The RFL today pays tribute to Phil Lowe - a Wembley winner with Hull KR, a Grand Final winner with Manly and a World Cup winner for Great Britain - following the announcement of his death at the age of 74.
Lowe scored 179 tries in 418 appearances for the Robins, remarkable figures for a long-striding, wide-running second-row who played in their famous 1980 Challenge Cup Final win against Hull FC, after starring in their Championship-winning team the previous season.
A decade earlier, he was the youngest member of the Great Britain Lions squad who were the last to win the Ashes in Australia – and although he did not play in any of the three Tests, two years later Lowe was a key figure in the GB team who secured the World Cup with a 10-10 draw against the Kangaroos in Lyon after beating Australia, France and New Zealand in the group stage of the tournament.
Lowe’s international performances impressed the Australians sufficiently for him to be recruited by Manly in 1974, and he relished life on and off the field in Sydney, scoring a try in the Sea Eagles’ Grand Final win against Parramatta in 1976.
Following retirement in 1983 at the age of 33, Lowe maintained his close links to Hull KR as chairman and football director, and was appointed manager of the Great Britain team who toured Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand in 1996, working especially closely with the coach and captain – Phil Larder and a young Andy Farrell.
Tony Sutton, the RFL Chief Executive, said: “Phil Lowe had a remarkable playing career, mostly for Hull KR and also for Manly and Great Britain. He will rightly be remembered as an all-time great of the Hull KR club, and more widely as one of the city’s finest sporting ambassadors – and I’m sure that will be celebrated on Good Friday when Hull KR host Hull FC at Sewell Group Craven Park.
“On behalf of the RFL, and the sport more widely, we pay tribute to his immense contribution to the sport of Rugby League, for club and country, from Hull KR to Manly – and send condolences to his family, friends, and to the Hull KR club.”
Hull KR’s tribute to Phil Lowe included the following quote from Neil Hudgell, the club’s owner and a close friend:
"Phil was an extraordinary man. A one-off.
“He achieved everything in the sport, being a Grand Final winner on both sides of the world. He was decorated for his country many times over. Phil did it with modesty and humility. He was my hero when growing up around the sport in the 1970’s.
“The sight of Phil Lowe in full flight was something no one who witnessed it will ever forget.
“He became a very good friend of mine over the last 20 years, we made many great memories together. He was always direct and to the point, but had a very kind heart. He was respected everywhere.
“I won’t forget our last trip down under. He met Rob Crossland and I off the quay at Manly and took us in the Steyne Hotel, his local. He was still revered there some 40 years after hanging up his boots.
“Phil will be greatly missed by his very many friends. A true red and white, Hull KR has lost a legend, and part of its fabric."
