Hall relives Craven Park ‘nightmare’ and why he’s as good as ever
HOW KR WINGER’S NEVER LOOKED BACK AFTER BEING SCOUTED BY JOHN BASTIAN
Ryan Hall has played in energy-sapping Grand Finals and been left battered and bruised by Australia and New
Zealand but nothing has left him as fatigued as a visit to Craven Park.
From the elements to a raucous East Stand, an early-season trip to Hull KR is not for the fainthearted.
Add in an accomplished kicker and it can be a nightmare experience for even the best wingers in the game, as Hall discovered on February 8, 2015.
“I always remember it being cold and windy,” Hall told the Mail, recalling his trips to Craven Park with Leeds Rhinos.
“This is the memory that sticks in my mind: I’ve never been as tired anywhere as I was at Craven Park.
“There was a game in particular, I think it was one of Terry Campese’s first games. I just remember being as tired as I’ve ever been on a field.
“Terry Campese could kick it 20 yards further than anyone else. You’d stand in the position you think you were meant to stand in and where a normal kicker would kick it and the ball would fly over your head. He ran me ragged that day.”
Since that uncomfortable Sunday afternoon, Hall has taken his trophy haul to 12 and represented England in the 2017 World Cup final, as well as Great Britain at the end of last year.
But it could have been very different had KR’S current head of youth John Bastian not taken a trip down to watch a promising teenager after being tipped off during his time with the Rhinos.
“I remember the game,” said Hall. “It was against Stanningley who were coached by a young Jamie Jones-buchanan at the time, although I didn’t know him then. “I remember playing for Oulton’s first team in the Challenge Cup. Back then I used to play for two teams - the first team on Saturday and then the under18s on Sunday. “A couple of scouts came down to watch me playing for the under-18s even though I’d played the day before. I was a bit knackered so didn’t get picked up.
“But when John came down he watched the first team. I played alright that day and have never looked back since. That was the last game I ever played for Oulton.
“A week later I was on trial in the academy. Everyone else was wearing the branded Rhinos gear and I turned up in some red PE shorts looking like the new kid.
“A week later I signed an academy contract.”
That was in 2006 and the following year Hall made his Super League debut off the bench in Leeds’ controversial Magic Weekend win over Bradford Bulls in Cardiff.
It was a whirlwind start for a youngster straight out of the amateur game but it helped having a coach who delivered clear instructions in Tony Smith.
“He was great was Tony,” said Hall. “He’s very principle-based and he teaches you the dos and don’ts. That set me up really well.
“It sounds very simple if I put it like that but knowing the dos and don’ts of a team, it’s in black and white. Sometimes it’s a bit of a grey area about what players should be doing and a case of ‘Go out and do your best’.
“If you know X, Y and Z about what you’re meant to be doing and
it’s concrete, it’s a good platform.”
Hall will also be reunited with old Leeds team-mate Danny Mcguire following his switch to Hull KR.
After spending a decade being ordered around by his former halfback, Hall does not envisage a problem working under KR’S new assistant coach.
“Good players are like that,” he said. “He was a 6 and 6s and 7s need to guide the team around the pitch.
“On a rugby field we’re all men and if you ask someone politely sometimes they don’t do it. If you tell someone to do something you’re more likely to get a reaction.
“He was kind of bossy but he did what he had to do.
“When you play those roles you’ve got to know how to command your team and how to build your sets. It transfers directly into coaching.
“There’s other bits he’ll obviously have to take on board and get good at but the basics are already there.”
Hall arrives at Craven Park fresh from a frustrating two-year spell with Sydney Roosters in the NRL.
England’s all-time record tryscorer was on the back foot before he even arrived in Australia after sustaining an ACL injury weeks after signing for the Roosters in
2018.
That was the first major injury of Hall’s career and he went on to dislocate the same knee twice last year, with those setbacks restricting him to 11 appearances during his time Down Under.
Hall is in the twilight of his career having turned 33 on Friday but he is a man who likes to break the mould.
“Being a winger you use a lot less energy than the forwards and I’ve kind of kept myself out of harm’s way so I’m pretty fresh,” he said.
“I know it’s a cliche and a lot of people say it when they get older but age is just a number.
“You don’t see many 33-year-olds running about on the wing.
“That’s great for me because I like to do things my own way and I think I have done that over the course of my career.
“When I first started, aside from Lesley Vainikolo there were no big wingers who did the job that I do. But now every team has a big, powerful winger. You see them all over doing that role now. “I like to set the bar and do my own thing. It wasn’t something I could learn from, I just took my own path.”
From Maika Sivo to Ken Maumalo, the NRL is a playground for destructive wingers.
Hall was in that bracket after scoring 233 tries in 330 appearances for the Rhinos but he just could not find his way over the line in Roosters colours.
“Other people made a lot more of it than I did,” he said.
“Honestly from day dot, I have not been bothered about scoring tries. I remember doing interviews about scoring tries and I’ve always said I’d trade in every try I’ve scored for a win.
“I’m playing a team game with 12 other blokes and it doesn’t matter who scores the tries. Just because I score a try doesn’t mean I’ve done all the work.
“Not scoring a try doesn’t bother me one bit because the teams I’ve played in have always been successful, whether it’s me scoring or not. What is a modern day winger and what’s he required to do? He’s not required to slink down the wing and run fast, although that does help.
“You’ve got so much responsibility during a set of six. If you get a powerful run in on tackle one or tackle two and do some good work on the floor to win the ruck and get a quick play of the ball it helps tackles three, four, five and six.
“That’s what I’ve based my game on. Scoring tries is just a by-product. I base my game on yardage.”
With all that in mind, Hall was quickly identified by Smith as the man to get his side on the front foot early in sets after another season of struggle for KR.
The 33-year-old is comfortable with that pressure and feels well equipped to deliver for his coach after maintaining his high standards in backfield in the NRL.
“Tony doesn’t have to say that, I’d say it about myself,” said Hall.
“When I went over to the Roosters they identified me to do that, it was just unfortunate I got injured.
“When I did play in a Roosters shirt I was doing that. The other winger on the other side was good as well in Daniel Tupou and he got picked for Origin because of the work he did in backfield.
“If you look at the stats, my numbers weren’t too dissimilar to his when I did play. I think I can do that job for Hull KR.”