Cornish Express sends good luck message to Hull KR

A former Hull KR player known as the Cornish Express is backing the Robins in their World Club Challenge match against the Brisbane Broncos.

Graham Paul, 91, played for the club in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including in the Challenge Cup final against Widnes in 1964.

To celebrate the match against the Broncos on 19 February, the BBC is organising a World Club Relay of fans and VIPs. And while Paul will be watching from his native Cornwall, he was keen to send a good luck message.

"It's going to be a big game, no doubt about that," he said. "To the boys I would say, stay calm, your game is good, back it. You know your game, stick to your game and you have every chance of winning."

Paul described how much the game had changed over the past 70 years.

He recalled travelling to Hull with his wife to join the club in 1958 after playing rugby union for Cornish sides and the RAF.

"Rovers signed us and they arranged for us to stay in an apartment over this wet fish shop, which was fine," he said.

"We were there for maybe a couple of months, but the problem was everything we wore smelt of fish and this led to certain family problems."

After scoring five tries in a match in 1961, he was given the nickname the Cornish Express by the newspapers.

He bought a house in the city and spent six seasons at Craven Park, playing 197 games and scoring 116 tries, before returning home to Cornwall.

Paul said that he never took his place in the team for granted.

"The team was selected by the directors, probably given to them by the coach, and that was published in the Hull Daily Mail on Wednesday mornings," he said.

"Every Wednesday morning I bought a Hull Daily Mail to check that I was playing at the weekend."

He still follows the Robins, watching as many games as he can on television, and is very proud of them winning three trophies last season.

"Hull KR have had a few difficult years," he said.

"They've struggled as a Yorkshire club against the Lancashire clubs. You had the likes of Wigan and St Helens who have dominated the game.

"And now, almost out of the blue, Hull KR have come bursting through and won everything."

Ahead of the World Club Challenge match kicking off, BBC Radio Humberside is organising a relay to carry a ball from Hull KR's home at Craven Park across the city to the MKM Stadium, where the match will be played.

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