BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Eight years ago, Willie Peters and John Cartwright served as assistant coaches at the Manly Sea Eagles. The pair shared a hotel room for NRL away games.
Now the two Australians will lock horns this weekend as rival coaches for the first time – Peters in charge of league leaders Hull KR, Cartwright leading much-improved neighbours Hull FC.
A friendship grew from their time together on the northern beaches, as part of Trent Barrett’s coaching staff. But time flies and that mateship will be put to the test, on the other side of the world, this Saturday at the MKM Stadium in the Challenge Cup.
Mutual respect flows between the two Sydneysiders, who are 13 years apart in age.
Peters calls the Black & Whites’ boss a “great fella”.
“We worked together at Manly and we’d room together for away games for a year,” he told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“As assistant coaches when you go away you room together.
“He’s done a great job. He’s a great fella. He’s a very good coach but he’s such a good bloke. And he’s doing a very good job over there [Hull FC].”
The two never played against each other, with Cartwright retiring in the late 1990s just as Peters was starting his own first-grade career.
But the Robins coach grew up watching Cartwright star for Penrith, NSW and Australia.
“I knew of him, he’s a legend of the game,” Peters says.
“He played for Australia and he had a wicked offload through the line. He’s done it all – playing-wise, he did a really good job at the Titans, had some success as an assistant, won a comp with the Cowboys, so he’s done well. With the NSW Origin team too.
“He’s a really experienced coach and John’s biggest strength is he’s a good bloke.”
Cartwright moved to Hull late last year after being appointed by Hull FC. The pair have been planning to catch up, but haven’t found the time as of yet, and plans are put on hold until after the derbies – with a Challenge Cup quarter-final this weekend and then an Easter showdown a fortnight later.
“We said we would, but we haven’t yet until the next time we play them. When you’re coaching it’s head down, there’s a lot going on.
“He’s coaching FC, I’m at KR, we’re just doing our thing. It’s one of those where you’ve just got to organise and catch up for a coffee or a beer at some stage. But we’re on the treadmill at the moment of looking after our teams and getting that right, that’s the most important thing.
“But we did say to each other it would be good to catch up for a beer or something like that after we play them in a few weeks.”
Considering the fierce rivalry between the two clubs, one of the most bitter in rugby league, odds are they won’t be catching up on Humberside.
