One of the Black & Whites’ most dependable forwards of the 2000s, Ewan Dowes will deliver the match ball on Saturday as part of our AA Jones Legends Parade.
Hullfc.com sat down with Ewan to discuss his time at the club…
This interview was first published in 2020.
The ever-dependable front-rower joined the club from Leeds as a youngster back in 2003, and would go on to become one of the club’s highest appearance-makers of the Super League era, being almost ever present for almost a decade with 240 club appearances under his belt.
The Cumbrian was reliable on the field, and a fans-favourite too, and was part of the squad that would win the Challenge Cup Final in 2005, and reach the club’s maiden Grand Final in 2006.
Dowes began by explaining how he first became involved in Rugby League after growing up playing the opposite code.
“I got scouted by Stuart Lancaster when I was at Sedbergh School so I got the chance to go down and train with Leeds Tykes – he was their academy head coach at the time. That in turn allowed me to train with Leeds Rhinos U21s side on occasions. I went to school with the son of Paul Caddick who co-owns the Rhinos so he got me in there.
“It was just a case of me keeping fit at first with the U19s Rugby Union World Cup coming up, but I got the chance to play for the Academy. I didn’t really know that it would lead to anything but I loved played League and I made the switch pretty quickly.
“And then I made by Rhinos debut in 2001 away against Wigan, which was no easy start.”
Speaking on how the opportunity to move to the Black & Whites came about two seasons later, Dowes said: “I’d almost properly broken through at the Rhinos in 2003, with four games in that first season. But Daryl Powell who was the head coach at the time pulled me in and said Hull had made an offer for me and could offer me regular game-time, which I was crying out for.
“Shaun McRae and John Kear got in touch and we took it from there – Peter Lupton came over with me too.
On the Hull FC coaching team, and his new teamamtes, he added: “Bomber was brilliant to work with, he was a great bloke and he assembled a superb squad for those 2003 and 2004 seasons, which helped form that success in 2005. We had some really high calibre players and we were probably unlucky not to win anything, even with how good Leeds, Saints and Bradford were at the time.
“I really enjoyed my first season, I was made to feel really welcome. I lived with Garreth Carvell for a bit, and Colin Best too. They were a great bunch of lads; Craig Greenhill, Adam Maher, Jason Smith. It was a great introduction to proper regular first-team footy.
“John Kear was brilliant too. He was a motivator and knew how to get the team up for those big games, including that 2005 Cup Final. We might not have achieved what we wanted in the league, but we had targetted the cup that year and John’s experience with Sheffield in 1998 really helped us. You only have to look at the teams we beat on the way to the final to see how impressive a run it was.”
Dowes was a regular in the first-team squad by the time the historic 2005 season came around, featuring 35 times that season and not missing a single game.
Like many, he believes the semi-final clash against Saints is up there with Hull’s best of modern times.
“That performance against St Helens in the semi-final is right up there with the best performances I’ve ever been involved with. I watched it back in full for the first time a few months ago and you just have to look at our aggression and line speed to see how much we wanted it. Nobody would have beaten us that day.
“But there is no doubt that the 2005 Challenge Cup Final is one of the best day of my life. Whenever I see clips of the game, it still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. To beat anyone in a final is special but to do it against your old team is extra special. I feel lucky to have been involved in that side.
“The open top bus parade we did from Costello Stadium down to Queen Victoria Square was just nuts. The streets were absolutely packed and you could really see how much this meant to the people of the city. To finally have won some silverware was an incredible feeling.
Dowes was part of the 2006 squad that helped the club to their first Super League Grand Final, and believes the powerful pack he was part of played a significant role in the success of that season.
“With us in the forwards, we had a good mix that season. We had Kingy who could really whack in defence, essentially a half-back in a prop’s body – he was a really smart guy on the field. Gareth Carvell was a fast and strong in attack, and really difficult to bring down, and then Jamie Thackeray was a natural footabller with some real go-forward. Then myself, I guess I was a grafter that could move the ball about a bit.
“We were led by Peter Sharp, who is probably the best coach I have worked under. If you have a coach who has both the technical side of their game, and the man-management, then you have a perfect mix but you don’t find that very often – he had that. He was a smart bloke who you’d want to put your body on the line for. It was a good few years and it was gutting for the squad when he left.
“Rich Horne was awesome. He could play multiple positions and was that player who could be a real game-breaker, breaking the line, setting up tries. To have him and Paul Cooke at 6 and 7 was a special partnership – its rare you get two superb half-back like that together.
“Willie Manu, Kirk Yeaman and Gareth Raynor was a superb left-edge. I think teams had sleepless nights before coming up against them three. Willie was freakish with the ball, Yeamno ran some superb lines with the ball and defensively was so strong, and Gareth had the speed, power, pace and finishing skills.”
On the Grand Final itself, he continued: “We went into it as underdogs which suited us, but ultimately we were disappointed. You look down that Saints team and there was so much quality.
“I think we were in it until just before half-time when Leon Pryce went through. We hung in there for a while but it just wasn’t the performance we knew we could pull out. We probably peaked too early in the season but to get all the way to a Grand Final is still a fond memory.”
Dowes also has strong memories of the 2008 Challenge Cup Final, which again saw Saints come out on top.
“It was hot! Again, we were decimated by injuries that season. Adam Dykes was pivotal to how we got to the final, especially in the semi against Wakefield, but there was a lot of disruption as to whether or not he would play, so we ended up with Tommy Lee and Danny Washbrook in the halves, with no disrespect to them but they weren’t our starting halves, with Richard Horne controversially on the bench having come back from his neck injury.
“Given the circumstances, we did really well to compete in that game for so long, but ultimately Saints’ quality came through in the end.”
The former forward also reflected on the oppotunity to play for England in 2006 and says he came close to earning a call up for Great Britain the season prior.
“It was great to feature for England – I got to play with some top players and the chance to play on the international stage was an honour. We won the European Shield a few times playing against the likes of Samoa, Tonga and France, and even got a trip to Russia.
“I was on the verge of playing for Great Britain in 2005 too, which was my best season in my career, but you look at the style and calibre of props that Brian Noble liked at the time, and in the end he went for Jamie Thackray instead.”
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