I didn’t realise I’d set a new record
Danny Houghton was none the wiser as he left the field on Sunday evening after playing out a 14-14 draw with Warrington
Wolves.
The Hull FC hooker had played all 90 minutes at the KCOM Stadium and was no doubt feeling every second of it as the Black and Whites were unable to find the point needed to see continue their winning start to the campaign.
As such, when the stats came back, he was shocked to see he had not only beaten the tackle record, but blown it out of the water.
Houghton completed 67 tackles during a gritty game against the Wolves in regular time, which is just five shy of Morgan Smithies’ Super League record.
But, as the game progressed into 10 minutes of golden point extra time, he dug deep and created history with another 18 efforts to keep Steve Price’s side at bay.
It means, that while he hasn’t beaten the Super League record, which is only measured between 80 minutes, he completed more tackles between the first whistle and the last than anyone else since records began back in 2003.
That record stretches across both hemispheres and into the NRL, where 77 is the current record, set by Elijah Taylor for Penrith Panthers in 2015.
But, the hit man wasn’t even aware that he’d achieved such a feat until his phone buzzed yesterday morning.
“I didn’t even know I’d done it,” he said.
“A couple of people messaged me to say had I seen the stats from the game, I wasn’t aware, but then I started to feel the aches and pains of it I think!
“During the game I didn’t feel like I was involved in that many tackles if I’m totally honest.
“On the field playing 80 minutes and then going to 90, you generally make a lot of tackles anyway.
“But it didn’t feel any different to your standard 50 that I tend to make.
“That’s just part and parcel of being in the middle of the field and playing the full game, you see most hookers racking 40 to 60 tackles up if they’re playing 80 minutes.
“It wasn’t as if I was going searching for the tackles or anything, maybe their game plan was to come through the middle.”
What made the achievement even sweeter for the hooker was the figure that sits alongside his record tackle total showing zero missed.
“I think someone might have missed a couple,” he laughed.
“I pride myself in that sort of area and it’s a massive part of my game is defence.”
Houghton’s defensive effort typified those of his team on Sunday as the Black and Whites frustrated Warrington at the KCOM with their hard work out of possession.
Joe Cator, Andre Savelio, Josh Bowden and Ben Mcnamara all recorded more than 40 tackles in the game and Houghton believes that defence is the perfect base to build off.
“It’s been a massive focus for us over the off-season,” he added. “We’ve worked really hard on it and I think we’re reaping the rewards of it now.
“Although we weren’t great with the ball, we can improve in that area, but if we defend like that it always gives you a chance to win the game and that’s exactly what we did on Sunday.
“Really pleasing that in the last three rounds of Super League it’s been really good for us.”