Hull FC boss John Cartwright believes that the derby between Hull FC and Hull KR is more intense than the Australian State of Origin.
The battle between the east and west sides of Hull has been a key part of rugby league’s folklore since it’s inception, and to this day remains one of the most fierce and brutal derbies the sport has to offer.
Whether it’s the best derby in the sport is a question for another day, but Cartwright believes that, after experiencing the inter-city rivalry, that it is nothing like he has seen before.
Appearing as a guest on Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast, the former Gold Coast Titans boss said: “It’s a totally different thing to anything that I’ve ever experienced in rugby league, the divide that the river brings. I can’t even explain it.”
The northern hemisphere has many a rivalry like the Hull derby, with Wigan-St Helens and Leeds-Bradford up there as the sport’s major feuds.
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In Australia, their biggest rivalry sees the states of Queensland and New South Wales do battle every year, in a three-game Origin series.
Cartwright, who is an eight-time Queensland representative, was asked if the battle between the Robins and Airlie Birds was as intense as ‘State of Origin’, to which he replied: “It’s even more.
“Origin is fierce and intense and there is a genuine hatred.
“We’ve got guys who have parents who are KR supporters but they’ve been picked up by FC.
“They say they’re neutral on game day but they’re not neutral at all. It’s red and white or black and white.
“I’ve never seen a rivalry like. The first game that we played them last year, it had as much atmosphere as any game I’ve witnessed.
“Some of the Origin games have 80,000 people there but the intensity of the crowd was every bit the 80,000. It’s great to be a part of.”
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