JUST under seven years ago, Jez Litten and Dean Hadley swapped the west of Hull for the east of the city.
On Thursday night, they both returned to what is now titled the MKM Stadium to help Hull KR scale the summit of rugby league with victory over Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Challenge.
Litten, who provided two try assists in the 30-24 triumph, was named player of the match by host broadcaster Sky Sports.
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Yet he was quick to defer to his old Hull FC team-mate who played the full 80 minutes in the second row against the superstar-laden NRL champions despite being injured.
“I thought the man of the match was Dean Hadley,” Litten told BBC Radio Humberside.
“I did my bit for the boys, but he was unbelievable, doing a Dean Hadley performance – with busted ribs as well.
“I thought he was man of the match, but all of the boys dug deep and it’s just a pleasure to be part of this team and I love playing for this club.”
Victory over Brisbane saw the Robins become the sixth English club to the win the world title, and only the fourth of the summer era to hold all four honours available to them at the same time.
Switched to their cross-city rivals’ home ground to maximise attendance, a 24,600 crowd – more than double the capacity of Hull KR’s Sewell Group Craven Park home – saw last year’s treble-winners storm into an 18-4 lead at half time.
Converted tries from debutant Tom Amone, Elliot Minchella and Joe Burgess were followed after the break by ones from centre pairing Oliver Gildart and Peta Hiku to seemingly put the contest to bed with 56 minutes played.
The Broncos threatened a repeat of last year’s NRL grand final comeback win against Melbourne Storm thanks to Patrick Carrigan, Deine Mariner, a second try from Gehamat Shibasaki and Kotoni Staggs, but the task proved insurmountable – with Adam Reynolds also landing only two of five conversion attempts.
Along with his two try assists, Litten assited a linebreak, broke three tackles, gained 21 metres from three dummy-half runs and made 24 tackles, per official NRL stats.
Hadley, meanwhile, led the way for Hull KR with 180 run metres along with gaining 59 post-contact metres and busting three tackles. He also made a team joint-highest 39 tackles in defence with just under 85 percent tackle efficiency.
There will be no resting on laurels once the celebrations are over for Hull KR though, with Litten already eyeing a successful Super League title defence after being crowned world champions in a rugby league first for the city.
“We know it’s never been done in Hull and we’ll probably look back on it when we retire,” the 27-year-old said.
“But this team is driving on for more success and hopefully we can go do the grand final and then we’re the greatest team ever.
“I can’t wait for that.”