KR do it the hard way, Matt Dufty, and Hull KR v Warrington Wolves talking points

Hull KR are 2025’s League Leaders’ Shield winners after beating Warrington Wolves 28-20 at Craven Park.

Here’s our talking points.

Rovers do it the hard way

Hull KR got themselves over the line in the end but goodness, did they make hard work of it. Warrington fought for absolutely everything on the night and Rovers, with the pressure of the League Leaders’ Shield being on the line, struggled for large periods of the game.

They started slowly and they came out of the blocks for the second half even slower with Warrington scoring three tries to take the lead and really ask questions of the home side. KR were some way short of their best against a Wire side that can only be described as makeshift and that’s got to be a concern now going into the play-offs.

Wire took the lead through Josh Thewlis in the opening before Tyrone May slipped through a gap and levelled the scores for the home side. Craven Park took a sigh of relief before the break as KR took control of the game through a Noah Booth brace.

Warrington set hearts pumping once more though at the start of the second half as Sam Stone, Adam Holroyd and Thewlis got over.
Arthur Mourgue set Craven Park rocking when he went the length of the field to get over though and with just a few minutes left on the clock, May made sure with his second of the night.

Mikey Lewis had his moments but he struggled to create with the ball in hand, while cracks appeared in what is usually such a rock solid back-line. Fortunately, they have two weeks now to get things right before their home semi-final.

Too little, too late for Wire

It’s got to be said, Warrington looked to be counting down the days until the end of the season last week at Hull FC. They were lacklustre, laboured and outright poor at the MKM Stadium, but five days later in the same city they were anything but.

Warrington had KR rocking for huge periods and the four tries they scored underlined that, with the Wolves taking the lead twice in the game, with Josh Thewlis’ effort in the second half turning Craven Park into a panicked frenzy for a period.

The manner of the Challenge Cup final result no doubt acted as some motivation, but the performance at Craven Park begs one question: Where has this Warrington Wolves been all season?

Dufty shock

Matt Dufty is facing an uncertain future at Warrington Wolves it seems after surrendering his full-back spot in the weeks following his internal disciplinary issues. Sam Burgess stuck with Cai Taylor-Wray at full-back this week, but he did spring a surprise with Dufty being named at right centre.

It’s a position he has played before, albeit his last outing in the position came in 2019 in the New South Wales Cup. He fared relatively well but never looked totally comfortable in the line, though, and Wire’s right edge was exploited twice before the break as Noah Booth scored twice.

However, the Australian showed exactly what he can do in the second half when he dropped a shoulder and slipped by Oliver Gildart before putting the ball on the plate for Josh Thewlis with a neat offload.

Deserved league winners

Rovers may not have been at their all conquering best, but it’s fair to say they deserve to win the League Leaders’ Shield and slot it alongside the Challenge Cup in their trophy cabinet.

Willie Peters’ side have been the best side from the off, finish the year with 44 points to show for their efforts and currently sit four points above last season’s quadruple winners Wigan Warriors.

It’s onto the play-offs now for the Robins, but they have a lot of work to do if they are to reach the Grand Final, with KR letting their high standards slip over the final weeks of the season. One of Leeds Rhinos, St Helens and Wakefield Trinity will head to Craven Park in a fortnight and a spot in the Grand Final will be on the line.