DO OR DIE DERBY: Pressure is on for FC's Agar and KR's Morgan
THIS weekend's do-or-die derby clash between Hull FC and Hull KR promises to be the best yet.
That's the view of Rovers coach Justin Morgan and his Hull counterpart Richard Agar ahead of their winner-takes-all play-off clash.
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Hull KR coach Justin Morgan and FC coach Richard Agar.
But both men cannot wait to lead their troops into battle at the KC Stadium on Saturday, even if one of them will end up with nothing but a painful defeat to show for their efforts.
For the winner, their reward will be the biggest bragging rights of the season – and a place in the play-offs preliminary semi-final.
But even if that means there will be more pressure than ever on their heads, the pair are still desperate to again lock horns.
"This is why you play all year to be involved in games like this," said Agar, who has seen his Hull side win both derbies this season.
"This makes for a really exciting competition and I am sure the atmosphere is going to be terrific at the KC Stadium."
Morgan told the Mail: "I'm more excited about this game than any other game of rugby league in the world.
"I have always said how great it would be to play a derby on the biggest scale.
"A Grand Final or Challenge Cup final would be ideal, but this is the next best thing. It's a mouth-watering fixture."
Morgan's men are trailing in the derby stakes this year, losing by four points twice, and he knows it will be even more intense at the KC.
But he hopes his seventh-placed side can overcome the intimidating home atmosphere to register a first cross-city win of the season when it matter most.
"This derby will be a different result this time around," said the Australian.
"The atmosphere will be taken up a couple of notches as it will be a game everybody will want to see, even people not involved in rugby."
Coming into the game with two derby wins in 2010, Agar admits this Saturday's clash will be another blood and thunder affair.
"The games between the teams this year have been full of passion and commitment from both sides and there is no doubt that will be the same again this time," he said.
Morgan has labelled Hull as favourites ahead of the clash, pointing to their derby record and better league position as evidence.
But he admits his side are fired up for a revenge mission after losing narrowly at the KC last time out.
"My players have had fires in their bellies in the last few weeks and this is the perfect game," he said.
"It will be a hard game and it would be wrong not to be confident.
"I'm sure Richard Agar will say his side are confident too.
"Hull will be favourites because they have already beaten us twice this season and they finished above us in the table and are at home.
"They have every right to be favourites and that is something we will have to overcome.
"We will go into all the games as underdogs and we are under no illusion that we are going to have to play well throughout."
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by Stan, Hull
Tuesday, September 07 2010, 12:49PM
“Stan they never sell all the seats at the derby as they leave a space either side of the north stand as segregation. Dont worry about the rugby because in a years time when your club is relegated and in administration you will need the dullers like you did 4 years ago when you was propping the rest of the football league up, and that is where you are heading again.
its a gypsys, curse
Are you on drugs?
Why do they need segregation if rugby league is as trouble free as they claim?
In fact the reason they don't sell out is they don't sell all the tickets. The reason there is less than 25,000 tickets issued is that there are unreserved seats which means you have to leave so many unsold. This means that 23,500 issued. And they can't even sell those for this supposedly massive derby, only just over 20,000 for the last one which was 1,400 less than City got for the visit of Swansea for a second division game.
As for 4 years ago we were in the Championship, not propping anything up, and had an average crowd of 18,583 compared to FC's average of 10,866 in the top flight. Multiply City's average (higher for every season in the KC, 10,000 more last season and nearly 9,000 more when were in the second division) by 23 for that season and FC's by 13 and we soon see who is the vital team to the upkeep and running of the KC.
Horrible, inconvenient things facts and figures as they deflate the dreamworld which FC fans live in where they have this fantasy that they are a bigger club than City. Don't quote trophies won and say that decides that this is a rugby city as on that basis Leeds would be a rugby city and no one is daft enough to claim that.
And why would we need the dullers? When we were struggling they had to be taken over by Gateshead. How were they needed by us? And they weren't taken over by Gateshead because they were getting large crowds, they were getting 3,000 and that was in what was the top flight. The KCwouldn't have gone ahead as a25,000 seater stadium without City (remember the campaign by Vince Groak and Jim Gardner to have the KC as a 15,000 stadium, with standing areas, the chance to swap ends and a stand in a multi-million pounds stadium named the Threepenny Stand. What a detrimental thing that would have been for both clubs. And shows how small-minded they were, as so many rugby fans are. )”
by Robert, Hull
Tuesday, September 07 2010, 12:32PM
“Matt. football isn't a massive sport because of television and sponsors. It has the television and sponsorship because it is a massive sport. The media doesn't cover things people don't want to watch and sponsors don't sponsor things people aren't interested in.
In fact the largest ever crowds for football were in the late 1940's when there was no television coverage or sponsors.
The reason Rugby League doesn't get these things is that very few people are interested in it. 200 countries enter the football world cup. They have to make up teams, New Zealand Maoris, have a team full of Aussies representing Lebanon, where they don't have any rugby league teams and have the likes of Scotland and Wales (name the champions of their leagues or cup-winners, a bit hard as there isn't any clubs to have a league there) in order to have a cup with 16 teams in it. Then it is won by a country with only one professional team.
And don't say I am a rugby hater. I was watching FC when there was 2 points for a dropped goal. Unlike the thousands who jumped on the bandwagon the FC won all their games in the second division the year after it was altered to 1 point (because partly to Don Fox'skicking affecting games so much), which was only a couple of seasons after they had crowds of 900 for the visits of Huyton and Barrow. (That's just for those saddos who are always on about poeple jumping on the City bandwagon)”
by Hull FC, not as good as they, think they are!.
Tuesday, September 07 2010, 8:31AM
“I see it's official, you lot can't take your ale...
http://www.hullfc.com/hullfc/contents/?p=6737 ,”
by Sheldon Smith, Bransholme
Tuesday, September 07 2010, 7:39AM
“Me and our Big Ricardo and his wife Kev the red have got our tickets. We all know we are going to get beat again but we are just going for the day out, its not that often when we can watch the game in a packed out comfortable stadium. I wish we was born in West or North Hull instead of the sh!thol£ we come from.”
by gatesdullthundersarks, proper side of the river
Monday, September 06 2010, 10:27PM
“harry was you the drip in your slippers then straight to sign on!!!!!”