A number of Super League sides are well underway with their pre-season training and Hull KR are no different, however head coach Willie Peters has revealed one specialist area his team are working towards that rival sides might not be.
The Robins had a brilliant first season under Peters’ coaching, placing fourth in Super League and hosting a home play-off game for the first time since 2009. Rovers also made it to Wembley but unfortunately for them they fell just shy in a dramatic golden point loss to Leigh Leopards.
One of the key men during their run to Wembley was short term signing Brad Schneider but the Australian half-back has since left to join NRL champions Penrith Panthers.
Rovers have replaced his creativity with the signing of Catalans Dragons half Tyrone May, however one thing they haven’t been able to replace is Schneider’s goal-kicking ability.
The Robins had started the season with Lachlan Coote on kicking duties but after his mid-season retirement Schneider took over. The club are now without a clear number one kicker, but to remedy the problem Peters has revealed the appointment of a specialist coach.
He told BBC Humberside: “We’ve brought in Joe Ford, who actually is Doncaster’s coach in Rugby Union. I’ve done a bit of homework and research on him. Good guy, obviously comes from a family where his dad’s a very successful coach and he’s been great.
“So he’s only done the one kicking session with us at the moment. But certainly, there’s an area that we need to work on and that’s why we’ve outsourced and brought him in.”
Peters had also explained just how the pre-season was going for his team, explaining the huge toll that the efforts of 2023 had taken on his side.
“It was a good off-season for the players. Obviously, they had a big campaign last year. We pretty much played in every game except for the big one at the end of the year. So it was a long season for a lot of players.
“So they’re all here now except for Tyrone May. So Tyrone will come back or come into the squad on Monday. Obviously there’s Kelepi, there’s Oli Gildart, there’s Jai Whitbread. There’s a few new faces and they’ve settled in well.”
The Robins will open the Super League season up when they travel across the city to face rivals Hull FC on Thursday 15th February.
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