In a tough sport who were Hull’s ultimate hard men?
Rugby league has always been a tough game played by tough men. That’s how it started out and the same can be said today, with players putting their bodies on the line every week for the good of the team and the sport.
Over the years Hull FC have boasted some of the roughest and hardest men in the game, so let’s take a look back as some of the toughest to ever pull on the black and white shirt.
Karl Harrison
The prop forward enjoyed two stints with the Black and Whites throughout his career, the first beginning in 1989 after a move from Featherstone Rovers and after leaving to join Halifax two years later, he returned once more in 1999.
Harrison was renowned for being tough and he never took a backwards step during either spell at the Boulevard.
His no nonsense approach continued when a coach at Salford in Super League, but it was his fearsome drive through the middle at Hull which FC fans will most remember.
Trevor Skerrett
Skerrett already had a reputation for being one of the game’s toughest men before joining Hull in 1980 and he certainly lived up to it at the Boulevard.
Arriving from Wakefield Trinity where he was a fearsome operator, he spent six years with FC and his performances were crucial as the club lifted the 1982 Challenge Cup, the First Division crown and a series of Yorkshire Cups.
Craig Greenhill
Greenhill had earned the nickname Knuckles during his time with Cronulla Sharks and Penrith Panthers before his move to Hull in 2002.
He joined a team in transition at FC, quite literally as they moved to the KCOM Stadium half way through his stint at the club, but his experience and fearlessness in the pack played a key role in a young side.
A big physical presence on and off the ball, he was the muscle of a good pack.
Tommy Harris
Harris was part of a pack which was universally feared in the 1950s and 60s, with the Drake brothers, Jim and Bill.
However, he earned his spot in this list for his Lance Todd Trophywinning performance in the 1960 Cup final. He received a nasty concussion 10 minutes before the break and knowing that he would leave his team short, he carried on until he was taken to hospital with 15 minutes to go.
Charlie Stone
The prop was another to play a key role in one of Hull’s most successful periods in club history. He was as tough as they come through the middle and went on to form a strong partnership with
Keith Tindall.
He was a huge part in the Invincibles season of 1978-79, before featuring at Wembley in 1980 and again in 1982.
Gareth Ellis
Taking the skipper role after his arrival in 2013, Ellis immediately won the hearts of Hull fans with his battling performances in the Hull pack. The Great Britain international is renowned for his ability to fold up the biggest of players, and after becoming the first Hull captain to lift the Challenge Cup at Wembley, he showed his grit once more when he came out of retirement to represent the Black and Whites at the age of 37.
Lee Radford
After a brief stint at the Boulevard, Radford really learned his trade under Brian Noble at Bradford Bulls and when he returned to East Yorkshire, he brought that Bradford mentality with him.
He led by example, never took a backwards step and always showed up when he was needed, particularly in 2012 when he stepped out of retirement to feature against Hull KR on Good Friday.
Who can forget the sight of Radford with his shaven head ripping into the KR defenders?
Paul Woods
The Welshman was a full-back with a temper. In 1980, he became the first player to concede a sevenpoint try in the Challenge Cup final and he was never far from a fight.
However, he backed it up with talent and he was certainly a success during his stint at the Black and Whites between 1979 and 1981.
Andy Dannatt
With Dannatt, Lee Jackson and Karl Harrison, Hull boasted one of the most feared front rows at the start of the 90s, with the trio playing key roles as FC went on to win the 1991 Premiership.
The tenacious forward spent 10 years at the Boulevard, making his debut in 1983 before leaving to join St Helens in 1993, shortly after his testimonial.
A prop who was involved in a few dust ups down the years, including an infamous one with Ellery Hanley. Mick Crane
His reputation went before him. He was a no-nonsense, shorttempered character, but one that could play, like many of his teammates around him at the Boulevard in the 70s and 80s.
Crane had two spells at Hull, with stints at Leeds and Hull KR sandwiched in between, but he played pivotal roles throughout as FC went through a golden age.
Mick Harrison
Harrison’s size made him a formidable man through the middle for FC as he worked his way into the Hull team as a 19-year-old in 1965.
He would spend just shy of 10 years with the Black and Whites before returning to his native West Yorkshire, but in his late 30s he went round once more with Hull before ending his career.
His emergence in the mid-60s helped revitalise an ageing pack and he brought plenty of
punch to the side.
Steve Norton
He may have spent eight years at Castleford in the early stages of his career, but ‘Knocker’ wasted no time in becoming a Hull legend.
He tackled hard, ran harder and was a crowd favourite as Hull dominated English rugby league for a period during his spell as the club’s loose forward.
His performance in many major finals helped establish the esteem in which he is held in, but Knocker turned up no matter what the game or who was watching and loved to get in the face of the opposition.