Hull FC have been Super League’s big overachievers this season and have their local rivals in their sights.Photograph: Richard Sellers/PA
Nestled at the eastern tip of the M62, the city of Hull may sit on the very tip of British rugby league’s geographical landscape but, right now, it is the epicentre of Super League.
Few cities are driven by a passion for rugby league quite like it. Both of the city’s clubs – Hull FC and Hull KR – have enjoyed spells in the upper echelons of Super League over the past 30 years but not since the early 80s, long before the advent of summer rugby, was there a time when both East Riding clubs were simultaneously competing for honours.
Advertisement
Related: Hull KR v Wigan: welcome to the newest rivalry in Super League
Nobody in the city needs reminding about the importance of the traditional Good Friday meeting between the two sides but this season’s derby has added gravitas, given top spot is at stake in Super League as Rovers and Hull sit first and second respectively after a quarter of an engrossing season.
Back in the early 80s, Roger Millward and Steve Norton led the Yorkshire clubs at the top of the game. This time, it is local talent such as Rovers’ reigning Man of Steel, Mikey Lewis, and the New Zealand prop Herman Ese’ese, the best forward in Super League right now, who are the key players.
The derby always matters, as it did a fortnight ago when Rovers prevailed in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals. But it is hard not to feel that this one is the most anticipated for years. “I definitely didn’t understand it as an outsider to Hull, even in my first year at the club it was all new to me,” says Rovers’ captain, Elliot Minchella. “I probably still didn’t get it then, but as soon as I’d moved to Hull and now I live over here, I’m in the city and amongst it. You get it now, you hear stories about families being split, how much it means to them, the history of the derby – I absolutely get it.”
Advertisement
Rovers sit top before the Easter weekend, which is certainly less of a surprise than Hull being just one point behind them in second. Having reached last year’s Grand Final, Rovers were expected to be among the challengers again. But Hull, who finished 11th of 12 last year, have undergone a rapid transformation.
Inspired by the appointment of John Cartwright as their head coach, they have already won more league games this year than in the whole of 2024. “I think it’s brilliant for Hull but brilliant for rugby league to have both clubs like this,” says the Hull chief executive, Richie Myler.
“It’s not since the 80s when both clubs were dominant and I’d want to make it clear that we’re batting above average right now, and a long way off where we want to be on our journey. But if we can chase KR down and give our supporters something to cheer this weekend, that’s going to mean a lot to so many people.”
Cartwright and a raft of senior overseas players such as Ese’ese and Aidan Sezer have been integral to Hull’s turnaround. But Myler is keen to stress that local lads will not be overlooked: there are frequently four or five products of Hull’s academy in their 17. That serves as inspiration to aspiring youngsters.
Advertisement
Minchella feels that the Hull derby can often take outsiders aback. Myler played for some of Super League’s biggest clubs, including Leeds and Warrington, but even he has been surprised. He acknowledges that “I didn’t really fully know” the size of the club before he arrived, “or what this game means to people”.
There is predictable disdain between the two sets of supporters but, between the clubs, there is mutual respect. Myler admits Hull are aiming to emulate the trajectory of Rovers, who have gone from finishing bottom in 2020 to becoming one of Super League’s biggest sides on and off the pitch.
The upwards journey of both teams is having a big impact across the whole city, with crowds booming – Friday’s game will be a sellout of around 21,000 – and more people taking notice. “The two teams are going well, so all the young kids now in Hull, it inspires them,” Minchella says.
“They want to play for Hull KR, they want to play for Hull FC and they want to go and play with their mates at the weekend. That’s our responsibility as players to make them want to go out and do that. It adds to the game, the game’s a bigger occasion, and it adds that extra bit to it.”
Good Friday’s victors may still be some way off seriously believing they can lift the Grand Final trophy at Old Trafford, but boasting the status of Hull’s top team at any stage in the season is not to be sniffed at. Try telling anyone involved in this most ferocious of derby rivalries otherwise.