Willie Peters described his Hull KR side’s performance as ‘exceptional’ as they booked their spot in next month’s Challenge Cup final. The Robins thumped Catalans Dragons 36-12 at the LNER Community Stadium in York to reach their third major final in as many years.
They’ll face either Warrington Wolves or Leigh Leopards, who do battle in St Helens on Sunday afternoon in the other semi-final and given the start Rovers have had to the season, they’ll be clear favourites to get the job done and win their first trophy since 1985.
Catalans led the contest from a brief period in the first half, but in truth the result was never in doubt as KR overwhelmed the French side and exerted their dominance in almost every area of the field. It’s little wonder then that Peters was beaming as he sat down in front of the press in York.
“I’m really happy, I’m proud of the players,” Peters said. “They were exceptional in that second half.
“We spoke at half-time, that last eight minute period of the first half, there was no points scored but that’s when we really started to find our groove and found our game and then we spoke about doing it for 40. It was exceptional.
“We’ve got another opportunity to play at Wembley and we don’t take it for granted, it’s difficult to do and it’s difficult to play in semi-finals, let alone finals. We’re looking forward to it.
“The score didn’t indicate how close the game was. It blew out at the end but it was tight. The first half we got to 10-0 and I didn’t think we were playing that great. There was the bonce of the ball and obviously we scored off that and they got their one. The last 10 minutes of the first half, that’s when we came out the other end.”
Hull KR boss hails key performers after Challenge Cup semi-final
Joe Batchelor got Hull KR off to the perfect start scoring two tries inside the first 14 minutes before a Catalans fight back to take the lead through Reimis Smith and Luke Keary. Mikey Lewis scored the final try of the first half, though, and that set seemed to set the agenda for what was a one-sides second half with Jack Broadbent scoring twice and Joe Burgess touching down.
“There’s a number of players, Broadbent, Jack for me, it’s remarkable what he’s doing,” Peters added. “It doesn’t matter where he plays and I think he got man of the match the other week on the wing. He’s putting in top end performances wherever he is and it’s so good to see. He’s taken every opportunity with both hands.
“Dean Hadley does that every week. There were moments in there where a lot of players were good. Jez Litten had a slow start but I thought he found his way, the old Jez that probably would’ve been him for the rest of the game. There’s a lot of growth signs.”
On reaching the final, Peters added: “We’re in the final, we haven’t won anything yet. Are we happy? Of course. But we have to prepare right, we have three Super League games to go and hopefully the footy Gods are on our side because there’s players who are cup tied that we can’t use.”
