BY JOHN DAVIDSON
A number of Hull KR supporters have made speedy journeys from around the world to see their club in their first ever Super League grand final appearance.
After the Robins’ victory over Warrington last Friday night, fans had just eight days to make it to Manchester in time for the decider.
New Zealander Kristie Boaler has flown in from Melbourne and will fork out around £2000 for her whirlwind trip to see Hull KR in action against Wigan.
A rugby league tragic and Newcastle Knights NRL season ticket holder, Boaler started supporting the Super League side in 2008 after she moved to Hessle.
It was through the Knights and the connection between the two clubs, with several ex-Newcastle players appearing for the Robins, that the connection with the Yorkshire side began.
“I worked in Sheffield so it saved me all the stress of driving across Hull to get to the m62,” she told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads about her relocation to Hessle.
“Clint Newton was my favourite at the time, replaced by Dane Tilse and Josh Mantellato. The first couple seasons I was going to Cas, Leeds and Saints to watch all the ex-Knights.”
Boaler only landed in London on Friday, will travel to Manchester to watch the grand final and then fly straight back to Melbourne on Sunday. She didn’t want to miss Hull KR’s big moment at Old Trafford.
“It’s the first time KR have got there and lots of people pinged me about coming over as soon as the semi finished. I couldn’t damage my image by not showing up,” she joked.
Boaler is not the only fan spending big and travelling thousands and thousands of kilometres to see her team in the grand final. Australian Leonard Gregory and his wife Sue flew out from Sydney on Tuesday to be a part of the Robins’ big day out.
After being introduced to rugby league as a child in the 1970s, Gregory grew up as a North Sydney supporter.
“My first contact with rugby league was visiting Lidcombe Oval in I think 1975 for a Wests vs Easts match to see Arthur Beetson play,” he explains.
“I followed Easts loosely in primary and high school but rarely went to a game. In my 20s I started following the North Sydney Bears.”
Gregory became disenchanted with the sport following the Bears demise during the 1990s, but became interested in Hull KR during the 2013 World Cup and from there his passion for the Robins grew.
“Following the Bears throughout their glory run of the early to mid-90s, when they got kicked out, I fell out of love for support of rugby league – no team, little interest,” he said.
“During that time we got married and we have three daughters. The middle daughter started following the North Queensland Cowboys after the 2005 grand final, and from then we started going to their games and Souths and some St George matches, and in about 2010/11 my wife met up with a Queensland team supporter Sylvia Ng at a Cowboys game at Accor and a friendship developed with Sylvia.
“After the passing of my father-in-law in 2012, Sue at Sylvia’s asking decided to attend the Rugby League World Cup in England 2013. Sue went to the second week through to the quarter-finals and it was 4 November 2013 they went to PNG v Samoa at Sewell Group Craven Park.
“The daughters and I were watching in Sydney on the TV and the Kumuls were the supported country by Hull KR and they were getting battered. But the crowd was behind them all the way, cheering every run and big tackle and I’m thinking yep this crowd is something else, this is something and a club I could get behind.
“I got Googling and I read up on the club and their history and the Australians playing there – as I said I really like Arthur Beetson as a player and also John Dorahy, aka Joe Cool. Sylvia also has a side penchant for team mascots so she had a photo with Rufus the Robin from KR in the PNG kit and I got following Rufus on Twitter.
“We conversed over Twitter for a few weeks until the tournament finished and the wife got back home and I asked her about the game and people and said yep that’s my club. Rufus had done a charity calendar for 2014 so I purchased that along with a club shirt and it took off from there.
“I said in early 2014 that if I changed jobs I would go the following year, I did and stayed with Rufus and yeah it has just grown from there really – supporting and repping the Robins.
“I’ve stopped buying every shirt after 10 seasons straight ….. I think I have enough!”.
Gregory and his wife recently retired and will spend around £4000 in flights, travel and accommodation just to get to the grand final and then back home.
“I missed the Challenge Cup finals of 2015 and 2023 and thought well this has been building all season to a top-two finish so they don’t bury you with bags of money do they,” he said.
“The passing of the former vice chairman of KR Rob Crossland, who had met me in London for lunch on my first trip in 2015. had a profound effect on my outlook on life earlier this year.
“Rob was a very positive person, he believed in people and gave something to many people you can’t buy which was his time – something I often struggle with giving.
“We wanted to do a Super League final so hell why not eh. It’s not about how much we have spent, it’s the enjoyment, and sense of belonging I get from being part of the club that is so much more than the sum of us as individuals.
“It doesn’t matter if you go the one match, a season pass holder, me or in fact someone who doesn’t go to a single game, if you spend one minute of your time talking about KR or money on merchandise you are an important supporter of KR.
“When we got relegated in 2016 I said this club doesn’t deserve to languish in the second tier, and it’s not up to Neil Hudgell and Rob to carry the can financially.
“I think many thousands thought that as well so we got behind them more than the previous season… yeah ok I purchased an advertising hoarding – foolish bravado I guess.”
Gregory says Hull KR means community to him.
“To paraphrase another quote I have seen – it’s a community organisation that happens to run, among so many other things, a professional rugby league club in Super League.
“People often say wow you are dedicated and stuff – nah I’m just like someone from Greatfield, Holderness Road or across the rest of East Yorkshire – I’m just a little bit further away.
“There are plenty of us around the world from places as Dubai, Arizona, Brisbane, Wollongong for example. who follow the club intently as the locals to East Hull.
“So really we are greater than the sum of the individuals that go to games, and this weekend it will be the culmination of being part of the biggest game in Super League for the first time.
“The journey will go on after this, as regardless of the result, the passion for the community of Hull KR will continue for the rest of my life. I get far more back than I give – and I hope everyone who is part of KR feel the same as I do.”
