Up to 4th?

We play our re-arranged game against Salford today. For once all of the city will want us to win as the Sith are in a fight with Salford to avoid relegation.
Now a few FC fans would have liked us to loose today, purely for mischievous reasons of course, and not something I go along with actually.
But things have changed. With Wigan being docked points for salary cap infringements, we have found ourselves in 6th place. This puts today's game in an entirely different light....win and we find ourselves in 4th!
An optimism is starting to blossom amongst Hull fans, where just a few weeks ago we were just thinking of seeing out the season, and looking forward to the next, a decided upturn in form and this little bit of help has got us interested again.
Don't waste this chance...........Go get em lads!

Leeds United # 2

Just 2 more pics from the Billy Bremner statue at Elland road. You will have to click on the pictures to read them, both I found very touching. (again both posted on the WACCOE forum.)

One rule for us...

and one rule for Wigan!
Yes folks its that fun time of year again, when any Salary Cap infringements are punished. So as sure as day follows night everyone is up in arms about Wigan getting out of jail free again!
Last year they were docked 4 points for going over the cap,(a control on how much money you can spend on wages). This year the self same thing has happened, but Wigan overspent with such a devil may care attitude it sticks in the craw.
Firstly a loop hole was found so any points deducted would be to last years scale, (all clubs had agreed to double the penalties for this year), then their hearing was deferred for over a week to help them to prepare a case, when Saints and Bradford just had their hearings on the stipulated date. Mind you, Wigan had to get the big time lawyers in I would think.
Anyway, in the end they've been deducted 4 points again. Now this doesn't make sense to me, not only are they are turning out to be serial offenders, they where even worse this season!
They didn't even get the full punishment of 6 points deduction!
All through the 80's Wigan where the team to beat, won everything, and I'll tell you why. 1. For a great deal of that time they where the only fully professional club, and 2. They just bought up every good player so no one else could get em (ala Chelski) That is one of the reasons the salary cap was brought in, to stop clubs doing that, and to stop them from getting into financial difficulties.
In quite a few things the RFL are seen not to be even handed, you see this practically every week in the disciplinary hearings. Certain clubs seem to have preferential treatment. Gawd help you if your up on a disciplinary charge if you're from Hull FC or Hull KR!

I'm starting to rant now so I'll shut up....hopefully I've made my point. The RFL make our game a laughing stock year in year out, they want to sort themselves out and stop being bloody starstruck!

Leeds United

I'll let some pictures tell the story, posted by LUFC fans on the WACCOE forum.






GET YOUR FINGERS OUT FOOTBALL LEAGUE, AND STOP BEING PETTY. GIVE US THAT GOLDEN SHARE, AT LEAST WE'LL STILL HAVE OUR CLUB!

Getting to see the Doctor?!

My daughter has had an upset tum now for nearly a week, and talking to her last night I said I would call our Doctors surgery tomorrow morning and 'try' and get her an appointment, here's how the phone call went:
Me: 'Hello, I'm just calling to see if my daughter could see the Doctor today'
Lady at the surgery: 'Sorry, but all our appointments are taken, if you call at 8am tomorrow you may get one of the emergency appointments we leave free.'
Me:'Could I make an appointment for tomorrow now?'
LATS: No, we're fully booked apart from the emergency slots that are available from 8am.'
Me: 'Well could I make an appointment for Friday?'
LATS: 'Sorry, I can only take appointments for tomorrow'
Me: 'Don't we have a catch 22 situation here? I can only call at 8am tomorrow morning and am not guaranteed an appointment?'
LATS: 'I can book you one for next week'
Me: 'But the point is my daughter is ill NOW'
LATS: 'I'm sorry that's all I can do'
Me: 'OK, Thank you'

Now this could be just me being a bit irritable first thing in the morning, but doesn't that stink? All this rubbish about being able to see your doctor within 24 hours is a load of old hogwash! This has been going on at my surgery for some time now, and I'm quite sick of it. I think it may be time to look for another Doctor!

3 on the trot!

Well things are perking up on the Hull FC front. 3 wins on the trot and we seem to be picking things up a pace all over the park. We ended up 18-34 winners away at Le Catalan last night. Our new half-back, Mathew Head didn't start again after injuring a shoulder the week before last away to the Sith. But for some strange reason his arrival has coincided with a lift in confidence. This is especially noticeable where Richard Horne is concerned. It is as if a weight has been taken off his shoulders. Not a natural play maker, since Cookie left for the Dark side he has been under a lot of pressure.
You could say we're hitting form at the business end of the season, everyone has written us off long ago, but I know one thing, no one will relish playing us! I love it when we scare a few people! :)

Update

I'm pleased to say my Father in Law is doing quite well. He's still very ill of course, but considering only a week ago the Doctors were telling us to prepare for the worst, things have improved fantastically. There hasn't been any dips in his condition for a couple of days now so fingers crossed!

I fell flat on my face today going to the dustbin! Hubby had put some plastic piping at the side of the house and I tripped over it! Well as I've mentioned before I have iffy knees and I sat there thinking, how am I going to get up?! Managed it somehow anyway, now I have an extra sore knee and a sore elbow! Thank God it was in the back garden and no one saw me...........I think!

Fridays game.

I went to the game on Friday, with all that's been going on this past week, my Father in law falling ill, and having to cancel our holiday, well, I needed the time out.
We won, beating the Harlequins 20-8. A patchy 1st half it has to be said, we went in at half time 8-8, all of our points being penalties. 2nd half we looked more composed and played to the conditions (very wet!) Through a bad run of injuries we had some really young lads in the squad. One who came in at hooker, Danny Houghton, is only 17/18 and had a great game. The great Richard Swain has apparently been giving him some 1 to 1 tuition and you can tell by how he scoops up the ball at the ruck, his distribution was accurate and he wasn't scared of trying things. What a little diamond the lad is! I always feel really proud when you see local lads come through the ranks. We have a great academy set up at Hull and a new wave of talent is starting to come through.
The back to back wins has helped us no end, and I don't think a top 6 spot is out of the question. I can't see a Grand Final appearance again this year, but I think we'll do some damage!
Write us off at your peril!

I tell you what though, it's times like this when being able to go to a game and forget about all the stuff going on around you for a couple of hours, illustrates why Hull FC are so important to the fans (as are other clubs to their supporters of course)they're a constant in peoples upside down lives.

A tough couple of days.

My Father in law collapsed with a stroke on Monday and is gravely ill. Hubby hasn't had a lot of sleep since then. It looks as if it is going to be a waiting game for him to pass on, as the Doctors have said there's nothing else they can do.
As I mentioned in earlier posts we were due to jet off to France tomorrow, but of course this has had to be cancelled. There will always be other holidays.
It's a funny thing but as I've got older I've become more and more to think that when we pass on its the beginning of a great adventure. I'm not religious one jot, but tend to believe we're here to learn things, then we go on to the next class so to speak and start a new lesson.
I wish my Father in Law a good journey, and hope he can still watch his beloved Hull KR from wherever he goes.

Au revoir mon Capitaine.

I'm not going to talk about Sunday's derby match. I was pleased with the win of course, but the blame game that has gone on about the after match pitch invasion and subsequent trouble, well, it's p*ssed me off to be honest. Fault can be found on both sides and the sooner it can all be put to bed the better.
What I am going to write a few lines about though is Richard Swain. Our ex- Captain (although he was this season in all but name if you ask me) has had to retire due to a back injury.
Swainy is a Prince amongst men, and I don't say that lightly. The amount of work he got through during games was the stuff of legend. I scoffed at an article about rugby union players having to tackle too much, up to 15 times a game. Ok, the games are different, but Richard registered over 50 tackles in a game this season, if I recall correctly breaking the Superleague stats record.
One of the best days of my life, if you don't count family events of course, it WAS the best day of my life, ended with Swainy lifting the Challenge Cup in 2005. That memory will stay with me for ever.
With Hull fans, and I'm sure with fans of other teams, certain players stay in the heart and mind. Richard Swain is one of them.
Au revoir mon capitaine, Bon Voyage et bonne chance.
(Still practising the French!)

Airliebird Banned!

No, not me, but the Hull FC mascot Airliebird (a toy depiction you can see here) has been banned from the Derby game on Sunday by the Sith.
Now why they've done this is beyond me. Rufus Robin (aka Darth Maul and the Sith mascot) was welcomed to the KC with open arms, as where their cheerleaders. I reckon its to stop one more of the followers of the Light Side into Craven Park.
I think this is an outrage, and hope the Sith reconsider this diabolical decision forthwith!!
On to the game. With the 1st proper scrum half in place for what seems like aeons I think the lads will sort out the Sith ............The Revenge of the Jedi indeed!
Come on you Hullaaaaaaahhhh!!

Here's The Who performing the song Baba ORiley. It's the music that the lads come out to at the KC. It seems ages since I was last there!

Checking in

I seem to have been so busy the last few days, that I haven't been able to sit and post.
Everyone has been expecting more rain here over the weekend, Hull FC's game against Salford has been postponed. We have had some rain over night, but it hasn't been too bad. Lets hope we don't get any more for a while now!
Only a fortnight now and I'll be off on holiday. It's a strange feeling as its been such a long time since we went away anywhere! I have been looking into mobile blogging, but it looks complicated (for me anyway) so I think I'll leave that idea alone.


I just wanted to say thank you to two players who have always gave their all for Hull FC, and will have now played their last games for the club. Sid Domic (left) and Shayne Mcmenemy (right) both player's contracts finished at the end of the season, But Sid has left early to free up a quota space for new half-back Mathew Head, and Shayne unfortunately has had one injury after another this year, the last one will keep him out till the end of the season. Good luck and best wishes for the future guys, the Black and White fans never forget their own.

PS, sorry for the underlining on the last bit, I just cant get rid of it!!

Floods and new half backs.

I haven't posted for a couple of days as I've been pretty busy. As I said in my last post, my daughter came home at the weekend, so the house has been full of bags and boxes. Things are getting back to normal inside but outside it has been awful.
I thought the week before last was bad for continuous rain, but yesterday took the biscuit. It was the speed that the streets flooded in my area that was amazing. I went out in the morning, taking a cab as the weather was so foul, when I came back a couple of hours later, the top half of our street was a foot or so under water! Luckily it didn't seem to reach our end as badly, but I still had to put towels at the bottom of the front door. That of course is nothing to what some poor folk have had to attend with.
Someone on the radio said the other week that the fashion for concreting over gardens contributes to the drains being flooded, as gardens soak up a lot of water. I do believe our garden helped us a lot yesterday, both front and back.



Anyway, onto the new half backs part. As you may know, I've had my heart set on Brent 'Shifty' Sherwin joining the Black n Whites. Thing is, he's playing up a storm for the Canterbury Bulldogs, so they're not going to let him go. (Although I still think the kidnapping option is a goer)
After much rumour, we have signed St George Illawarra half back Mathew Head for the rest of the season. I don't know a great deal about Mathew, only seeing a few clips of him play on line. The word is he is a great player, but has been very unlucky with injury. So him coming here could help both parties. We need an experienced half-back and Mathew needs game time to prove his fitness etc.
This signing could be the silver lining of the cloud that's been hovering over the club this season. He is only 25, and can kick goals to boot! (no pun intended there!)
He may make his debut for the FC on Sunday (jet lag and flooding permitting) I look forward to see how he goes.
Welcome to the mighty Hull FC Mathew!

Back Home!

And no, I don't mean the ditty by the England 1970 World cup Squad. I mean my eldest daughter Michelle, comes back home at the weekend. It will just be until September, when she jets off to Japan on a years student swap.
I don't have a very big house, and am dreading all the stuff she will be bringing with her! My younger daughter, Kirsty, came back home October last year. All her stuff is here, but she stays at her boyfriends all the time, just surfacing once a week with mucky washing!
I'm going to have to tell them to have a major clear out or we wont have room to move in here!!
Here's Shell dressed as Japanese anime character Sailor Moon for a fancy dress party. I tell you what, that kitchen doesn't look too bad, considering its a student house does it??

Another loss but with postives.

If you can have such a thing. We started well at Bradford scoring a great try. But an early injury to Gareth Carvell then Sid Domec did us no favours. We haven't got a big pack and when what we had on the pitch wasn't getting a breather, plus playing a big side like Bradford, well, we were dead on our feet in the last quarter.
Most of the team worked very hard, but there is a couple of glaring omissions to that. I'm not going to name names but I can see there being a bit of a clear out at the end of the season.
I am starting to get a bit worried about our form now though, something needs to change and we need that change fast!
(Kidnap Shifty!!)

All the best to Shaun Briscoe who ended up with either a broken jaw or cheekbone (not sure yet, but either way its nasty.) I hope he has a speedy recovery as he's one player in our side that gives his all week in week out.

Sometimes the rumours come true!

We have signed Aussie international Shaun Berrigan on a 4 year deal. I'm absolutely delighted about this signing, as it might entice other top players to the club.
Shaun is primarily a hooker, so I would think he has been brought is as a direct replacement for Richard Swain, who leaves at the end of the season.
Now on an entirely female slant, the lad has a twinkle in his eye, something I always look for lol.
Now lets hope the next good bit of news will be about Shifty. Apparently he has 'obtained' a German passport, so is off quota. (The Quota is a limit the RFL put on the number of foreign players that can play for each team) There are also rumours about him coming over this season! Oh my word, I'd give up chocolate for a month if it was true!

Ah Well......never mind.

I've had a quick sulk and I'm now over our being knocked out of the cup on Sunday. There's always next year, and to be honest it's better than being knocked out in the semi's.
So we'll draw a quick veil over that I think as I'll only upset myself again. :)
So it's back to the well worn path of reading rumours of signings. I know I'm sad but I love all the rumours!!

On to the Semi's! (Fingers Crossed!)

Challenge Cup quarter-finals tomorrow. I'm optimistic (as always) But it's a matter of which Hull FC will turn up. Will it be the team that beat Saints and Leeds or played in the 1st half against Wigan the other week, or, the team that played in the 2nd half of that match?
Ah the mystery that is the Challenge Cup!........and supporting Hull FC!
Come on you Hullaaaaaaaa!!!!

Rubbish!!

I know this was released earlier this week, but it's taken me a couple of days to get over it! Yes mesdames et monsieurs, (I'm practising the French for my holidays) this is the logo for the London 2012 Olympics! It has supposedly cost £400k, yes, you read that right 400,000 pounds!
Now I've seen a bit of an unseemly joke about this 'thing' already, and by George it is a joke! I think the kids in my 5 year old nieces class could have come up with something better!
To me this sums up the government we have in power right now, superficial crap that costs a bloody fortune!
I wonder how much this is all going to really cost? I for one daren't think. What I do think is all the money spent on rubbish like this could go to far better use, and it doesn't need a genius to see it!

New Signing

Adam Dykes of the Cronulla Sharks has signed for Hull FC for next season. I can't say I know much about him. He is 30 though and some folk have misgivings because of this. I'm hoping he will bring some experience to the club, and help our young half-backs along.
Welcome to The Black & Whites Adam, you'll never find it dull playing for Hull FC!!!!



P.S. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed on the Brent 'Shifty' Sherwin front. I haven't had such a good feeling after watching a player for a long time. He would go down a storm here. I volunteer to go to Oz and talk him into it! :)