
Hull KR head coach Willie Peters is confident his side are in prime position to excel in knockout rugby when they vie for a spot in the Betfred Super League Grand Final after they secured the League Leaders’ Shield.
Hull KR were pushed all the way by Warrington Wolves in their final regular-season match with three quickfire tries courtesy of Sam Stone, Adam Holroyd and Josh Thewlis in the second half putting the visitors 20-16 in front.
However, the Robins managed to fight back in a thrilling finale through some individual brilliance from Arthur Mourgue and a late effort from Tyrone May to wrap up a 28-20 victory and clinch the League Leaders’ Shield for the first time in the club’s history.
They become the ninth club to lift the Shield alongside Bradford Bulls, Leeds Rhinos, St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, Huddersfield Giants, Castleford Tigers and Catalans Dragons.
It also means they have secured a historic double after their Challenge Cup win, the first in Hull for over 140 years.
Despite the momentous occasion, questions were raised about KR’s performance again as they misfired in both attack and defence in patches, the league leaders seemingly hitting a rougher patch performance wise at precisely the wrong part of the season as this game followed their shock loss to Wakefield in Round 26.
However, Peters insists he is not fazed by how his side are currently playing and expects that in a “brand-new ball game” of a semi-final his side will perform as they have consistently sat on top.
“I’m honestly not bothered at all. We needed to win tonight and got into a position we could have got beaten. But we ended up finding a way to win. That’s the main thing we needed to achieve tonight,” Peters said.
“If people are looking for momentum going in, that’s fine, I’m comfortable with it. Semi-finals are a new ball game. I’ve seen teams go in before flying, you see it in the NRL previously, and they’re out in straight sets.
“On the flip side, others team might not perform how they want but it’s a brand-new ball game. I’m comfortable where we sit at the moment because after 27 rounds, we sit on top.”
Finishing first now gives Hull KR a week off before their semi-final game on October 4 against the lowest-ranked team remaining in the play-offs.
Peters sees the week off as an advantage he can use to reset, leave their league performance behind, and be on their game for knockout rugby that could see them lift another trophy in just a few weeks’ time.
“I am very relaxed. I’ve said it before. People said we had to get beat, I don’t agree with that, you’d love to win every game by 30,” he added.
“You have to find different ways to win. It’s a new ball game, that’s my whole point, we need to make sure what we do in the next two weeks is to make sure we perform in two weeks’ time.
“I actually don’t care what we’ve done, all I care about now is what we do in the next two weeks, I really do. We’re the most consistent team after 27 rounds but that doesn’t matter if you don’t get next week right.
“I think it’s an advantage having a week off at this stage of the year. We need a week off, we were going to have finished first or second for a while now and I think you know mentally that you have three or four games before a week off and some players in our side are grateful for that and other players in opposition teams would like a week off as well.
“But at the end of the day now, it’s not how you feel, you’ve just got to keep going.”
Super League fixtures
Round 27
- Thurs September 18: Hull KR 28-20 Warrington
- Thurs September 18: Hull FC 22-26 Catalans
- Fri September 19: St Helens vs Castleford – 8pm
- Fri September 19: Leigh vs Huddersfield – 8pm
- Fri September 19: Salford vs Wakefield – 8pm
- Fri September 19: Wigan vs Leeds – 8pm
Knockout stage
Elimination play-offs
- Fri September 26: Third vs sixth – 8pm
- Sat September 27 Fourth vs fifth – 8pm
Semi-finals
- Fri October 3: Second vs TBC – 8pm
- Sat October 4: First vs TBC – 5.30pm
Grand Final (Old Trafford)
- Sat October 11: TBC vs TBC – 6pm
Watch every Super League game live on Sky Sports. Two matches in each round are exclusively live, with the remaining four fixtures shown on Sky Sports+ via the red button.
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