Hull KR boss Tony Smith calls for improvement and rues legal spoiling tactics from Huddersfield Giants in defeat

Tony Smith’s Hull KR fell to a 26-12 defeat away at Huddersfield Giants today.

After a period of an hour where they lacked creativity, Rovers kicked into gear in the final quarter, with tries from Brad Takairangi and Mikey Lewis.

But, head coach Tony Smith knows his side can play better for longer than what they showed at the John Smith’s Stadium.

“Sometimes you can not play for 80 minutes and you can lose a game but not very often you can play for 20 minutes and then dominate the game and win but that was us today,” Smith sad.

“We didn’t get going until the last 20 minutes and then it looked like us and what we can do.

“For that reason it’s frustrating, we just need to learn to do that earlier in the start of the game, but those are extra lessons that we will take from the game – we will kick into gear very soon.”

Smith also believed that Huddersfield were able to use good, legal spoiling tactics to disrupt their flow.

“You play against my team you will try and slow us down in any way shape or form and do it within the rules – and they do.

“We’ve got to find ways of stopping that from happening and that’s our part of the bargain – we understand why teams want to slow us down but we’ve got to come up with better ways to stop that from happening.”

There looked to be one concern for Rovers when Will Dagger clutched his shoulder in the first-half after a bang from Jermaine McGillvary, but Smith said it wasn’t too serious.

“He had a little bit of a shoulder issue, but he was fine to carry on, so we’ve no injuries that I’m aware of.

“There are a few bumps and bruises but nothing of substantial note.”

Hull KR host Castleford Tigers on Friday night, live on Sky Sports.