Hull KR

Willie Peters encourages Hull KR stars to become legends like Millward with Challenge Cup in sight

by
Sam Cook
June 3, 2025

Hull KR head coach Willie Peters is excited about the prospect of his players being mentioned in the same breath as club legends such as as Roger Millward, if the Robins can end their trophy drought and win the Challenge Cup Final.

That’s the task at hand on Saturday with 2023 runners-up Hull KR set to face the 2024 runners-up Warrington Wolves under the Wembley arches, however, Peters insists that the memories of 2023 and their 2024 Grand Final defeat won’t be what he uses to motivate his side.

Speaking at the Challenge Cup Final media event, the Hull KR boss explained: “I’m a massive believer in not using the negative as motivation because now talking about it, you start to feel an emotion around it. Whereas, if you want to talk about what you want to go get, there’s a different emotional approach.

“I believe it’s a stronger emotion or it should be, if you want it bad enough. If you want it bad enough, it’s a stronger emotion. That’s what I’ll be tapping into more.”

He conceded that he had clipped up parts of the Challenge Cup Final from 2023, “not so much around emotion but more around different actions in that game”, with the Robins losing in agonising fashion against Leigh Leopards.

Hull KR stars can be “potential legends for a long time”

That 17-16 golden point defeat and last year’s 9-2 loss to Wigan Warriors in the Super League Grand Final were the club’s most recent attempts at ending their long wait for silverware with Hull KR yet to lift a trophy since 1985.

The rhetoric around Hull KR needing to end that drought has been strong and Peters and the players are well aware of that and when asked about how he personally would feel if he was the man to help end it, the Australian shifted the focus back to the club and the players.

Peters explained: “I’ll be honest, I don’t think about me doing that, but I think about the effect it would have on our club. The people involved can be legends of this club for a long time.

“It’s a big call but obviously Roger (Millward) and the legends of our club, this new crop coming through can be potential legends of this club for a long time.

“That excites me, and what would excite me is being in a WhatsApp for the next 30, 40 years with a group of guys that you just want to Challenge Cup with and being able to keep in contact. Eventually when I go back, to be able to come back and celebrate in 10, 20 years and all that, that excites me.”

Of course players who have represented the Robins in the 40 years between 1985 and 2025 are still heralded as club legends but none are put on pedestals quite as much as those who lifted silverware and Peters knows that. He also knows that there’s a huge community in East Hull striving for that success and he talked about what it would mean to win for them.

“We are a community club so we’ve always said our sole aim is to make our community proud,” Peters said.

“That’s what we do every week, so we’ve got another chance to do that again this weekend. Obviously it’s a little bit more on the line, but it’s still the same aim. Regardless, we want to make them proud, but we want a result.”