When Terry Campese agreed to make the move to Super League with Hull Kingston Rovers just over two years ago, he may have wondered what would follow. Ups, downs and setbacks are part and parcel of a rugby league career but to describe Campese’s two years as a rollercoaster would be somewhat of an understatement.
Drama and the unexpected is never far away when it comes to a club like Hull KR and 12 months on from their Challenge Cup final defeat to Leeds Rhinos, they face a final of an entirely different kind against Salford Red Devils on Saturday, with entirely different consequences at stake for the losers.
Win the 2016 Million Pound Game and Hull KR know they will be in Super League next year, able to look ahead with confidence as the former Australia coach Tim Sheens takes charge. Defeat? The ignominy of relegation, a season (at least) in the Championship, and the likelihood of players losing their jobs.
Careers, livelihoods and futures are at stake for both Rovers and Salford on Saturday afternoon. Campese’s time at Hull KR has fluctuated between spells of brilliance on the field and significant periods in the treatment room – he missed the Wembley defeat to Leeds last year due to injury – but the man who has played both Test and State of Origin rugby is in no doubt about the significance of the game.
“After the siren goes, it’s probably bigger than any other game I’ve ever played,” he said. “If you lose [normally], you’ve still got your job. This week you don’t. That’s the scary thing about it. You try not to think about it but it’s hard not to with having a young family.”
The spotlight has been on the Million Pound Game concept this week after Campese’s team-mate Ben Cockayne described it as a “disgrace” to the sport. With a year left on his existing deal, Campese faces the prospect of being unemployed come Saturday evening and he admits the game does not sit comfortably with him, either.
“I’m pretty sure that’s the case, that contracts become null and void,” he said. “You either have to renegotiate or move on I think, that’s the way I see it: haven’t been told otherwise. I didn’t like the concept when I first heard about it last year; I don’t think this works. The team that finishes bottom gets off, which was Huddersfield this year.”
It is rare to see the city of Hull unite when it comes to rugby league, but Campese insists that he has had messages of goodwill from the most unlikely areas this week as KR prepare to keep their Super League status, and the Hull derby, intact.
“I went to my son’s rugby on Sunday and there were a few FC fans there that have kids in his team and they want us to stay up as well because of the derby and the rivalry – it brings the town together,” he said. “It’s important to a town like Hull. Hopefully we’ll put in a performance that gives these people the derby next year.”
With the stakes so high, talk of what ifs and worst-case scenarios is only natural. But if KR do emerge victorious on Saturday, the irony is that despite coming so close to disaster this year, there is scope for a bright future with a man of Sheens’ experience taking charge.
“I’ve never been at a club like it where we’ve been hit by so many injuries, but I’m sure if we can have a healthy squad we can do some good things in the future,” Campese said.
“I’d much rather be out on the field than sitting in the stands. It’s in my hands what I can do and what part I play in the success on Saturday.”
