Hull KR head coach Willie Peters believes that star player Mikey Lewis holding NRL ambitions can only be a good thing for the Robins, though he doesn’t want the Man of Steel to leave any time soon.
Lewis has taken an immense step forward with his game since the arrival of Willie Peters ahead of the 2023 season with the playmaker going from a player whose form showed flashes, to someone who can conduct a team throughout a campaign and produce game-winning moments on the regular.
In 2024, those efforts saw Lewis recognised as the Super League Man of Steel which is a crown he’s bidding to defend but the 23-year-old has made no secret of his ambitions to one day play in the NRL.
Appearing on Sky Sports’ The Bench Podcast, Lewis confirmed that his ‘dream’ has “always been to go over there to Australia”, though he admitted that he wasn’t “putting any pressure on it”.
Nor is Willie Peters with the Hull KR head coach asked about those comments, particularly whether they’re positive for Hull KR given that should Lewis hope to attain his dream, it would mean things are going well for him at Craven Park.
Here’s what Willie Peters had to say on the matter.
Hull KR boss reacts to Mikey Lewis’ recent NRL comments
Credit: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
The Australian head coach explained how Lewis’ NRL ambitions weren’t news to him as he recalled a conversation from when he first started at Craven Park.
Peters explained that upon arriving in England, he spoke with every player about their journey so far and where they hoped it would lead with Lewis confirming the NRL as a major aim.
“Mikey always said to me that he wanted to go to the NRL,” Peters confirmed, adding: “My job and our job as staff is to develop him and grow him and help him achieve those sort of dreams.
“Do we want Mikey to leave? Absolutely not. But if it’s something he wants to look at down the track then that’s up to Mikey and his management and then obviously the club.”
Speaking more on how open Lewis is regarding his dream, Peters said: “I’m very close with Mikey so I know exactly where he’s at with it all. He’s very up front with it. We have good conversations in and around it. It’ll be one of those that we’ll look at it if and when the time comes.
“I certainly want to develop Mikey to be the best player he can. If that means that he wants to go over there and he gets an opportunity, we’ll look at it. But I certainly don’t want Mikey going anywhere.”
What would Mikey Lewis need to improve to play in the NRL?
There have been numerous reports linking Lewis with the NRL with the most recent one coming in the light of Lachlan Galvin’s decision to leave Wests Tigers at the end of 2026, whilst Wests Tigers chief Shane Richardson is reportedly a great admirer of Rovers’ play-maker.
From Peters’ point of view, Lewis needs to improve one thing to ensure he would be considered an NRL standard half-back.
“It would be consistency,” he stated, adding: “Everyone’s watching every move. Being in the key position like that, you need to be consistent and you need to come up with big plays.
“The ones that are getting paid the top dollar, they need to come up with those clutch moments and those big plays. Now I’m not saying that he would need to go and do that every week over there, but what he does need to do is be consistent.”
Elaborating, Peters said: “He’s certainly growing his game, but there’s still a lot more in Mikey – his temperament, in and around that he’s working on all the time. He’s growing a lot off the field.
“If he did get the opportunity to go over there, I just think it’s working on defensively, keep working on that and making sure that he’s consistent, where his best and worst (performances) are not too far away.”
Peters also used it an opportunity to speak on the improving nature of Super League, noting: “Our game is certainly getting close to the NRL from a competition point of view. No doubt about that because anyone can beat anyone on their day now and that’s what the NRL is about. That’s where we’re getting to over here.”
