On This Day: Why Peter Fox had the last laugh over Hull despite disallowed derby try

EVEN moving out of the city to the East Yorkshire countryside could not prevent Hull KR's Peter Fox being reminded of THAT disallowed try against Hull FC.
Peter Fox is contratulated for scoring a try for Hull KR. Picture: Terry CarrottPeter Fox is contratulated for scoring a try for Hull KR. Picture: Terry Carrott
Peter Fox is contratulated for scoring a try for Hull KR. Picture: Terry Carrott

It is seven years today that the England winger thought he had crossed in the 80th minute to secure a dramatic draw at least for his side in the 210th derby meeting between the sides.

FC were leading 20-16 at the KC Stadium when an off-the-cuff move finished with Fox in at the corner with just 41 seconds remaining – only for video replays to show Hull winger Tom Briscoe had dragged him in touch just in time with a tackle that has since entered Airlie Birds folklore.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It was heart-wrenching for Rovers, who saw their fierce rivals do the double over them for the first time in the summer era.

OH NO YOU DON'T: Hull FCs Tom Briscoe denies Peter Fox from scoring a late, late try for Hull KR back in 2010. Picture courtesy of Hull FC.OH NO YOU DON'T: Hull FCs Tom Briscoe denies Peter Fox from scoring a late, late try for Hull KR back in 2010. Picture courtesy of Hull FC.
OH NO YOU DON'T: Hull FCs Tom Briscoe denies Peter Fox from scoring a late, late try for Hull KR back in 2010. Picture courtesy of Hull FC.

“I did think I’d scored,” recalled Fox to The Yorkshire Post.

“The match was nip and tuck and personally I’d probably had my best game all season.

“I’d done 200 metres with my carries and had a real good feeling. The atmosphere was obviously really intense being a derby and then came that offload from Liam Watts.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“As the ball was coming down the line to me I was thinking ‘I’m in here, 100 per cent.’

OH NO YOU DON'T: Hull FCs Tom Briscoe denies Peter Fox from scoring a late, late try for Hull KR back in 2010. Picture courtesy of Hull FC.OH NO YOU DON'T: Hull FCs Tom Briscoe denies Peter Fox from scoring a late, late try for Hull KR back in 2010. Picture courtesy of Hull FC.
OH NO YOU DON'T: Hull FCs Tom Briscoe denies Peter Fox from scoring a late, late try for Hull KR back in 2010. Picture courtesy of Hull FC.

“But I thought I’d already scored before I had. Obviously, I didn’t and in the review the following week, I realised I’d had the ball in the wrong hand, too. That was gutting to see. What made it all worse was I’d just moved into a new house outside of Hull.

“I didn’t want to be too close to the city because, well, as everyone knows, it is mad about rugby league. So I moved to a village called Eastrington, about 20 miles away, and a few weeks after that match I went to try my local pub The Black Swan out.

“It turned out the landlord was a big FC fan, though. I walked in and him and his son just ran upstairs. Moments later they came back wearing these “AAh, Briscoe” T-shirts which Hull had had printed off and were selling on, showing him tackling me in the corner. I just couldn’t get away from it!”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Fox, 32, started his career in the Leeds Rhinos academy but never played first-team and, instead, caught the eye scoring tries for hometown York.

That alerted Wakefield Trinity who gave him a Super League shot , one he quickly took in 2007.

The following year Fox made his England debut and, after moving to the Robins, he would go on to score in the 2009 Four Nations final against Australia.

It was at Craven Park, under Justin Morgan, where he enjoyed most success, going on to score 61 tries over four seasons with KR before moving back to Belle Vue.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Fox, who has played 10 games for League 1 Newcastle Thunder this term but is edging towards retiring, added: “To make it worse I had bleached blond hair. We had a fine system where you roll a dice to see what punishment you get for whatever you’d done wrong.

“I’d been late for a promo’ and rolled a six which is the worst – having your hair bleached. Now, I didn’t really want to do that in the week of the derby but the lads insisted and Clint Newton – who also got a six – was the same.

“So there we were in derby week sat in the hairdressers getting our hair coloured which caused a bit of a stir in the press.

“But I need to add something here; yes, they won that derby and won both league games. But later we actually played them in the play-offs – and knocked them out. It was a great season for us and without a doubt, my best times as a player as well.”