Hull KR coach Willie Peters says it was important to be smart and not take any undue risks after opting to end his side’s win over St Helens with only 12 men.
Rovers voluntarily ended the game with 12 after captain Elliott Minchella was withdrawn with a little over five minutes remaining. The decision was taken after two altercations with St Helens players as tempers started to flare, with Peters eager to not see the loose-forward embroiled in anything that was going to result in a potential ban for Wembley.
It was for that reason that Dean Hadley was left out of the one-sided 34-4 victory at Craven Park, with the forward very close to a ban on the new points system and Peters not wanting to risk a key cog in the KR machine.
“If Dean had another change he could have been out next week, so we had to be smart in our approach with Dean. Accidents happen and you can get charged and then miss a Challenge Cup final,” explained Peters on his decision making.
“There were some niggles and guys carrying things. When I thought we were safe we wanted to be smart and brought some guys off in the back end. He (Minchella) started to get into it a little bit and that was the time to get him off.”
With the victory all-but assured by half time, Rovers were afforded the opportunity to rotate in the second half and give players a rest with next weekend’s Challenge Cup final in mind.
Rovers were in the lead within six minutes thanks to a Jack Broadbent try and when Peta Hiku added a second on the opposite wing soon after, the cup finalists were convincing everyone there was no danger they had one eye on Wembley.
Lewis Murphy may have hit back with a score but it was just brief respite for the visitors who saw Broadbent get his second, Mikey Lewis score a breakaway try and then even Elliott Minchella got in on the act with his first try of the season.
Another Lewis score accompanied by another Arthur Mourgue touchline conversion killed off any tiny hope for Saints as Rovers cruised to victory.
“It was a definite positive. Tonight could have gone either way in terms of mentality but this group put in a performance like that and I am really pleased with the players,” added Peters.
“We were physical and we’d spoken about that. We had a really positive start which helped us and then did some damage later in the game.”