Hull KR survived a strong second-half from NRL champions Brisbane Broncos as they held on to win the World Club Challenge in an incredible 30-24 win.
Despite leading 30-4 at one point, the Robins almost threw the game away and the nerves were high in the MKM Stadium approaching the final hooter. Among the standouts for Hull KR were Jez Litten, with the hooker claiming a perfect 10 in our player ratings.
It was the Robins who opened the scoring with Tom Amone scoring on debut as he crashed onto Tyrone May’s gentle kick through. That was quickly followed by an error from Reece Walsh with the Robins capitalising as captain Elliot Minchella barged over to make it 12-0.
Jez Litten then registered his second assist with an incredibly clever kick to Joe Burgess but Reece Walsh then showed his kicking prowess for Gehamat Shibasaki’s try just before the 30-minute mark. Hull KR added two more tries before the hour as centres Oliver Gildart and Peta Hiku scored before Patrick Carrigan’s try after a Ben Talty break made Hull KR nervous.
Those nerves amplified when Deine Mariner and Gehamat Shibasaki scored in quickfire fashion to make it 30-20 with just under 15 minutes to play. Mikey Lewis failed to find touch with his kick late on, something that was punished immediately as Brisbane scored to make it 30-24, however, it was too late with the Robins holding on to record their first ever World Club Challenge win.
Hull KR player ratings versus Brisbane Broncos
1: Arthur Mourgue – 7
The Frenchman saw his night end prematurely through injury but until that point he had been very dangerous. He’d broken the line on occasions whilst also defusing a couple of tricky grubber kicks.
2: Tom Davies – 8
Carried hard in yardage and his his best on the first try but was put in an impossible situation. His metres out of backfield in the first half proved invaluable.
3: Peta Hiku – 8
There were perhaps questions marks over his positioning for Shibasaki’s try but he’d made a smart read on a dangerous Reece Walsh line early on. Topped his performance off with a try.
4: Oliver Gildart – 9
Similar to his wing partner Joe Burgess, Gildart’s kick chase was excellent all night and he was rewarded with a try as a result of it. Very aggressive defensively and luckily it worked more often than not.
5: Joe Burgess – 9
Helped force the drop-out that led to the opener with his kick chase minutes later forcing a Reece Walsh error, from which the Robins scored their second. The winger then bagged the third and was at it again with a strong kick chase to force an error that led to Rovers’ fourth try.
6: Mikey Lewis – 8
In and around the ruck throughout the dominant opening 30 minutes. Had to shift to full-back after Arthur Mourgue’s injury where he did look shaky at times but also had brilliant moments. His failure to find touch with five minutes to go almost proved costly.
7: Tyrone May – 8
He kicked through for Tom Amone’s try and then had plenty of other silky moments, none more so than his assist for Peta Hiku’s try. However, it was his defence that was the highlight with May racking up the tackles.
8: Sauaso Sue – 8
Tough-running from minute one with his first carry setting the tone for the night.
9: Jez Litten – 10
Incredible effort for Joe Burgess’ try where he held the ball long enough on the shift left to split the centres, allowing the tiny gap that he could kick through to register his second assist of the game. A big reason why the Robins were able to race to 30 points.
10: Tom Amone – 8
Scored the opening try on his debut and was one of many in the pack who worked tirelessly.
11: Dean Hadley – 9
A typical Dean Hadley performance and just the kind of player they missed last week, although he won’t want to watch back the Patrick Carrigan try as his marker play was poor.
12: James Batchelor – 8
Maybe should have scored in the first half but he didn’t back himself and saw his pass inside tipped on. Wasn’t in the team for that though and instead it was all about how he worked in defence.
13: Elliot Minchella – 8
Minchella crashed over after just 12 minutes and whilst he showed some ball-playing, his work on helping to set up kicks and help complete tackles was important.
Interchanges
15: Sam Luckley – 7
Not as many offloads as he normally brings but he was another forward doing plenty of grunt work to try and stop the Brisbane momentum swing in the second half.
16: Jai Whitbread – 7
Made a dent in the final ten minutes of the first half but was another left hanging on by the end, as most KR players were.
17: Rhyse Martin – 8
Pouched the loose ball and then offloaded to Oliver Gildart for the fourth try. His goalkicking also proved crucial.
19: Karl Lawton – 7
Came on and played far more than he might have expected on account of Arthur Mourgue’s injury and got through plenty of work as a result.
Mikey Lewis’ moment of madness, shock Super League results and World Club Challenge Preview – Click here to watch the latest episode of The Serious About Rugby League Show
THEY’VE DONE IT 🙌
The Robins are the 2026 @Betfred World Club Challenge Champions 🏆#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/YuMfJxAFFq
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) February 19, 2026
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