To say Hull Kingston Rovers are a club on the up would be a huge understatement. Eight years ago they were playing Championship games against Batley, Swinton and Dewsbury. Now they are Super League leaders, aspiring to overthrow Wigan. They are inspiring other mid-sized clubs, showing what can be done with a bit of money, a lot of hard work and many good decisions. They were beaten 28-12 by Wigan but Friday night at Craven Park was more evidence of dreams manifest.
Forty years after they last lifted a major trophy, Hull KR fans are desperate to see this current wave of success be crowned with silverware. They sold their 4,000 tickets for the Hull derby in 12 minutes, their 6,000 Challenge Cup semi-final allocation in two hours. Craven Park is sold out most games, seats only left empty by absent season-ticket holders or folk enjoying the food and drinks area on Craven Streat, the dilapidated southern terrace replaced by a fortnightly festival. It was busy from two hours before kickoff on Friday, with local musician Tom A Smith playing on the pitch before the game and on the Craven Streat stage at half-time. Fireworks went off randomly. It was the Super Bowl brought to you on a budget.
Rovers have proven you don’t have to spend millions: tens of thousands can transform the feel of a place, hundreds of thousands the quality of a team. On close inspection, Craven Park needs more TLC. The girders in the Roger Millward Stand haven’t seen a coat of fresh paint for years and there’s moss on the North Stand fascia. But their home improvement plan is sensible. The next stage will see more of the surrounding land become part of an enhanced training ground and foundation facilities.
Friday night was a special experience. The noise levels were extraordinary. The fans’ reaction to Joe Wardle’s early second-half try for Wigan was another defiant round of Red Red Robin – “Wake up, wake up you sleepy head” – booming from the rammed East Stand, a defiant declaration. Yes, the stands emptied after Jai Field broke clear to put the game to bed, but this version of the Wigan Walk said more about the traffic bottleneck awaiting them than Rovers fans giving up.
The fanbase reflects a team that seeks thrills at every turn. Even the little one-man-up rugby they play sees that man probing the defence, trying to make something happen. To this untrained eye Rovers look relentlessly positive, although Wigan coach Matty Peet believes they are more predictable. “They are easier to defend against than they used to be,” said Peet after the game. “They’re more methodical, more tight. But when they get that field position, they’ve got exciting players.”
Wigan have now won their last four meetings, but Rovers are clearly the champions’ closest rivals. In the past year, Wigan have won 10 of a dozen meetings with the rest of 2024’s final four (Hull KR, Warrington and Leigh), while Rovers have won seven of their 11 equivalent meetings. Compare that with Warrington losing six of their nine, Leigh nine out of 11, and St Helens all 13.
Peet clearly welcomes the challenge. “They’re a really good team – and a good club, more to the point. There’s a lot of mutual respect between us. There’s a lot to like about them. They’re physical and intense. If we’d lost, we wouldn’t be any less confident. The season ebbs and flows. You’ve got to navigate injuries, suspensions, dips in form, and roll with the punches. They’re having a similar season to ourselves. We know we’re going to meet in other big games.”
Rovers head coach Willie Peters, a former Wigan halfback, knows the defeat on Friday was merely a milestone and not the end of their journey. “We’re building on and off the field,” he said. “We’re not the final product. In three games now they’ve got us towards the end. You’ve got to keep going for 80 minutes and unfortunately we didn’t.”
Rovers bashed away at Wigan’s front door but only broke through twice. Lesser teams will crumble. “Hull KR start games really physically,” said Peet. “They’ve done it to every team they play: they win land and they frontload their energy. It’s a great model. But the kind of players they’ve got are at their best when they’re fresh and some of ours are best as the game goes on. We’ve got more legs.”
Peters’ reputation is soaring. He has several serial winners at his disposal, but he is also turning a group of previously unheralded Super League journeymen into title challengers. Released by Leeds and Castleford, utility Jack Broadbent is thriving at Rovers; second rower Dean Hadley is having the time of his life; and the impact made off the bench by Scotland prop Sam Luckley is as dynamic as anyone’s in the competition, a Kirkcaldy cannonball.
The big games keep coming for Rovers. The visit of the world champions was the filling in a Hull derby sandwich, another trip across the city to face Super League’s second-placed team beckoning on Good Friday. Rovers are midway through a run of seven high-profile, demanding fixtures in 10 games, a period that will test their title credentials and versatility. Peters will be without the injured Michael McIlorum (torn bicep) as well as Mikey Lewis, so may use Jez Litten at hooker and recall Danny Richardson alongside Tyrone May in the halves. “We select our team based on what they do in training, how they handle setbacks, what their attitude is like,” said Peter. “The effort is always there.”
He knows they can’t just keep competing with the best. They will have to beat them soon. “There’ll come a stage, finals time, knockout football, when we’ll say that’s not good enough, when we have got to win those games.”
That Wigan’s biggest test over Easter may be Hull KR away, not St Helens at home, speaks volumes.
Foreign quota
The poorly disguised assassination attempt by a group of English clubs lobbying to strip Catalans and Toulouse of their RFL funding will be dismissed by the NRL. Their imminent European investment will ensure French inclusion, possibly via a new joint-venture entity in a 10-team Super League or an expanded French presence in a 20-team competition.
While St-Étienne native Arthur Mourgue was back to his exhilarating best in only his second game for Hull KR, former Bordeaux Bègles winger turned part-time butcher Léo Darrélatour scored on his debut as Catalans won comfortably at Huddersfield, the 59th French player to represent the Dragons in the last 10 years. The NRL will not be turning off that talent pipeline.
Clubcall: Salford Red Devils
With stars still fleeing Salford’s sinking ship, more unfamiliar fresh faces are thrown into the deep end. In Super League’s 30th season we’ve finally had the first Northern Irish-born player in Ballyclare teenager Sean Murray (former Salford and Wakefield forward James Hasson was raised in Derry but born in Hillingdon); Cumbrian Scott Egan is the latest pro product of the Hensingham amateur club; and Jimmy Shields is a lifelong Salford fan now playing for them. Two Wales Under-19 internationals featured against Leeds last week – winger Billy Glover debuted while Finley Yates, from Regan Grace’s old junior club Aberavon, made his third appearance. At least someone is benefitting from the chaos.
Goal-line drop-out
The sudden, albeit not unexpected, demise of Cornwall RLFC may have reopened the door for Bedford Tigers. The RFL’s plan for three divisions of 12 in 2026 means there is room for another new club in League 1 again, and Bedford – believed to be second choice last year when Goole Vikings got the nod – are preparing for another tilt at the semi-pro game. The Tigers will showcase their potential on 26 April when they host their Southern Conference match with Colchester’s Eastern Rhinos at Bedford Blues’ famous Goldington Road ground, once home to Martin Offiah.
Fifth and last
History was made at Hunslet on Friday night when Tara Jones became the first woman to referee a Championship match, taking charge of the bottom versus top clash. Reports suggest the talented former St Helens and England hooker, who has been a touch judge in several Super League fixtures, had a solid game as Halifax continued their surprisingly excellent start to the season. At 28 she still has time to make it all the way to the top.
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