'Noisy neighbours': Why Hull FC's best hope of success is that Hull KR fail as nightmare scenario unfolds - James O'Brien

If watching your team limp from one disaster to another wasn't bad enough, all the while 'noisy neighbours' Hull KR – to coin a phrase used by former coach Tony Smith – are threatening to end their long wait for silverware.

It is the stuff of nightmares for one side of the city and as good as it gets for the other half.

Should a scenario unfold where Hull finish bottom and Rovers go on to lift the Super League trophy at Old Trafford, fans in the west may have to find a new place to live.

The noise from the east is getting louder and louder with every win – and why not?

The long-suffering KR supporters have seen their side win two promotions and lift the Northern Rail Cup in the summer era but have been starved of true success as a fanbase since the heady days of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

For the first time in generations, the Robins are genuine title contenders at the top level.

Rovers made waves under Justin Morgan and reached semi-finals during Smith’s time in charge without ever convincing that they had it in them to trade blows with the heavyweights of Super League when it mattered.

That has changed under Willie Peters, a coach who has transformed the mentality of the Craven Park club.

Peters' table-toppers are five games away from creating history by ending the club's 39-year wait for a major trophy, not that you would know it.

The Robins have a steely edge that was evident before and during Sunday's Magic Weekend demolition of Catalans Dragons, from the narrow focus of Peters and captain Elliot Minchella at the Elland Road launch event to the ruthless performance on game day.

Peters has built a team for every occasion, whether it is fighting fire with fire in the middle or putting teams to the sword with their attacking weapons on the edges.

Rovers showed both sides to their game against the Dragons as they became the first Super League club to beat every other team in 2024.

Such is the momentum behind the Robins in their pursuit of the League Leaders' Shield, they have not lost a game in 80 minutes since suffering a chastening Challenge Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Wigan Warriors in mid-May.

Peters' men have won 10 of their 11 fixtures in that time to leave the club tantalisingly close to winning the league, in old money at least.

The champagne will be firmly on ice until they negotiate a challenging run-in that will take them to St Helens, Wigan and Leigh Leopards – but such a finish to the season was beyond the fans' wildest dreams only a couple of years ago.

If Hull KR are the benchmark team after 22 rounds, their rivals across the river are an example of what not to do.

Hull have been sleepwalking into the abyss since retaining the Challenge Cup in 2017, with each bad recruitment decision compounded by the next.

The result is a squad worthy of the Championship – "and maybe not the top of the Championship either", to quote Sky Sports pundit Jon Wilkin in the wake of the humiliating Magic Weekend loss to London Broncos at Elland Road.

Gallingly for their supporters who were powerless to prevent their side from surrendering to a 20th defeat of the season, it is arguable that their best player at the moment is somebody who could not get into KR's team in Yusuf Aydin.

The upshot of Saturday's result is that the Black and Whites are in serious danger of finishing bottom of Super League for the first time and can count themselves fortunate that automatic relegation has been scrapped.

Even if poor recruitment has left Hull with a squad ill-equipped to compete, they should not be battling to avoid the wooden spoon with London, a club that came into 2024 with a hybrid of full and part-time players after being consigned to the drop before a ball had been kicked.

While there is a school of thought that Hull would not be in this position – off the bottom only on points difference – in a world of relegation, the table does not lie, as they say.

The Black and Whites can point to injuries all they like but the cold hard truth is that the majority of the players they are putting out on game day are not playing for the badge, which is a cardinal sin in sport and backs up the theory that the issues are deep-rooted.

Although there is an acceptance that it won't be an overnight fix, there could be light at the end of the tunnel as experienced Australian coach John Cartwright prepares to take the reins armed with a squad that will boast more winners and leaders in the likes of John Asiata and Zak Hardaker.

For now, Hull's best hope of success is that Hull KR fail.