For a while around the 80s, it must have felt like the good times were never going to end for Hull KR: Challenge Cup winners in 1980; winners of the Premiership in 1981 and 1984; champions of England in 1979 and again in 1984 and 1985.
Legends such as Roger Millward, Gavin Miller and George Fairbairn – revered on one side of Hull to this day – at the heartbeat of one of the finest sides in history.
But then, nothing. Darkness. One final defeat became two; two became three. There was relegation to the second division twice and then, in 1995, into the third tier 10 years on from Hull KR’s finest hours.
Crowds dwindled to less than 2,000 and Rovers flirted with administration and financial disaster on more than one occasion. But under Willie Peters, they have re-emerged as one of the game’s leading forces, reaching the Challenge Cup final in 2023 and last year’s Super League Grand Final.
Saturday’s meeting with Warrington at Wembley will be their third major final in two years, but for all of the good news surrounding Rovers, the one thing missing to cement this squad’s legacy is a piece of silverware. For 40 years, Hull KR have failed to win a major trophy; a point of ridicule on the west side of the city and an agonising drought on the other.
This should be the moment that wait ends. Hull KR are the best team in Super League and are heavy favourites on Saturday. But Wembley has already left a scar on this squad with their golden-point defeat by Leigh in the 2023 final and the prospect of history can weigh heavy on the shoulders when the stakes are at their highest.
“There will be a time when I’m not here and I’ll look back on how good these days were, but it will really mean nothing unless there is a trophy in the cabinet,” says their captain, Elliot Minchella. “We understand where we’re at and what we’ve got at stake.
“Nothing can drive you more than experiencing what it’s like to lose at Wembley. Six hours on a bus back to Hull – it felt like someone had died.”
Minchella can become the first Hull KR captain in a generation to achieve where others have failed. But he is just one part of an impressive squad with the England half-back and reigning Man of Steel, Mikey Lewis, New Zealand great Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and full‑back Jack Broadbent others to watch.
The presence of Waerea-Hargreaves, one of the NRL’s finest-ever players, should give Rovers added confidence they can get over the line. He was signed for moments like this and the pain of their recent final defeats adds a layer of determination.
“We might not have won those finals in the last couple of years but we learned a lot of lessons from them,” says their second-row forward James Batchelor.
Getting on for 20,000 Hull KR fans will travel to Wembley and few would deserve a moment of success more than Rovers’ owner, Neil Hudgell. He has poured millions into the club over the past 20 years, kept it alive through some dark times and is now witnessing what he saw in the 80s: a thriving Hull KR.
Hudgell, who has worked tirelessly as the lawyer of the victims of the Post Office scandal for years, would be quick to insist this is not about him, but Hull KR would not have reached this point without his support.
Warrington Dufty; Thewlis, King, Tai, Lindop; Williams, Sneyd; Vaughan, Powell, Yates, Holroyd, Fitzgibbon, Currie. Interchange Ratchford, Crowther, Philbin, Harrison.
Hull KR Broadbent; Davies, Hiku, Batchelor, Burgess; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Waerea-Hargreaves, Hadley, Whitbread, Minchella. Interchange McIlorum, Tanginoa, Brown, Luckley.
Referee Liam Moore.
This club is intertwined with its community in a way few others are and success on Saturday could have a revolutionary impact beyond Craven Park. “When I moved to Hull, I underestimated what this club means to people,” Minchella says. “You can’t walk around a supermarket without someone asking you what’s happening at the club and you have to embrace that, because people care.
“What we do on the field has a massive impact on the lives of people. Every moment matters for the people in this city. It defines their week.
“We try to represent the people of east Hull with the way we play. We never give up and we work for everything. I know what it’ll do for the local area if we can win. It’s time for us to go out and do our job now.”
The walls of Craven Park are adorned with the images of legends from 40 years ago but this club is in desperate need of a new set of heroes to revere. For Millward, Miller and Fairbairn in 1985, read Lewis, Minchella and Peters in 2025 if the final goes the way many expect.
