Hull FC boss Tony Smith reflects on events that led to Hull KR exit ahead of Craven Park return

Hull KR and Hull FC have traded blows since 1899, creating 124 years' worth of storylines.

The rivalry is fierce enough regardless of context but throw in the return of a coach who left under a cloud before crossing the divide and the intensity goes up a notch.

Tony Smith will be in the visiting camp for the 243rd derby, just 15 months on from leading the Robins to victory in the last meeting between the great rivals at Craven Park.

Rovers were on the crest of a wave at the time but five days later came the bombshell that Smith would be leaving at the end of 2022.

Although Hull KR were a team transformed on the field, all was not well away from the spotlight.

Smith did not see eye to eye with chief executive Paul Lakin and was the subject of speculation linking him with a return to Leeds Rhinos, prompting the 56-year-old to announce his planned departure in his weekly press conference.

Owner Neil Hudgell aside, club officials were caught off guard and KR's form dipped dramatically to hasten Smith's exit.

Some fans have not forgotten the way Smith handled the announcement but he has no regrets ahead of his first return to Craven Park, as the coach of Hull no less.

"It was done for the right reasons and in the appropriate manner," he told The Yorkshire Post.

"It didn't suit everybody but bearing in mind I'd been asked for the previous six weeks about where my career was going from the moment Richard Agar got sacked.

"It was a question that was being asked each week and when I finally gave an answer it wasn't well-liked by some. I don't know it was that abrupt when you're getting asked on a weekly basis.

"I told my boss and the owner of my decision. We weren't all on the same wavelength, particularly in that final year, and I think that's well-known and well-understood.

"Because of that, things probably weren't functioning in the way they needed to for the club to be successful, so changes were made. I had to make a change and was just telling people the change was on."

Although his time at Craven Park ended on a sour note, Smith left behind a team that was unrecognisable from the battered and broken outfit he inherited from Tim Sheens in 2019.

Smith took the Robins from the brink of relegation to two semi-finals, leaving behind strong foundations for successor Willie Peters to build on.

He reflects on his three-year stay with fondness despite being sacked for the first time in his long and distinguished career.

"I enjoyed my time there," said Smith. "Would I have liked to have seen it right through to the end? Absolutely I would.

"I'm totally grown up about it and understand that decisions were made. So be it and you move on.

"It's never pleasant. For me, it was the first time I'd never finished a contract or finished early in a season even.

"It was a difficult period but I look back on most of my time there in a really fond way and am proud of most of it.

"I made some fantastic friends and built some great relationships. I enjoyed most of the journey I had there.

"It would be nice to have fairytale endings everywhere you go. I've had my fair share of those but unfortunately that one wasn't going to be a fairytale ending."

With the Sky Sports cameras in town and a prominent role on the big screen likely, Smith could find himself framed as the pantomime villain on Sunday.

He would be surprised if he received a frosty reception on his return to Craven Park.

"I would hope not," he said. "I don't think I did anything to deserve those sorts of behaviours.

"I've never seen any of those behaviours anywhere before during my career. I'd be disappointed in our sport if that happened.

"I'll just handle things with dignity and be respectful to all concerned.

"Like most human beings, when you do that you expect it back the other way. If not, there's nothing much you can do about it.

"I'm the ex-coach from there and I'm very proud of my time there and some of the inroads we made, coming from not a very big budget and in survival mode to a team that competed in semi-finals.

"I don't know if I really deserve the pantomime villain tag. That can happen but sometimes those things aren't deserved either."

Smith endured a painful first reunion with his old club on Good Friday when Rovers romped to a 40-0 win at the MKM Stadium to inflict a sixth straight defeat on their rivals.

Super League's most experienced coach believes Hull are in a good place to set the record straight.

"There’s nothing we can do to erase that but what we can do is go out there and perform much better," said Smith. "If we do that, it gives us a chance.

"It’d be nice to perform to our capabilities. We feel that we’re getting closer to that more often now and are playing with more consistency than the last time we played them.

"They were terrific and the difference in the second half was huge. That’s in our memories now and it’ll always be there, as is every defeat that you carry around.

"All you can hope is that you learn from each and every one of those defeats and that it makes you more resilient, smarter, and more determined."