So, it begins!!! As we face the biggest cup game at home we have faced for decades. How’s everyone doing?? Some are confident many of us are apprehensive some are nervous already and me Mr glass half empty well…..
 
The players seem quietly confident, the coach seems a bit less cautious than normal and most of the fans I speak to think we might just do it. I wish I could somehow share their confidence. But as a hardened sceptic and blind follower of the FC, try as I may to be confident, I just can’t see it. I often approach big games like that because if your right you somehow feel better and if you win who cares anyway. 
 
This is going to be so tough and one thing’s for sure we need a solid start with no penalties given away, because if they get as far ahead as Wigan did then I know that lightning won’t be striking twice!!! 
 
I hate that lot with a passion, but they are a bloody good team this term probably as good as there is in the British game at present and they have gone off with a bullet whilst although we have still got off well for me at least we’re not really firing on all cylinders and as always injuries abound. But rather like the fans at times as a team we’re flying on the fumes of belief passion and a never say never attitude. Which we all know can get you a long way. However, for this fan, the greatest thing of all is that had this scenario unfolded last season we would simply have been watching through our fingers, head in hands or from behind the settee just praying we could at least keep the score down. 
 
When you step out of the cauldron that is this game you have to wonder just how amazed would we all have been back then last year if we knew that we would have possibly the richest owners in the game, who have bought into everything we have for so long believed in, a proactive and influential Football Manager/Chief Executive, a strong Aussie coach full of common sense and integrity and some of the best and most experienced hardened pro’s in the game AND be where we are after 6 league games. Having knocked Wigan out of the Cup at their ground!!!! When you list all that  and compare with last season its almost getting to miracle status !!!
 
 We have come so far and the fans god bless ‘em, (hardened by seasons of disappointment, false dawns, abject banality  and the guiness book of records turning up to assess our end of season losing  runs), are again turning up in great numbers away from home and packing the stadium for a Derby no one in the game outside the ranks of the FC pilgrims feels we have a hope in hell of winning!!! 
 
The faithful do it as we all do in hope, rather than expectation, but are starting to believe again. However as for Saturday I think it just might be a step too far too soon, but as long as we give it a go as we have every game this season, we have a chance and I’ll be happy.  I knows that it’s the hope that kills you well I never learn, because this season I have it all over again. So for me, a massive game but as far as the future is concerned this time I honestly believe it could be for real thing. So, strap yourselves in for Saturday but whatever happens I think there are certainly some better times ahead. COYH

as much as anything, pryce will give rovers something else to think about.  He could tire quite badly due to the travelling so expect he won't play the full 80

Jake the Peg: Was the trialist Kevin James? Think it was Stuart Vass….swear blind Sterlo kicked over a regatherd and put Vass in at the corner and didn’t Steve Evan’s pick off a Lewis pass and go the full length?….i was there that day as well as a 18yr old….who would have thought that 1 yr later would be t https://www.rlfans.com/0ebf9883-098f-43b0-9c73-0999bd4804e3" width="2613" height="1959"> he last time Rovers won owt

Jake the Peg: Was the trialist Kevin James? Think it was Stuart Vass….swear blind Sterlo kicked over a regatherd and put Vass in at the corner and didn’t Steve Evan’s pick off a Lewis pass and go the full length?….i was there that day as well as a 18yr old….who would have thought that 1 yr later would be t https://www.rlfans.com/0ebf9883-098f-43b0-9c73-0999bd4804e3" width="2613" height="1959"> he last time Rovers won owt

24hrs until kick-off! Can't decide whether I'm excited, nervous, dreading it, or a combination of all three!!!


We go in as underdogs, obviously, but not to the extent it's a done deal already. If this draw had come out last year I would have been praying for anything other than a massacre! But since the start of the year we've clearly gone some way towards levelling things up a touch.


Logically everything points to them having a bit too much firepower for us to handle, but then logically everything pointed to Wigan having the same a few weeks back, so the big question is can lightning strike twice for us with a second cup upset?


The longer we can stay in the contest, the more emboldened we will become and the more vociferous the crowd will be. If there's only a score in it on the hour mark, it will then become a case of who grabs the major chance when it falls their way.
If we get blown away in the first 20-25 minutes, as we did in all three encounters last year, then they will canter home. I doubt there will be a repeat of the Wigan comeback this time.


Think it's either us narrowly (by 2) or them comfortably (by 18-20). We will know soon enough, just hope my nerves can stand up tomorrow! I hate these games, I really do!!!!!

The Dentist Wilf: If anyone’s interested  Enter a legend and a Wally! Sunday 4th December 1983     Hull 32-Wakefield Trinity 16 There are times in the course of being a life-long follower of one Club when you remember that on a particularly significant occasion, “You were there”. There when it happened, there when history was made and there when you simply couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world. Often it’s Cup Finals and critical, last gasp, wins in successful seasons that offer these fleeting glimpses of perfection, but sometimes it’s just about a monumental episode in the history of your Club. That day at Belle Vue was for me at least, one such occasion. There we were stood amongst around 4000 Hull fans on the open Western Terrace frantic with expectation, as out ran Hull FC and Peter Sterling, his hands swathed in bandages and his long blonde hair blowing in the wind. Of course, all the talk in the West Riding City was about Wally Lewis making his debut for Trinity but in the end it was Hull FC that spoilt the party, as led by Sterling we took the home team apart.     After just a couple of days in the Country and at just 22, Sterling produced a magnificent debut to lead us to victory. Our team that day was a mix of young and old, as the continuing injury crisis at the Club bit into our reserves of playing strength. Without six regular first teamers and several players that were on International duty, Hull knitted together surprisingly well and Keith Tindall, at 36, and returning after 15 months absence, was a revelation. Indeed we even had a Trialist winger playing on the right.        However, it was Sterling that ran the show and despite a bright opening from an obviously inspired Wakefield side, he took all the plaudits at the end of the day. Lewis was outstanding in the first quarter particularly when executing some brilliant cut out passes to set up attacks (one of which I swear cut out four players and went like a bullet) and we soon trailed 8-0 before Phil Edmonds scored a try off a brilliant ‘scissors’ pass from Sterling. Then Mick Crane opened Wakefield up with a massive side step and sent Evans racing on an arc and in for a try, but a Geary try right on half time saw the scores tied at 16-16 at the break.        The second half was all Hull as Dannett, Evans and Banks scored tries, each of which was engineered by Sterling. Lewis retired after 70 minutes, but ‘Sterlo’ played out the whole game, as we ran out winners 32-16. It was a moment to savour as our new hero came over to receive the adulation of us fans and I can still see him now waving to us all, before taking the bindings off his hands and throwing them into the crowd. Despite only playing 8 games in that spell at the Club and a further 28 the following season, we’d see a lot more of Peter Sterling who was to become a legend of the FC.        The early part of 1984 saw him leading Hull to success on the field as we went on a seven match unbeaten run. Sterling was an instant hero with all the fans and quickly became a local personality, being followed everywhere (even on his regular visits to the local casino) by an entourage of autograph hunters and ladies. He was a real hero who I always wanted to meet and I had my wish granted one night in the Casino when after numerous pints I came face to face with him and said, “Your Peter Sterling” to which he replied, “I know” and that was it really.  Roamin' The Range Together Book 2  Watch the highlights of Sterling's Hull FC debut  https://youtu.be/vZ__tBDVjoc?si=vX7f0f38GojJIJTC

The Dentist Wilf: If anyone’s interested  Enter a legend and a Wally! Sunday 4th December 1983     Hull 32-Wakefield Trinity 16 There are times in the course of being a life-long follower of one Club when you remember that on a particularly significant occasion, “You were there”. There when it happened, there when history was made and there when you simply couldn’t imagine being anywhere else in the world. Often it’s Cup Finals and critical, last gasp, wins in successful seasons that offer these fleeting glimpses of perfection, but sometimes it’s just about a monumental episode in the history of your Club. That day at Belle Vue was for me at least, one such occasion. There we were stood amongst around 4000 Hull fans on the open Western Terrace frantic with expectation, as out ran Hull FC and Peter Sterling, his hands swathed in bandages and his long blonde hair blowing in the wind. Of course, all the talk in the West Riding City was about Wally Lewis making his debut for Trinity but in the end it was Hull FC that spoilt the party, as led by Sterling we took the home team apart.     After just a couple of days in the Country and at just 22, Sterling produced a magnificent debut to lead us to victory. Our team that day was a mix of young and old, as the continuing injury crisis at the Club bit into our reserves of playing strength. Without six regular first teamers and several players that were on International duty, Hull knitted together surprisingly well and Keith Tindall, at 36, and returning after 15 months absence, was a revelation. Indeed we even had a Trialist winger playing on the right.        However, it was Sterling that ran the show and despite a bright opening from an obviously inspired Wakefield side, he took all the plaudits at the end of the day. Lewis was outstanding in the first quarter particularly when executing some brilliant cut out passes to set up attacks (one of which I swear cut out four players and went like a bullet) and we soon trailed 8-0 before Phil Edmonds scored a try off a brilliant ‘scissors’ pass from Sterling. Then Mick Crane opened Wakefield up with a massive side step and sent Evans racing on an arc and in for a try, but a Geary try right on half time saw the scores tied at 16-16 at the break.        The second half was all Hull as Dannett, Evans and Banks scored tries, each of which was engineered by Sterling. Lewis retired after 70 minutes, but ‘Sterlo’ played out the whole game, as we ran out winners 32-16. It was a moment to savour as our new hero came over to receive the adulation of us fans and I can still see him now waving to us all, before taking the bindings off his hands and throwing them into the crowd. Despite only playing 8 games in that spell at the Club and a further 28 the following season, we’d see a lot more of Peter Sterling who was to become a legend of the FC.        The early part of 1984 saw him leading Hull to success on the field as we went on a seven match unbeaten run. Sterling was an instant hero with all the fans and quickly became a local personality, being followed everywhere (even on his regular visits to the local casino) by an entourage of autograph hunters and ladies. He was a real hero who I always wanted to meet and I had my wish granted one night in the Casino when after numerous pints I came face to face with him and said, “Your Peter Sterling” to which he replied, “I know” and that was it really.  Roamin' The Range Together Book 2  Watch the highlights of Sterling's Hull FC debut  https://youtu.be/vZ__tBDVjoc?si=vX7f0f38GojJIJTC

Interesting.  For any rovers supporters who watch it, those big silver things behind Sterlo are trophies