KEY POINTS:
As Gary Kemble and James Leuluai walked down a dark Hull street after midnight one night in 2003, they were confronted by a situation enough to make anyone nervous.
Striding their way and pointing at the pair in a disconcerting fashion were four young, threatening-looking skinheads.
"We were
just about to cross the street in the hope of avoiding them when one yells out: 'Hey that's Gary Kemble and James Leuluai'. They asked us for our autographs," Kemble remembers with a chuckle.
"We were amazed that people still knew who we were."
What made the incident even more notable was that none of the youths would have been born when Kemble and Leuluai, along with fellow Kiwis Dane O'Hara and Fred Ah Kuoi, were part of the Hull side of the 1980s - one of the most successful in the club's history.
In the space of four years, they played in 13 finals. They were in the victorious team which won the 1982 Challenge Cup final against Widnes and also took the championship in 1983.
People in Hull haven't forgotten those times and there's still a great affection for Kemble and Leuluai. The pair were expected to receive a warm reception when the Kiwis played the second test against Great Britain this morning at Hull's KC Stadium.
Both were selected this year in an all-time combined Hull side in a public vote conducted by the Hull Daily Mail, despite the fact Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers are the most bitter of rivals.
They were idolised, long-time BBC Humberside reporter and Hull fan Gwilym Lloyd says: "When they played for us, we had one of the finest teams ever."
Colleague Mike White agrees. Any Hull fan, and even any self-respecting Rovers fan, would say Gary Kemble was the best fullback in the world at the time.
Times, though, have changed and Kemble is now battling to prove himself as Kiwis coach in the wake of widespread criticism and scrutiny.
He says he's not weighed down by the pressure, more worried about the impact it's having on his family than him, but a trip back to Hull midweek for a series of promotional activities was a welcome change.
The memories came flooding back as Kemble and Leuluai drove the hour-long journey from the Kiwis' base in Leeds to Hull. Old games and team-mates were remembered, as well as past incidents like when Kemble was sent off for the only time in his career in a hotly-contested derby with Hull KR and the pair even sang the club ditty Old Faithful.
It was a vastly different era back then, when players imposed their own justice rather than leave it to suits on a judicial panel; when players would be handed shots of brandy at halftime to warm themselves up as the sleet fell outside; and when fitness training often involved running up the steep banks of the Humber River.
"Those seven years were the best times of our lives," Kemble says with obvious fondness. "It's our home away from home."
Kemble initially signed a one-year deal with Hull in 1981 after Ah Kuoi pulled out of his contract with the club to join North Sydney instead (he later joined Hull) but stayed until 1987. Leuluai and O'Hara also signed on after impressing in the Kiwis' tour of Britain and France in 1980 coached by the legendary Ces Mountford and Leuluai stayed until 1986.
Along with Danny Campbell at Wigan and Gary Prohm, Mark Broadhurst and Gordon Smith at Hull KR, they were the first New Zealand exports to play professionally in Britain.
It was a tough environment.
As well as working about 30 hours a week - Leuluai was a groundsman at the club while Kemble and O'Hara worked at the lottery office - they also played at least 34 games a season in the league and four cup competitions.
In one particular year, when Kemble also flew back to New Zealand to play for the Kiwis, he appeared in more than 50 games.
"It wasn't hard to get up each week because you would rather play games than train," he says. "Sometimes we played three games in a week, and we would train beforehand. I loved it. It was non-stop for seven years.
"In those days you had to watch out for yourself. There were elbows and shots flying all over the place,"says Kemble.
"If you got clouted then you clouted the guy back and the ref would let you do it. We had a pretty rugged forward pack so they had to be careful who they picked on."
It wasn't only the forward pack that was rugged.
Hull became almost invincible at their home ground, the Boulevard, which stood in one of the roughest parts of a city which had the dubious distinction of being voted the worst place in which to live in Britain in 2005.
Built in 1899, the Three Penny Stand was not for the fainthearted and, among the singing and chanting, they weren't averse to aiming abuse and objects at their own players. Leuluai even had banana skins thrown at him.
Today the Boulevard is a shadow of its former glory, with the goalposts rusting and grass having grown to shin-high. It almost suffered the same fate as one of the old stands which was demolished after the last game was played there in 2002 but more recently the greyhounds have returned and there are plans for amateur rugby league to be played there again.
"It was an intimidating place to play," Leuluai says as he glances around the decrepit stadium.
"It's changed a bit now, but... good memories."
One of the best was winning the Challenge Cup in 1982. It went to a replay at Headingly after Hull and Widnes couldn't be separated in front of 100,000 at Wembley.
The following season Hull won the title and they returned to Wembley for the 1985 Challenge Cup final but were beaten by Wigan in a game often described as one of the best finals of all time.
By the time 1987 rolled around, Kemble's time was coming to an end. Leuluai had already left, although he later returned to play for Hull again, and the coach didn't see him in his plans.
"I had done my dash and it was time to go home," Kemble says.
"Leeds were after me and were prepared to pay a £5000 or £10,000 transfer fee but Hull wanted £40,000. That was big money in those days.
"The coach didn't want me but he wouldn't let me go to Leeds. It wasn't fair.
"A new club might have sparked me again but instead I finished my career a year earlier than I had anticipated."
He never really envisaged moving into coaching but soon followed that path that has taken him to the Kiwis job.
The return to Hull midweek was clearly one filled with happy memories for both Kemble and Leuluai who had been back twice before for team reunions. They will have been hoping this morning's visit for the second test against Great Britain provided another one.
