Legendary Hull FC coach tips Hull KR to go on ‘trophy-winning dynasty’
Mikey Lewis lifts the Challenge Cup aloft following Hull KR's 2025 final triumph against Warrington Wolves
Legendary former Hull FC coach John Kear has backed bitter rivals Hull Kingston Rovers to recreate their halcyon days of the early 1980s by embarking on a trophy-winning dynasty.
Earlier this month, Willie Peters guided the Robins to a Challenge Cup final win over Warrington Wolves at Wembley.
The 8-6 success marked the club’s first major silverware since 1985 and got a huge monkey off their back.
Now Kear, who famously guided sworn enemies Hull FC to Challenge Cup glory with victory over Leeds Rhinos at Cardiff in 2005, reckons Rovers could take some stopping.
The 70-year-old, a respected rugby league pundit for the BBC, feels Hull KR can go on to finish top to claim the League Leaders’ Shield and potentially complete the treble.
“Obviously Wigan Warriors have a point to prove after being knocked out of the Challenge Cup earlier this year,” Kear told Love Rugby League. “But I think Hull KR could be on the verge of something special – something similar to what they achieved in the early to mid-1980s.
“That was a team of legends and I played against them in the 1984 Premiership final and they beat our Castleford side.”
In the early to mid-1980s, the two Hull clubs dominated British rugby league.
The Black and Whites were champions in 1983, and runners-up either side of that, plus winners of the Challenge Cup in 1982 and losing finalists in 1983 and 1985.
Rovers won the Challenge Cup in 1979-80, the Championship in 1983-84 and 1984-45, the Premiership in 1980-81 and 1983-84 and the John Player Special Trophy in 1984-85.
Kear remembered: “Hull KR had players like John Dorahy and Mike Smith and if this current Rovers side can nail a couple of trophies then they become legends within the club.
“I’m certain that Willie Peters has not been slow to remind them of that.
“It’s great to see how far they come in recent times, especially when you consider they were in the Championship in 2017.
“But now it’s time for them to really kick on and build something special. And I think they can do it.”
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