Willie Peters previews Hull KR’s clash with Bradford Bulls.
Hull KR’s Tom Amone celebrates his try against Hull FC with James Batchelor..
Willie Peters has one thing on his mind above all else this week: payback. The Hull KR head coach has paid tribute to the Robins’ support at Hull FC last week and has insisted his side now ‘owes’ them a performance with a solid victory against the Bradford Bulls at Craven Park this Friday night.
Sat in sixth spot in Super League with eight rounds to go, Peters knows the importance now of building some momentum, and with five of the eight regular season rounds coming at home, they have the most opportune chance to do just that.
But there’s no getting ahead; it’s one game at a time, and sticking to what they know will get the job done against Bradford and put them one step closer to a play-off finish.
“We’re back at home this week; we’re back in front of our own fans and I just want to pay tribute to the fans in terms of how loud they were away at Hull FC,” Peters said. “I thought they were exceptional, even when we were 12 nil down.
“Sometimes both players and fans can get a little bit nervous and I thought that the fans probably got louder when we needed them the most. So, we owe them one this weekend.
“We played Wakefield a couple of weeks back and it wasn’t a Hull KR performance, so we certainly owe them a performance this week and that’s what we’re aiming to do.
“We hadn’t lost at home for a long time. We talk about protecting our home and what that looks like, and we didn’t do that against Wakefield. We need to do that against Bradford – we’re looking forward to it.”
Outlining the challenge for his side with the business end of the season fast approaching, Peters continued: “For us, it’s about improving and chasing that improvement. That’s what we need to look at.
“Bradford have got their own challenges. I mean, every team at the moment has got their challenges. Of course, we look and preview Bradford and look where their strengths are and where we think we’re going to exploit them, but it’s mainly about us and we spoke about that as a group.
“We need to make sure that we get our own end right again and make sure that we keep improving, and that’s the key for us. We’re going into the back end of the year now and we’ve got to be going north in terms of improvement.
“Naturally, if you can do that, then you get the points and you find yourself in a better position on the ladder. The energy and the want to improve are there, and as long as you have players that want to improve individually and collectively, then we’ll be okay.”
Rovers are now looking to kick on after the derby win, putting an end to back-to-back defeats against Leeds and Wakefield.
“I said before the game, I think it was the perfect game for us: a derby game, massive crowd, high energy, vocal, and then obviously the game was physical with a lot of intent,” Peters said. “It was perfect for where we’re at.
“Not that we wanted to go down 12-0 after eight minutes, but just how we came back, I thought it showed one, we’ve still got a lot of fight in us; and two, there was a lot of belief and composure, belief that we could come back and composure in the way we did it.
“I like just the way we stayed nice and composed and that’s a good sign. We need to do it again this week now. We need to take action to give our fans the belief and confidence that we’re going to be in the finals.
“All clubs are fighting it out to play in the finals, and we’re no different. We just got to do it this week. We’re going to break it down and get the process right and not look too far ahead. The main focus is this week.”
