After missing out on Grand Final selection last year, no one will be more desperate to gain a spot at Wembley than childhood Hull KR fan Jack Brown. The hard-grafting prop has played his part in Willie Peters’ squad ever since joining from city rivals Hull FC last May.
He scored off the bench in the recent 34-0 thrashing of Huddersfield Giants, his first try for the East Yorkshire club. However, the combative 24 year-old has still yet to truly nail down a spot in the 17 when everyone is fit and firing.
That means he faces a nervous wait to see if he gets the nod for Saturday’s big showdown with Warrington Wolves. Brown insisted: “I haven’t really thought too much into it. I’ve just been taking things week by week. What will be will be.
“As a local lad I’ll just take it all and the build-up. I’ve been coming off the bench a lot recently and just doing my job, whether it’s for five minutes or 25 minutes. I will always give 100 per cent and do whatever it takes for this team.”
And Robins fanatic Brown knows just how much it will mean to the club’s fans if they can at last win a major trophy for the first time since 1985. He explained: “I was an East Stander as a kid – front-row, bottom left – so every time I run out it is a bit surreal looking over there where I used to stand with my family.
“My heroes were people like Michael Dobson, Josh Hodgson and Clint Newton. It was a good era, playing in the play-offs. It was my childhood.
“My mum and dad would take me and, a local lad, we’d walk down from our house on a Friday night, 20 minutes or so. I know how big all of this is for KR supporters.
“It would be massive especially for all the fans who have been through the thick of it and the ups and downs over the years. It would mean a lot but we’re not thinking of that: we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”
But it does beg the question: how many people have descended on him to try and get Wembley tickets? Brown replied: “Not that many, to be honest.
“Obviously, my family are massive Rovers fans anyway so they were sorted two minutes after the final whistle of the semi! Whether I was there or not, they would have booked it regardless.
“There’ll be plenty going but they’ll be supporting Hull KR not Jack Brown, as daft as that sounds. My missus’ family will come down as well. They’re not Hull FC fans or anything – they’re Jack Brown fans! They are proud of me and will be supporting me.”
Having featured throughout the road to Wembley, coming off the bench in the 40-0 rout of Oldham, the epic quarter-final success at Hull FC and that sem-final versus Catalans Dragons in York, it would be fitting that Brown completed things at Wembley. But with the likes of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Sauaso Sue, Sam Luckley and Jai Whitbread all jostling for spots, he knows competition is tough.
Whenever called upon, Brown has impressed – even if his role off the bench is continually changing. He said: “I’ve been seeing the game out at times in recent weeks. “Leeds, we were down a man and four points down and I came on and we managed to get the win.
“I’m just coming on and doing the best I can with what I’ve got and hopefully that’s paying off.”