Rovers will be heading to Wembley in just over two weeks’ time
Hull KR coach Willie Peters.
Willie Peters is keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to the possibility of rotating his Hull KR side as the Challenge Cup final draws nearer.
The Robins travel to Leigh Leopards on Saturday afternoon with a clean bill of health, barring the loss of James Batchelor due to concussion protocols, and Peters has named his strongest available squad as expected.
However, whether he plans to make any changes to his matchday squad this weekend in an effort to manage game time, remains to be seen.
The Robins boss has spelled players when it has been appropriate this year and he did make an effort to rest one or two last year ahead of the club’s Wembley trip, with the likes of Peta Hiku and Dean Hadley sitting out of games in the build up.
Peters suggests unnecessary changes this week could be unlikely, but he hasn’t ruled out the potential to shake things up ahead of the Super League clash with fellow finalists Wigan Warriors next week.
“We’ll get through this week first, we’ll have a look at it and see where we’re at,” he said. “Rugby league changes pretty quickly, and obviously we didn’t know about Batchelor and only realised yesterday.
“That’s obviously changed a few things, and in general, you might have a plan and things happen. We’ll get through this game first, and see where we’re at.”
The Robins approach this weekend’s clash at Leigh Sports Village in a good spot, with the club winning their last seven games on the bounce in all competitions.
They have the opportunity to apply some serious pressure on Super League’s top three should they extend that run and as eyes turn back to Super League, Peters has offered an assessment of where he believes his team currently are as a group.
“I always say this around the time where you know where your teams heading,” he said. “We’re heading in a positive direction, that’s for sure.
“We’re getting some consistency around our game and mainly around our defence. That’s the area we focus on the most and now we’re finding we’re consistent in that area.
“Are we finished product yet? No we’re not. There’s still a way to go to get to where we want to get to. But we’re certainly improving in the right areas which is the most pleasing part for me.”
He added “What we’ve done well is at the start of the season we were probably too focused on getting a result more so than the process and performance.
“We’ve certainly looked and changed our mindset around that. It’s basically perform well and see where we are at the back end of the game.
“That’s where our focus will be and nothing will change there because if we’re worried about getting a result and keeping that win streak, the performance suffers.”
