2006 Hull Kingston Rovers season

Hull Kingston Rovers 2006 season
2006 National League One champions
National League One Rank	1st
Play-off result	Winners
Challenge Cup	Semi-finals
National League Cup	Runners-up
2006 record	Wins: 29; draws: 0; losses: 4
Points scored	For: 705; against: 338
Team information
Chairman	Neil Hudgell
Head Coach	Justin Morgan
Captain	James Webster
Stadium	Craven Park
Avg. attendance	4,049
High attendance	7,012 Warrington Wolves, 4 June
Low attendance	1,748 York Acorn, 12 March
Top scorers
Tries	Ben Cockayne (17)
Goals	Gareth Morton (59)
Points	Gareth Morton (146) [1]
←  2005 List of seasons 2007  →

The 2006 season was Hull Kingston Rovers ' ninth consecutive season playing in England's second tier of rugby league. During the season, they competed in the 2006 National League Cup, the 2006 National League One season, and the 2006 Challenge Cup.

2006 was Hull Kingston Rovers' first season in which they fielded a squad of fully professional players, funded by sponsorships from companies such as Lloyds TSB. ^{[2] [3]} The club's victory in the National League One final against Widnes Vikings resulted in their promotion to the Super League, marking Hull Kingston Rovers' return to top-flight rugby league for the first time in 20 years.

Preseason friendlies

Date and time	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
8 January [a]	Hull F.C.	A	KC Stadium	L	6–34	Goddard	Morton (1/1)	12,737	[4] [5]
22 January	Sheffield Eagles	A	Don Valley Stadium	W	44–24	Ford (2), Goddard, Garmston, Rivett, Murrell, Walker, Williams	Morton (2/4), Couturier (4/4)	1,164	[6]
27 January [b]	Bradford Bulls	A	Odsal Stadium	L	12–28	Murrell, Cockayne	Morton (2/2)	5,800	[7]
5 February	Gateshead Thunder	A	Gateshead International Stadium	L	10–28	K. Welham, Brett	Skelton (1/2)	287	[8]

National League Cup

Main article: 2006 National League Cup

Hull Kingston Rovers, defending champions of the 2005 cup, were drawn into Group 6 of the 2006 National League Cup:

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
12 February; 16:00	Round 1	York City Knights	A	Huntington Stadium	W	32–2	Morrison, Ford, Murrell, Fisher, Smith	Morton (1/1), Murrell (1/1), Couturier (3/3)	2,809	Not televised	[9]
19 February	Round 2	Featherstone Rovers	A [c]	Post Office Road	W	32–6	Cockayne (2), Murrell (2), Smith	Morton (4/4), Couturier (2/3)	2,046	Not televised	[11]
24 February	Round 3	Sheffield Eagles	A	Don Valley Stadium	W	44–22	Cockayne (2), Steel (2), Gallagher, Barker, Ford, Goddard	Couturier (5/7), Morton (1/2)	1,347	Not televised	[12]
5 March	Round 4	Featherstone Rovers	H	Craven Park	W	50–18	Couturier (3), Goddard, Williams, Morton, Webster, Tangata-Toa, Murrell	Morton (5/6), Couturier (2/3)	3,130	Not televised	[13]
19 March	Round 5	York City Knights	H	Craven Park	W	52–14	Ford (5), Smith (2), Joseph, Steel, Fisher	Morton (1/2), Couturier (4/6), Murrell (1/3)	2,649	Not televised	[14]
26 March	Round 6	Sheffield Eagles	H	Craven Park	W	52–12	Ford (4), Morrison, Gallagher, Couturier, Goddard, Murrell	Couturier (7/8), Murrell (1/1)	2,314	Not televised	[15]
23 April	Round of 16	Halifax R.L.F.C.	H	Craven Park	W	88–6	Steel (2), Ford (2), Smith (2), Goddard (2), Aizue (2), Couturier (2), Barker, Joseph, Morton	Couturier (14/15) [d]	2,306	Not televised	[17]
7 May	Quarter-finals	Whitehaven R.L.F.C.	H	Craven Park	W	37–10	Morton (2), Tangata-Toa, Gallagher, Cockayne, Steel	Morton (6/7) Drop goals Murrell	2,366	Not televised	[18]
18 June	Semi-finals	Doncaster Lakers	H	Craven Park	W	38–6	Ford (2), Morrison, Gallagher, Webster, Cockayne	Morton (6/6), Couturier (1/1)	3,016	Not televised	[19] [20]
16 July	Final	Leigh Centurions	N	Bloomfield Road	L	18–22	Goddard, Ford, Cockayne	Morton (2/3 + 1 pen.)	7,547	Sky Sports 2	[21] [22]

National League One

Main article: 2006 Rugby League National Leagues § National League One

Fixtures

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Pos.	Report
9 April	Round 1	Oldham Roughyeds	A	Boundary Park	W	48–8	Webster (3), Murrell (2), Couturier, Gallagher, Cockayne, Rivett	Couturier (6/9)	1,658	1st	[23]
14 April	Round 2	York City Knights	A	Huntington Stadium	W	51–18	Couturier (2), Smith, Steel, Webster, Aizue, Rivett, Cockayne, Goddard	Couturier (7/9) Drop goals Webster	2,822	2nd	[24]
17 April	Round 3	Leigh Centurions	H	Craven Park	W	30–6	Goddard, Rivett, Steel, Murrell, Fisher, Joseph	Couturier (2/6) Drop goals Webster (2)	4,647	1st	[25]
30 April	Round 4	Halifax R.L.F.C.	H	Craven Park	W	30–22	Cockayne (2), Netherton, Gallagher, Goddard	Couturier (5/5)	3,045	1st	[26]
14 May	Round 5	Widnes Vikings	A	Halton Stadium	W	42–28	Cockayne (2), Gallagher (2), Morton, Murrell, Webster, Goddard, Morton	Morton (7/8)	4,331	1st	[27]
28 May	Round 6	Oldham Roughyeds	H	Craven Park	W	80–6	Steel (3), Smith (2), Martins, Gallagher, Webster, Murrell, Ford, Joseph, Price	Morton (12/14)	2,859	1st	[28]
7 June	Round 7	Doncaster Lakers	A	Belle Vue	W	28–24	Ellis, Goddard, Murrell, Gallagher, Webster	Murrell (3/6 + 1 pen.)	2,190	1st	[29]
11 June	Round 8	Whitehaven R.L.F.C.	H	Craven Park	W	74–12	Fisher (3), Morton (3), Steel (3), Cockayne (2), Joseph, Rivett	Morton (11/14)	3,151	1st	[30]
25 June; 12:45 [e]	Round 9	Rochdale Hornets	A	Spotland Stadium	W	66–16	Cockayne (3), Ford (2), Tangata-Toa (2), Aizue, Murrell, Joseph, Morrison, Morton	Morton (9/12)	1,131	1st	[31]
2 July	Round 10	Batley Bulldogs	H	Craven Park	W	42–8	Ford (3), Webster, Morton, Murrell, Cockayne, Rivett	Morton (3/5), Couturier (2/3)	3,013	1st	[32]
9 July	Round 11	Halifax R.L.F.C.	A	The Shay	W	38–14	Gallagher (2), Goddard (2), Webster, Fisher, Ford	Morton (5/8), Couturier (0/1)	2,106	1st	[33]
23 July	Round 12	Widnes Vikings	H	Craven Park	W	49–24	Steel (2), Webster (2), Netherton (2), Cockayne, Goddard, Whittle	Couturier (4/5), Morton (2/5) Drop goals Webster	4,128	1st	[34]
2 August	Round 13	York City Knights	H	Craven Park	W	21–10	Aizue, Cockayne, Fisher, Steel	Brooks (1/1), Weisner (1/3)	3,036	1st	[35]
6 August	Round 14	Leigh Centurions	A	Hilton Park	L	10–36	K. Welham, Joseph	Couturier (1/2)	2,810	1st	[36]
13 August	Round 15	Rochdale Hornets	H	Craven Park	W	26–12	Cockayne, Gallagher, Goddard, Webster, Smith	Weisner (3/5)	3,111	1st	[37]
20 August	Round 16	Whitehaven R.L.F.C.	A	Recreation Ground	L	12–48	Brooks, Ellis	Couturier (2/2)	2,063	1st	[38]
3 September	Round 17	Batley Bulldogs	A	Mount Pleasant	W	28–24	Ford (2), Webster, Steel, Weisner	Couturier (4/5)	2,027	1st	[39]
10 September	Round 18	Doncaster Lakers	H	Craven Park	W	30–22	Ford (2), Smith, Tangata-Toa, Cockayne	Couturier (3/5 + 2 pen.)	3,631	1st	[40]

Table

This section is an excerpt from 2006 Rugby League National Leagues § Table.[ edit ]

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	Pts for	Pts agst	Pts	Qualification
1	Hull Kingston Rovers	18	16	0	2	705	338	32	Play-off Semi-final
2	Widnes Vikings	18	14	0	4	729	449	28
3	Leigh Centurions	18	13	0	5	549	334	26	Elimination Finals
4	Whitehaven	18	12	1	5	516	408	25
5	Rochdale Hornets	18	8	0	10	462	435	16
6	Batley Bulldogs	18	8	0	10	393	467	16
7	Halifax	18	7	0	11	461	508	14
8	Doncaster	18	6	1	11	458	533	13
9	York City Knights	18	5	0	13	476	553	10	Relegated to National League Two
10	Oldham	18	0	0	18	220	944	0

Play-offs

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Report
24 September; 15:00	Semi-finals	Widnes Vikings	H	Craven Park	W	29–22	Aizue, Steel, Cockayne, Fisher	Morton (4/4 + 2 pen.) Drop goals Murrell	6,872	[41]
8 October, 15:00	Final	Widnes Vikings	N	Halliwell Jones Stadium	W	29–16	Goddard (2), Ford, Murrell, Weisner	Morton (4/5) Drop goals Murrell	13,024	[42]

Challenge Cup

Main article: 2006 Challenge Cup

Date and time	Round	Versus	H/A	Venue	Result	Score	Tries	Goals	Attendance	TV	Report
12 March	Round 3	York Acorn	H	Craven Park	W	62–1	Goddard (3), Morton (3), Rivett (2), Smith (2), Fisher, Gallagher	Morton (6/9), Couturier (1/3)	1,748	Not televised	[43]
2 April; 15:30	Round 4	Hunslet R.L.F.C.	A	South Leeds Stadium	W	22–0	Cockayne, Rivett, Fisher, Stephenson	Couturier (3/4)	1,259	Not televised	[44]
21 May; 15:30	Round 5	Featherstone Rovers	H	Craven Park	W	44–12	Fisher, Netherton, Barker, Murrell, Rivett, Smith, Goddard, Cockayne	Couturier (3/4), Murrell (3/3), Smith (0/1)	2,432	Not televised	[45]
4 June; 14:05	Quarter-finals	Warrington Wolves	H	Craven Park	W	40–36	Ford (3), Cockayne, Aizue, Goddard, Morton, Barker	Morton (4/9)	7,012	BBC Two	[46]
29 June; 12:30	Semi-finals	St Helens	N	Kirklees Stadium	L	0–50			12,868	BBC One	[47]

Transfers

Gains

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Ben Cockayne	Doncaster Lakers		2005
Ben Fisher	Halifax R.L.F.C.		2005
Jon Goddard	Oldham Roughyeds		2005
Kirk Netherton	Doncaster Lakers		2005
Gareth Price	Rochdale Hornets	1 year	2005 [48]
Desi Williams	Wigan Warriors	1 year	September 2005 [49]
Iain Morrison	Huddersfield Giants		October 2005 [50]
Francis Stephenson	London Broncos	2 years	October 2005 [51]
Phil Joseph	Swinton Lions		October 2005 [52]
Scott Murrell	Leeds Rhinos		December 2005 [53]

Loans in

Player	Club	Loan period	Date
Sébastien Martins	Catalans Dragons	One month	May 2006 [54]
Jon Whittle	Castleford Tigers	End of season	July 2006 [55]
Matty Brooks	Bradford Bulls	One month	July 2006 [56]
Pat Weisner	Harlequins RL	End of season	July 2006 [57]

Losses

Player	Club	Contract	Date
Dale Holdstock	Sheffield Eagles		2005
Andy Raleigh	Huddersfield Giants	2 years	September 2005 [58]
Paul Fletcher	Sheffield Eagles	1 year	September 2005 [59]
Phil Hasty	York City Knights		September 2005 [60]
Kane Epati	Doncaster Lakers		September 2005 [49]
Paul Pickering	Sheffield Eagles		September 2005 [49]
Loz Wildbore	Doncaster Lakers		September 2005 [49]
Mark Blanchard	York City Knights		October 2005 [61]
Jamie Bovill	York City Knights	Part-time	November 2005 [62]
Alasdair McClarron	Sheffield Eagles		January 2006 [63]

Loans out

Player	Club	Loan period	Date
Phil Joseph	Celtic Crusaders	End of season	July 2006 [64]

Squad

2006 Hull Kingston Rovers Squad

First team squad								Coaching staff
Makali Aizue – PR Dwayne Barker – SR Aaron Bradley Matty Brooks (gk) Damien Couturier – CE (gk) Ben Cockayne – FB Andy Ellis – HK Ryan Esders John Fallon – HK Ben Fisher – HK Byron Ford – WG Tommy Gallagher – LF		James Garmston – PR Jon Goddard – PR Phil Joseph – LF Sébastien Martins – SR Iain Morrison – SR Gareth Morton – CE (gk) Scott Murrell – SO (gk) Jason Netherton – SR Kirk Netherton Paul Parker – CE Gareth Price – PR Leroy Rivett – WG		Michael Smith – SR (gk) Jon Steel – WG Francis Stephenson – PR David Tangata-Toa – PR Jimmy Walker – SH James Webster (c) – SH (gk) Pat Weisner (gk) Kris Welham Liam Welham Jon Whittle Desi Williams – LF Dave Wilson				Head coach Justin Morgan Assistant coach Dean Sampson Legend: (c) Captain(s) (vc) Vice-captain(s) (gk) = Goal kicker Updated: 17 January 2006 Source(s): First team, Coaching staff

Notes

1. Clive Sullivan Memorial Trophy
2. Robbie Hunter-Paul testimonial match
3. Venue switched to Featherstone due to newly-laid pitch at Craven Park. ^[10]
4. Couturier's goals during this fixture ties him alongside Alf Carmichael, Mike Fletcher and Colin Armstrong as Hull Kingston Rovers' highest goal scorer in a single fixture. ^[16]
5. Kick-off changed to 12:45 to prevent clashing with England vs Ecuador World Cup fixture. ^[31]

References

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53. Wilson, Andy (15 December 2005). "Deacon targets early comeback after 'lethal' Vagana tackle". The Guardian. London. p. 10. Retrieved 21 December 2025. However, another target, Scott Murrell, a former England Under-18 half-back, will join Hull KR in National League One from Leeds.
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