Hull KR boss Willie Peters couldn’t believe what he witnessed in this afternoon’s 20-6 defeat to Wakefield Trinity.
The Robins failed to score a try, with only penalty goals saving them from a nilling at home. Rhyse Martin slotted over three of those, all of which came in the first half.
After a scrappy opening 40, KR’s woeful efforts would continue into the second half, whilst Wakefield were able to turn the screw and really put the pressure on KR, who didn’t have an answer to the problems Trinity were throwing at them.
The performance marks the Robins’ worst of the season, and it came at a time when they needed to show up, given that Wakefield now go four points ahead in the league table, whilst KR remain level on points with seventh-placed Leigh Leopards.
“Yeah, look, I didn’t see it coming,” Peters said to Sky Sports. “Just a really, really poor performance.
“[We were] ill-disciplined. We weren’t patient with the ball. Didn’t connect. There’s a lot of things there, and they come straight through us as well.
“Look, it was a performance we’re certainly not proud of.”
Peters admitted that he couldn’t get his head around his side’s poor defence, which led to some incredibly soft tries.
He revealed: “We’ll go over and chat about that now, because we’ve got a principle that they don’t come through us and take the inside shoulder, which most teams have, and they came through us pretty much for every try. Disappointing.
Particularly in the first half, on-field referee Chris Kendall seemed a tad whistle-happy, and that was reflected with 10 penalties given in the first half. A futher seven in the second 40 made for a stop-start contest, but Peters refused to use the officials as an excuse for the Robins’ poor showing.
“There was a lot of penalties, wasn’t there?” said the boss. “But I don’t want to go into the ref. I’ve got to look at my team. That’s what I need to focus on.”
Asked where his side need to improve, Peters simply replied: “A lot.
I’ll go watch it. There’s nothing I can pinpoint now, because there’s a lot. With a performance like that, it’s concerning.”
