Hull KR made a real statement of intent as they hammered St Helens 52-10 on Friday night at Craven Park.
Here’s our talking points.
Welcome back, Hull KR
Hull KR have struggled to live up to their champions status this season so far, winning just one league game in four leading into this one. But, they were at it from the very off against the Saints, piling on the pressure and suffocating their visitors to assert their dominance, just as we saw them do so often last season.
They were helped by a knock on from George Delaney from the kick-off and that set the tone for a comfortable evening for KR, who restricted Saints to just a handful of play the balls in good ball all night.
Joe Burgess got the first of the night for KR as he collected a Mikey Lewis kick to the corner and flopped over with ease, before Lewis got himself on the scoreboard after a neat grubber from Oliver Gildart. Jez Litten touched down after a Tyrone May break before Burgess and Lewis scored their second tries of the night just before the break.
St Helens started the second half well as Noah Stephens set up Owen Dagnall for a try. But that wasn’t enough to prevent the Robins from running away with the second half, too. Both Burgess and Lewis completed hat-tricks early on before James Batchelor and Jai Whitbread got in on the action to touch down.
Shane Wright got one back, but by that point, most of the travelling Saints fans were heading back to their cars.
Make no mistake, this was the swashbuckling KR that ruled supreme last season. Their season starts here.
Peters impact
Well, if St Helens had high hopes of Rovers taking their eye off the ball following this week’s news of Willie Peters agreeing to join Papua New Guinea Chiefs, they were very much mistaken.
Peters isn’t thought to have signed the deal yet with the NRL franchise, but with Peter V’Landys and his agent Braith Anasta talking openly about it down under, it seems all but done, with Peters set to leave Craven Park at the end of the season. That could have knocked KR off their stride completely ahead of what was a tough game on paper, but it seems to have had the opposite effect, galvanising the home side to put on a show for their supporters.
Suspect Sailor
Sailor has had a good season until now, splitting his time between full-back and stand-off and taking on much of St Helens creative responsibility. But, it must be said his defensive effort to prevent Joe Burgess touching down was almost laughable.
Defending as a number one, Sailor had plenty of time to size up Burgess as he broke down the left edge, but he appeared to anticipate a pass which didn’t come and he simply stepped aside for the winger to touch down unopposed. That was one he won’t want to watch back in a hurry.
Percival concern
Nothing has been confirmed but the withdrawal of Mark Percival at half-time was enough to suggest that the centre had picked up an injury.
The centre has only been back in the side for three games and it would be a big blow if he was ruled out.
Derby day approaches
Rovers need to find consistency, of course, but they couldn’t have prepared any better for the visit of Hull FC on Good Friday and irrespective of how the Black and Whites get on against Catalans Dragons on Sunday, they’ll fancy themselves to give their cross city rivals a hiding next week.
It’s fair to say St Helens have work to do before they take on Wigan Warriors, though. They were uncharacteristically weak in defence, particularly on the edges and they lacked the go forward and power through the middle to really trouble the Robins on the night.
KR put them through the wringer and made them work harder than they would have liked on the night, but Wigan will be looking to do the same on Good Friday, with Paul Rowley needing to pick his troops up quickly.
