Johnny Whiteley at 90 - Hull FC and Great Britain legend still cycling 25km a day

For a man who helped defeat the Australians both as a player and a coach, and played more than 400 games for his beloved Hull FC, inevitably it will involve exercise.

That is simply second nature for Whiteley, one of the sport’s all-time greats and a Hall of Famer, who is still involved with the gym business he long since set up in the East Yorkshire city.

Coronavirus, of course, means his regime has had to be altered somewhat and it is all from the comfort of his home where he has been isolating since January.

However, the former Great Britain coach – Whiteley led the last Lions side to win the Ashes on the famous 1970 tour Down Under – explained to The Yorkshire Post what it entails.

“I get out of bed in the morning and get straight on the scales,” said the 1960 World Cup winner.

“I have a cup of tea and some cornflakes and then I get on my bike and I do an hour as fast as I can go.

“I normally get between 22 and 25km under my belt and then every other time I get on it during the day it’s a bonus.

“I have a running machine alongside that. And weights alongside that in the bedroom.”

Whiteley – who as a child saw his home in Hull bombed during World War II – had an operation on an old leg wound in January.

He slipped and damaged it in April and was in hospital ready to have it treated until he was forced home due to the onset of the pandemic.

Yet he has not missed a day’s training and will not today either.

“Me and my wife will have a Chinese takeaway but I will get on my bike first,” laughed Whiteley, who was still a regular attendee at Hull games and training until lockdown.

“I used to go running on Christmas Day. The lads would say ‘you’ve been for a run again!’ and I’d just say…’my brain doesn’t know about Father Christmas.’

“When I train, and it’s Christmas and you stop in bed, I’ve got a start on you.”

It is that sort of indomitable spirit and dedication that helped set Whiteley apart from so many.

As someone who has given so much back to the sport over the years, through charity work and his dedication to so many causes not just close to Hull FC, it is no surprise the avuncular 90-year-old is widely known as ‘Gentleman John.’

Hull coach Andy Last spoke fondly of him ahead of last night’s play-off semi-final at Wigan Warriors – “it’s only this wonky leg that’s the bloody problem” joked Whiteley when asked about his own selection chances for that tie – and he continues to be an inspiration for so many.

He signed for Hull in 1950 and played 417 games, helping them win league titles in 1956 and again two years later, plus twice captaining them at Wembley.

Hull have only won one championship since – in 1983 – and Whiteley remains iconic, the sport running through his veins even in these difficult times.

“Everyone’s looking for something just to stimulate them,” said the former Hull KR and Yorkshire coach.

“Rugby is still as strong: it’s still in peoples’ minds. People still talk about it every day. Everyone who rings me there’s only one conversation: Hull Football Club.”

Yet he also goes down in folklore for that remarkable tour 50 years ago when his Lions lost just one of their 24 games on the trip to Australia and New Zealand, bouncing back from a First Test defeat to silence the Kangaroos in the Ashes.

“Back then, squads were always picked by committees but that was the first time that I picked my own side,” recalled Whiteley, blessed with greats such as Frank Myler, Malcolm Reilly and Roger Millward.

“It was so refreshing to be able to say to people ‘you’re playing’ or ‘the reason you’re not playing is this’. I gave them honesty. That served me in good stead.

“If we were a bit short, and some had played the last game like (Castleford prop) Dennis Hartley, I could say ‘Dennis, we need you, but you can still have a couple of pints in the morning if you want!’ It was great.

“I’d been on tour before so I knew what things were like in Australia. So I said to them two things: we don’t want any cliques and also, if you train to the levels I want you to and you win, then you can do what the hell you like.

“You can go where you want to go, eat what you want to eat, do what you want to do.

“I knew they’d be doing everything right if they trained to the level I said and it was proved right. The lads were so good. So talented. The fitness allied to those united abilities meant we were one hell of a force.”

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