Tony Smith laments how Hull KR “helped” Wigan Warriors in their 24-10 win and explains Matt Peet “outcoached” him on the night

Tony Smith believed his Hull KR side helped Wigan “build their game” as the Robins went down to a disappointing 24-10 home defeat in their opening game of 2022.

The Robins were highly fancied by many, having won the previous three encounters between both sides but they were somewhat humbled by a revitalised Wigan Warriors outfit under new Head Coach Matt Peet.

Though Smith is adamant his team “helped” Wigan, he also had plenty of praise for his “opposite number” Peet on the night.

Smith said, “We certainly helped Wigan build their game. Wigan outplayed us, ‘Matty’ outcoached me.

“In his first game, they came out with some really good, smart plays, even when we kicked to their try line, they then offloaded and went the full length of the field and I love those sort of plays.

“The kick from the scrum impressed me, I think ‘Matty’ tipped that over to Lee Briers.

“We were outcoached but there were errors and we helped them. They were very good at handling our big men. Some of the people who normally get quick play the balls for us, we were unable to do that.

“We played in to their hands pretty well for most of the evening and we just did not quite come up with the answers but we will soon.”

A bad night at the office for the Robins perhaps but one that Smith fully acknowledged and he is confident that they’ll immediately bounce back.

He added, “Everybody who has been around for a while has plenty of bad nights but there are also plenty of opportunities to learn.

“We are going to learn some lessons. If you are going to be in professional sport, you fail sometimes and it is how you deal and learn from it.

“I am proud that my lads do not like losing or playing poor and it has been pretty quiet in there but we are not going to sulk about it.

“We are not going to hide in the corner under our duvets and I personally will be putting my ‘gloves up’ as it was not good enough but we will come back swinging very soon.”