One Super League boss has claimed that Hull KR are who his side will aim to ’emulate’ as they set about the rebuilding process.
That man is Huddersfield Giants’ newly-appointed head coach Luke Robinson who was confirmed to have been handed a three-year contract earlier in the week.
Robinson took over from Ian Watson, whom he worked under as an assistant, and was named permanent head coach on Wednesday with the 40-year-old now the man to oversee the Giants’ rebuild.
That task is a daunting one with the Giants having failed to replicate their 2022 success when they placed third in Super League and made the Challenge Cup Final.
Instead, they placed ninth in 2023 and look set to finish there again this season after recording just nine wins through the first 25 games of the Super League campaign. Win number nine came against London Broncos today but the 22-16 victory was hard-fought and left Robinson cutting a ‘frustrated’ figure.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, Robinson explained: “Frustrating. Frustrating, if I’m honest. I thought our game management was really, really poor but it’s a win and winning and losing is habitual. When you get into one cycle, it’s very hard to get out of it.
“I thought we dominated field position. We drowned them at times but then we just didn’t manage the game very well which is really frustrating on my part being a former half but it’s still a win.”
Are Hull KR the formula for struggling Super League sides?
Credit: Imago Images
As Robinson said, a win is a win, and one team that has become accustomed to it in the past few seasons after years of being on the losing end is Hull KR.
They’ve undergone a complete rebuild since their relegation and the Robins are now in the best state they’ve been since the 1980s and they’ve now been cited by Robinson as the Super league side to emulate.
When speaking about his plans for 2025, the newly-appointed Giants boss explained that the club are trailing behind but are looking to “slowly progress” with Hull KR’s success being the blueprint.
He explained: “We’re a little bit behind the eight ball if I’m honest. A lot of teams are now thinking about 2026 so we’re a little bit behind on where we would like to be obviously.
“We’re trying as hard as we can to get things put in place. We just want to start making improvements whatever happens at the end of this year, wherever we end up, we want to slowly progress.
“I think Hull KR have been a great example of a side that’s put the building blocks in place and done it, not just done it instantaneously, but actually built the club and I really liked everything that they were about at the moment, so it’s probably something a club would like to emulate really.”
Hull KR’s growth has come over several years with Willie Peters taking the side to the next level these past two seasons, and that suggests to Giants’ fans that it could be a long road ahead.
