a good job they did of it.
The FC’s defence was as good as I have seen by any Super
League Club this year, while our first half attacking play was
dazzling. 48 hours later as I write this, I still can’t quite believe
how good it was!
With both teams down to two bench players because of injury
in that second half, it was always going to be a big ask to keep
the Loiners at bay, but with the exception of one defensive
lapse that’s exactly what we did and aided by probably as good
a display of long kicking as I have seen at the KC by a player in
a black and white shirt, Holdsworth, ably supported by
Houghton and Heremaia, eventually broke the Rhino’s hearts.
At times this tactic saw the ball stand up just before or just over
the try line meaning that often Leeds had to start their sets from
deep in their own half. Danny Houghton had a fine game,
scoring a game breaking try and pulling off 57 tackles, he was
back to his 80 minute dynamo self and simply majestic. He
can’t play that long forever, but cometh the hour cometh the
hero and with Heramaia playing well in place of Horne at half
back, Danny did the ‘biz’ at 9.
What is so satisfying though is that after a succession of
televised defeats earlier in the season this victory, following the
one at Warrington, has made the TV watching public sit up and
take notice. That 92% completion rate in the first half was our
best this season and that plus Holdsworth’s kicking and the
way that we kept the penalty’s down, got us far enough in front
and you could see that in the end the Rhino’s were sick and fed
up of chasing those kicks back into their own 20 and having to
start out again from scratch. In one televised playback in the
first half, as the camera slowly panned across the field from
behind the sticks at the North end, we saw man after man after
man in black and white in a totally straight defensive line across
the field motoring upfield to chase down the kick.
The TV commentators went on and on about Leeds being two
rotating players down but we lost both our starting props for the
whole of the second half and Ellis for a big chunk of the first.
Incidentally I was told that Ellis was having heart flutters and
slight palpitations, which apparently he's had before and the
reason the trainer was holding his wrist and his neck was to
check his pulse. It’s also hard to believe that we saw yet
another 40/20 and we are starting I think to take them a bit for
granted now!!!! (Ha Ha). As for the three tries well there was a
well engineered opener where a change of line by McDonnell
and some amazing backing up by Westerman saw us home, a
piece of magic from Lineham which sent Crookes away for the
second, while a brilliant scoot by Danny Houghton grabbed
what would turn out to be a match winning third.
As for performances, well Mc Donnell was brilliant under the
high ball pulled off a couple of try saving tackles and joined the
line well, while I need say no more than, brilliant, for Crooks
and Lineham, what prospects, on long contracts, those two are.
I said last week that I would give Briscoe a rest and an early
injury on Friday saw our want away international winger
struggling to compete in a game where had Whiting been
playing rather than 4 ‘forwards’ on the bench, he would, no
doubt, have been substituted. I’ll touch on Yeamo a bit later! In
the halves Holdsworth was as I said majestic at times and
Heramaia had a good game, probably his best at 7, replacing
Horny.
Up front the loss of our two starting props, who were both going
well, was a blow, but Watts and Johnson really dug in and got
the better of the big Leeds front rowers, while Houghton as I
said was amazing in his work rate and go forward. Westerman
who should, it was said afterwards, have played two 20 minute
stints stayed on all the game and did well, while Pitts continues
to impress. I have to say too that with the exception of one
dropped pass Galea came back in and played his part well,
while Lynch worked hard but still lacks a bit of his usual edge
for me. Jamie Peacock once said in an interview about Gareth
Ellis that when he is on the field he demands that everyone
plays at least 5% above their perceived optimum and how his
inspiration showed in the Leeds game. He barked out the
orders to lead by example as he threw big forwards around like
rag dolls and once the rest get to understand the lines he is
trying to run on those trade mark diagonal breaks, he’ll be
wonderful to watch. He played a big Captains role for us!
So, for this fan Friday’s was a tremendous game, one of the
best I have seen at the KC, a fantastic effort and yet you know,
when you read the message boards afterwards, a few could
see no further than Yeaman’s aborted pass in the second half.
One ‘board’ actually had 17 pages discussing it at the time of
this chronicle ‘going to press’, at a time that we should be
rejoicing at the bigger picture. I spoke to Kirk on Saturday, he
knows what he should have done and tries to take any criticism
philosophically, although others tell me he was gutted after the
match. Not for what he had done, so much as for the way that
his actions he felt had let the rest of the team and the fans
down. Kirk loves Hull FC which is I guess pretty subjective with
any player, particularly if said player is Cr8p, but Yeamo isn’t!!
He’s also a guy who has stuck by us, despite being courted by
several other Clubs over the years and by the Dobbins...twice.
He’s also the player who has never been the usual mercenary,
chasing the quick buck, choosing instead to not bother with an
agent but rather to gets his deal sorted out in ten minutes
himself, for little gain. When you watch the match again the rest
of Kirks game was good in fact his defensive game was
outstanding as on several occasions he rushed out and
crashed Watkins down one on one as he covered for a
struggling Briscoe who was injured early on. So I felt for him a
bit over the weekend.
I’ll be having a go a Kirk when he’s playing crap, that’s my
prerogative as a fan, every supporter has a right to do that, we
pay our money and we should have our say, but this fan for one
will never ever question his commitment. The reaction of a few
loud and vociferous fans over that ‘none pass’ reminded me of
what happened with Danny Brough before he left, in fact, I even
remember the ‘usual suspects’ having a go at Richard Swain
and Steven Kearney when they were at the Club. In essence
Yeamo would rather play for Hull FC than anyone else, in fact
he’d probably rather chuck it, than play for anyone else.
If someone comes along that’s better, fine, we all agree that the
good of the team dictates that we wave goodbye to Yeamo, but
we don’t have that person on our books at present; simple as!
Of course, the fans should have a go by all means, that lack of
a pass to Holdsworth was dumb, because it was a game
breaker but let’s not be too harsh on one of our own who
accepts he has goofed but who as a confidence player needs
to get over it and move on. I would humbly suggest that’s
something a few others do too!
So as usual we move to the week gone by and the big
development for FC fans, (well after the game on Friday and Mr
Hudgell’s tantrums) was the interview on Thursday by James
Clark with owner Adam Pearson about the future of our Club.
We all need a bit of re-assurance and a call to arms from time
to time and it was great for a change to hear a Club owner who
is positive and upbeat and who didn’t appear to be claiming
everyone is against him! There was a lot to take in during 20
minutes that, even before Friday night, made me positive and
excited again about the state of the Club and the direction in
which we are heading. Adam doesn’t want to get to Wembley;
he wants to win there, because he feels that we need to win
something to make the next step up. He promised three or four
new players including Miller, a bright future and ....a lot of hope!
All that, in exchange for us selling 8000 season tickets for
2014, which I believe is just 300 less than we sold this time
around and a target that is for me, eminently attainable.
There were several points I picked up, including the fact that he
didn’t rule out absolutely Tom Briscoe staying, but for me that
ain’t gonna happen and I think they are already looking at
another pivot with his money. Adam talked about further
investment in the area of the centre of the field around pivots
and forwards and that, rather than in the outside backs where
he believes we are well covered, particularly with Crookes and
Lineham on the wings and Ben Crooks available to take over in
case of injury with Arundel then able to step into the centre. It
was great to hear that the team are flying out early to France
for the Cup game, to ensure they are acclimatised and have the
best possible chance of succeeding. In fact there was a lot of
talk about ensuring the players have everything they need to
succeed and it was interesting to hear that Radders is to get
more responsibility and that Hay will not be replaced. Instead,
Pearson said, the Club will continue building up their backroom
staff in the form of Nutritalists, Masseurs and Sports Science
experts. It’s certainly completely different world from two years
ago, when he first bought the Club.
How interesting it was to hear that we had the most advance
sales of any Super league Club for the Magic event and about
the evolution of our youth teams and the advantages of Bishop
Burton as a centre of excellence. Apparently our previous youth
rugby base in Gordon Street was dangerous when he arrived;
how things have improved since then.
Finally for me how heartening it was to hear that Adam has
aligned himself with a few of the senior Clubs and is pushing for
a 12 team Super League with relegation and promotion, which
is an eminently sensible situation when compared with the ‘split
to three Divisions’ rubbish the RL are trying to introduce. Adam
said “I’ve seen it in Football and it simply doesn’t work” My pal
John Ranby who is the Chairman of the Disabled Supporters
Club, said to me the other day how much he rates Pearson and
his vision for the Club and I have to say Adam pitches things
just right, particularly when he waxes lyrical about the support
at the Club and the passion they have compared with the fans
at some football Clubs. It’s a great interview, watch it if you
haven’t seen it already and be inspired! I think we should all get
behind him!
In Wilf’s whiffs this week firstly let me say that Adam Pearson
confirmed in that interview last week that we were indeed just
about finished with our recruitment and as I told you in the
Whiffs for the last few weeks, we had signed a Prop and a
second rower for next season. So at least I got that bit right.
Now, I was talking to someone the other day from the West
Riding that I really respect and who knows Tom Briscoe and his
family. Tom’s family have indicated that he hasn’t got any offers
from Australia and they just don’t know where he will be
playing, they also confirmed what I told you last week, that
Toms offer from us has been withdrawn and added that he was
impressed with the way the Club is heading and had it still been
there, he would now have probably taken our offer. I expect
however that we have spent the money elsewhere now! It must
be something to do with the name, because it’s Shaun Briscoe
all over again isn’t it? At the Club open day on Saturday it was
rumoured that Jacob Miller should be hear by Friday, but that of
course was just another ‘whiff’, and so we will just have to wait
and see as we will with the details of a short season pass being
issued by the Club this week, for our remaining 5 home games.
The announcement that Chris Green had signed a new three
year contract was brilliant news for us all wasn’t it? But it was
certainly something that quite frankly I didn’t expect. You see
‘whiffs’ wise I was told that two Australian ‘Spies’ who watched
Green play in our game at Salford had approached our young
prop with a view to him moving to the NRL at the end of his
current deal. Apparently Greeny was in advanced talks with us
which were suddenly suspended by the player’s
representatives, apparently because of this approach. The
news that he has now signed is therefore a massive relief for
this fan. Otherwise it’s all very quiet at present on the Whiffs
front but that can soon change!!
It was certainly interesting to hear this week that despite falling
gates the RFL are able to make an early announcement for
fans to confirm the dates for the next Magic Weekend, as being
Saturday May 17 and Sunday May 18 2014, I’ll put that in my
Diary and remember not to go!.
Well at least justice was done when Mark O’Meley had no
charge to answer after that collision tackle he made on Con
Mika in the Derby game, with the RL citing the fact that the
player’s arms were down on collision and that, ‘first contact is
opponent’s head to player’s chest”. For me, as I said last week,
it should just have been play on, but I just wonder if any of you
feel as I do, in that following the banning of the shoulder
charge, referee’s are getting really touchy now about any
contact that is ‘full on’, one on one. The games getting bloody
soft in my opinion and in the process being spoilt as a
spectacle for the fans, because for me the authorities are for
whatever reason slowly but surely taking the element of the
‘biff’ out of it completely. In fact I would go as far as to hazard a
guess that had that ‘Ogre’ hit been in the heat of a State of
Origin game, it would have received massive plaudits from the
media and the fans and gone un-punished.
There is just as much excitement generated by a big hit as
there is by a break away from the line and you only have to see
how big collisions are greeted in State of Origin and even in
America in the NFL to see that they should always be a part of
any contact ball carrying game. That was a fine one on one hit
by O’Meley and the sort of strike that he, as the Ogre, built his
reputation on, there was nothing wrong with it, but he was
penalised and the Dobbins scored from the resultant play. I like
a bit of biff and I expect most fans do too, but there won’t be
much left in our game before long!
How’s the sternum Rich? Mrs. R’s favourite player does the PR
stuff at the Clubs open day on Saturday!
So, it was bound to happen and last week the controversy and
subsequent debate about the happenings in the last few
minutes of the Magic game continued to rumble on, but it
wasn’t just Neil Hudgell who was going over the top. The
Dobbins defeat wasn’t "a tragedy", as their coach Craig
Sandercock suggested afterwards, with what was for me a
really depressing lack of perspective. The Rovers chairman
Neil Hudgell tried hard at first to be objective in his statement
before his true colours showed with his bringing up of the fact
that the new refereeing chief Jon Sharp used to play for Hull
FC, something that for me verged on paranoia! Barry Lilley the
ex Rovers Chairman has been our Match Commissioner on
several occasions this year, it’s a small community, it happens!
Still I see that his Solicitors group are moving into the Hull Daily
Mail Building in Hull, so at least he’ll be handy for Charlie
Mullen when the next tirade is forthcoming. Of course the
controversy also featured heavily in this week’s edition of Super
League Backchat which is starting to become a big yawn for
me. Phrases such as "miscarriage of justice" were being used,
with ridiculously, Ganson's misjudgement being compared to
that of the drunken outrage committed by the Warrington wing
Joel Monaghan a few years ago and there were even some
suggestions that the game should be replayed.
I guess most of that sort of stuff in that show is done for effect
in an effort to be controversial and outspoken, but it was way
over the top and it’s getting boring now. As a team, against
Rovers for once, we got lucky, Ganson goofed but a lot of the
actual outcome should also be put down to the fitness and
tenacity of Chris Green, who is developing into a great young
forward. His chasing down an apparently hopeless cause was
an important part of the drama too and sadly an element that
the pundits failed to recognise at all. It’s about time Rovers and
a few others got over it!
Let’s get this perfectly straight right now, when you put your
partisan views aside this is not an issue between Hull FC and
Hull KR, the try should never have been allowed and local
rivalry apart we all accept and acknowledge that. But we take
the points just as the Dobbins would have done and all the talk
on the Rovers message boards that Ellis should have agreed
with Dobson to let them score unopposed from the kick off or
that the game should be replayed at the KC, with the proceeds
shared, are little more than embarrassing tripe and just show
what some people know about sport.
What happened was the fault of the official concerned and is
therefore subsequently an RFL issue and they have to do
something to sort it in the future. When a player is stood yards
in front of the kicker and the try is still awarded something
needs to be done, if only to prevent it from happening again.
How do we solve it? Well perhaps as usual we should look at
what they are doing in the NRL and have two officials making
the video replay calls. If the referee tells the video referees
what he thinks the call is and asks their opinion they can either
agree or disagree with him after reviewing the incident. If they
can’t agree between the two of them (The video referees) then
the decision should go back to the match referee to decide as
he saw it.
Last week, on the same tack, I read one of those ‘Toys out of
the pram’ pieces from Neil Hudgell in which Hudge said that he
didn’t want Ganson sacked because he was a character and
that is, he said, something that is in short supply in the game at
present. Whatever his motives, as far as characters are
concerned, I think he has a point! Over the years of doing this
drivel I have talked about individual players who have been
outstanding and featured others who could be classed as
‘unusual’ too, but this week I have put together a bit of a
miscellany of some of my completely random recollections of
those players I have experienced who fall into the characters
category and boy have we had some over the years!
There is little doubt that in a life time of following one sports
club the skilful players, top scorers and club internationals will
always stick in your mind, however there will always be a place
in our hearts for those players who, be they good or bad on the
field, brought a bit extra to our enjoyment of the black and
whites and who often added a little extra in the dressing rooms
too. They are of course the ‘real’ characters.
It’s hard to know where to start, so this week I’ll just list them as
they come into my mind. Firstly there was that great centre we
had in the 60’s called Dick Gemmell, he was an international
and when first encountered, quite a serious sort of bloke, who
you soon discovered had something of a wicked sense of
humour. Dick once played with a really bad ankle injury, he had
to, because it was the Yorkshire Cup final in 1969, which we
eventually won by beating Featherstone 12-9. After the game I
remember he stated to the press with a big smile that he had
actually bandaged up the good ankle, and left the bad one
uncovered, to throw the opposition off the scent!
Then of course there has to be a mention of the great Mick
Crane, who I have twice featured here in the Diary in the past
and who everyone has a story about. He was king of the
characters and must have infuriated every coach he played for,
but we just loved him. He even used to pop off the field for a
swift ‘drag’, which he would ‘Cadge’ off someone stood on the
railings of the Threepenny Stand. On one occasion when Arthur
Bunting was lamenting the fact that the team was likely to be
desperate for players that weekend the injured Crane said to
him at training, “Don’t worry boss, just send someone to
Chomley Club to get me and I’ll turn out!” In fact a year later he
was actually sent for from there to make up the numbers when
a player didn’t turn up to play. Always late for the Bus leaving
the Boulevard for away games the rest of the team would be
waiting on the Coach while Mike was in Crimliss’s the Airlie
Street fish shop availing himself of fish and Chips. There are so
many stories about Mick! However if Mick was the greatest
character we ever had, then there are certainly plenty of others
that were not far behind!
Remember Lee Crooks, one of the most talent youngsters the
club has ever produced. A prodigious talent, from an early age
Lee was indoctrinated into the ‘Drinking Club’ of the early
eighties which also included, Taffy Prendiville, Steve Norton
and Sammy Lloyd and it was even rumoured that Lee
sometimes liked a couple of pints before a game. I remember
one Good Friday Derby in the heat of a close derby game,
after about 20 minutes, Crooks popped off to the changing
rooms; he was back in a minute and no substitution was made,
but we all chanted “We know where you’ve been” when he
returned. Once in a game at the Boulevard in 1979 Paul
Woods, that doyen of the ‘Coat hanger’ tackle and one of the
hardest players I have ever seen, tried to sneak a few yards on
a conversion attempt from the touch line in front of the
Threepenny Stand. The referee spotted him and immediately
moved the ball back to the whitewash of the touchline. Paul
placed the ball, took 4 strides back to the metal fence, wiped
his boot, climbed over it, cleared the crowd and prepared his
run up from 3 steps up the terracing! The place was in uproar,
even the referee laughed. Great stuff!
Remember too, John Maloney, who used to turn up at games in
his companies Bentley and the day that Jim Neil and Jim
Macklin sneaked out from training and took the two front
wheels off and left it on bricks! Then there was “Super” Alf
Macklin who regularly turned up for games at the Boulevard on
a bike, he could get anything the lads wanted and would often
be seen on a Tuesday or Thursday evening arriving at training
with a pot of paint on each side of his handlebars. He was a
real card, and once furtively taped Coach David Doyle
Davidson’s pre match talk. Now DDD was renowned then as
indeed he probably is now, for going on a bit and the following
week he was just about to launch into his usual inspirational pre
match speech, when Alf started the tape recorder and said,
“Don’t Worry boss, save your breath, I’ve got last weeks on
tape”.
Whilst I am remembering ‘Super’ Alf he had another
idiosyncrasy in that he would not eat hotel or restaurant food
and so his Mum, who I knew as she worked at the Council in
my offices as a cleaner, packed him up with a Tupperware box
of sandwiches, before he travelled to away games. It is said
that there was always a fight between his team mates as to
who sat next to Alf at the pre match meal because you were
guaranteed an extra plate of food, if you got that place. Another
real ‘court jester’ was Terry Devonshire who would crack a joke
whatever, and whenever the circumstances. He used to have a
running conversation with the referee most of the time. Once
though, it got him into trouble because in a game at York when
Jim Neale was sent off, chirpy ‘Dev’ trotted up to the referee
and in his usual joking manner, ruffled his hair and said, “Come
on Mate, why have you sent ‘Neilly’ off, what was that for”. He
must have caught referee Eric Lawrenson on a bad day though
because he swiftly retorted, “You had better go and ask him
yourself; you’re off as well”.
Another amazing character I remember was Jack Kinsley the
clubs physio in the 70’s. He was a hard man and the players
hated going to him when they were injured, in fact Kenny
Foulkes once told me that they would run a mile rather than
have their injuries ‘manipulated’ by Jack. I remember once
seeing him put two of Tony Dukes fingers ‘back’ after he had
dislocated them, without Dukes coming off the field. Dukesy
was a tough character but Boy Oh Boy, did he dance that day!!!
Chris Davidson was another great halfback who used to love a
laugh! He was also a local publican and at one particular game,
he made a couple of mistakes and took a lot of abuse from an
individual on the Threepenny Stand, who it turned out was one
of his customers. How do I know that fact? Well, Chris looked
over to us in the stand and shouted, “Don’t bother coming in
tonight John, your barred!”
Even the great Arthur Keegan, had his moments and despite
playing for our club for 12 years he never moved from his home
in Dewsbury. Arthur loved living in the West Riding, and never
owned a car so he would travel at least 3 times a week to Hull
by British Rail. Once when stuck in a pre match traffic jam 3
miles from the Stadium at York, he jumped out of Ken Huxley’s
car and ran to the ground; he was man of the match that day
too. Then there was Vince Farrar who started the exodus of
great players from the West Riding to the Boulevard in the late
70’s. He was renowned for being a 'bit careful’ with his money.
He had the player’s bonus system down ked out to the £1 and
would give his colleagues a running commentary during games
on how certain mistakes had cost them money! Farrar was big
friends too with Charlie Stone, Clive Pickerill and John
Newlove, all exiles from the West Riding, and these 4 were
always getting up to something.
I once saw them at an after match get together in the Mermaid
pub near Hessle that is sadly no more. There was one of the
young players who had been down in the mouth for a couple of
weeks because his girlfriend had packed him in. The 4 lads
disappeared into the gents with a hold all and appeared about
ten minutes later in full drag, wigs make up and all!! They were
all posing as replacements for the youngsters lost love!!! It was
in that same pub that I witnessed Tony Dean and Ronnie
Wileman doing their famous and absolutely hilarious
impression of Cannon and Ball.
That great forward of the early 70’s Mick Harrison was another
real card. He was most famous for always starting the games of
“Off Ground” tig the players used to play on the girders of the
old Boothferry Bridge when they stopped at the Café there for a
break on their way to away fixtures. Heavens, I had better stop
there and continue this resume of characters in a future Diary,
however I hope that jogged a few memories and all I can say is
that I for one feel that some of these guys have thankfully done
their bit, often in hard times, to make my enjoyment of the club I
love a little more fun and a lot more of a memorable
experience.
So we’re off to France, for a game that should test our new
found resolve and tenacity to the full. The fourth place in Super
League is at stake and four ‘Diaries’ ago I said that the next 4
games against Warrington, Rovers, Leeds and Catalan would
probably be season defining and added that if we could win
two, we would be doing ok. After three have been played we
have won them all so far, so perhaps hoping for a fourth is a bit
greedy, but with this team at present who knows? The season
from here on in dictates that anything is now possible, as we
have already played Huddersfield, Warrington, Leeds and
Saints away and only have Wigan of the ‘big boys’ left to travel
to. When you compare that with say Rovers run in, where they
have still to travel to Catalan, Saints, Warrington, Wigan and
Leeds anything is possible, because I honestly believe that we
can now beat anyone at home. Exciting times really!!
Thanks this week go to all those I met at the Clubs’ open day
on Saturday which was a fantastic afternoon attended by
upwards of 2000 fans. It was worth going just to see an 83 year
old Johnny Whiteley turn out for the veterans and our owner’s
unexpected prowess with the rugby ball. Adam surprised a lot,
including me! Most of all though, it was brilliant to meet so
many Diary readers and hear your views good and bad on this
weekly tome that I try to entertain you with. Thanks also go to
those who have contacted me this week including Kev the
Turkish Sabre (love that name) who wrote a great E mail
entitled Glory Days, Linda Gellatly who dropped a line to the
SMC about the condition of the pitch after the Squash
Tournament, Brian in Spain, Kathy in Beverley, Ian and Sarah
in Germany, Martin Spavin, Richard Corbett in Miami, Ben, Sue
and Stella in Pontefract and Harry Chapman in Goddard
Avenue.
If you’re going, enjoy the trip to France, take care and most of
all enjoy, nay revel, in another week spent with a smile on your
face, let’s be honest we’ve experienced plenty in the past when
a scowl was much more in keeping with our fortunes....it’ll be
tough this week but whatever happens I believe we are heading
in the right direction again! Onwards and upwards!!!
Keep Believing!!!
Faithfully Yours
Wilf