Hull KR head coach Willie Peters picked out both Elliot Minchella and Jez Litten as the standouts in his side’s win over Bradford Bulls, making particular note of captain Minchella’s half-time address to the players.
The Robins were back at home for the first time since losing there to Wakefield Trinity and despite only leading 16-10 at the half, Hull KR kicked on and won 40-16.
Joe Burgess scored his first of two early on and Peters revealed to BBC Radio Humberside how he perhaps felt that try gave his outside backs a false confidence, with side straying away from the physical nature of the game.
“I thought we started well. We scored that try, it was a nice try, good skill,” Peters said.
“I think it made us feel good and made the outside backs feel good and thinking, okay, we might be able to get a few of those tonight. We went away from what we wanted to do and that was a simple game plan and be physical and have some intent about us and earn the points.
“We started trying to create it and that’s, I think, where we went wrong in that first half. Bradford hung in there, credit to them, they stuck in, which they do every week and we went in six points ahead at halftime where I felt we probably should have been more, but we didn’t deserve to be in the same time as well.”
Peters would praise the start of the second half but bemoaned Connor Wynne’s try, citing ‘two system errors’ in the score, though he ultimately was happy with the valuable two points.
Hull KR to keep Ryan Hampshire in the halves as leaders hailed
Peters also said that he felt his side needed to show more patience, in part due to the grit and steel that Bradford show, as he said: “We spoke about that (patience) at halftime and then we probably didn’t show enough. We’re a team where we do show enough patience and we’re happy to be in a set-for-set game, we usually come out the other side and put ourselves in games.
“We scored some decent tries tonight, but as I said, we probably should have scored some more, but then getting that 16 points against us is probably the area that I’m not most pleased with.”
The Hull KR boss also highlighted his leaders, revealing: “I just had one of our leaders talk around honing in on the errors, which is great.
“Most players want to skim over that and don’t want to see it, but that’s a really positive sign. So for me, having your leader straight after a game to say, let’s look at that, is a really positive sign.
“Getting two points is what we wanted to achieve, but when you get player-driven reviews around how we can improve, that’s how the magic happens.”
Peters would then highlight Minchella’s half-time impact, stating: “I thought our captain spoke extremely well at half-time. His last message and last words to the team was really effective and direct and to the point.
“I saw some really positive signs, as I said, from a couple of our leaders. One was Mini at half-time and the other one was Jez Litten. It was player-driven. Obviously, as a coach, you have your half-time chat, but when it’s player-driven, most of the time you get a really positive outcome because it’s where the magic happens.”
Ryan Hampshire, who played in the halves with Tyrone May, also came in for praise as Peters said: “I thought Ryan Hampshire held his own on that left side. He created some opportunities and a few goals as well.
“The way we play, it just suits his style. It suits him… At the moment, we play with two full-backs. We’ve got Tyrone on the ball and we literally play with two full-backs in attack. It suits Ryan to play him at the moment. At the moment, he’ll keep that spot.”
Peters also confirmed a clean bill of health, something that will be music to the ears of Hull KR fans.
It’s a Robins’ WIN 💪#UpTheRobins🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Bhu881dnrC
— Hull KR (@hullkrofficial) July 31, 2026
