Tom Amone has taken on a key role since his off-season switch to the Robins
Tom Amone of Hull KR is tackled by Oli Field and Denive Balmforth of York
Willie Peters has been more than encouraged by the way Tom Amone has found his feet at Hull KR over the last couple of months.
Amone arrived at Craven Park at the start of pre-season while in the final stages of his recovery from the foot injury that saw his stint with Castleford Tigers come to a premature end.
And, he fractured his hand towards the end of pre-season, which saw the 29-year-old sit out the club’s opening game of the Super League.
However, the prop was deemed fit enough to make a debut in the World Club Challenge and he certainly made his presence felt by scoring a try in the historic win over Brisbane Broncos.
He has since made eight appearances for Rovers with further efforts coming against Huddersfield and Catalans and over the last four weeks, he has established his position in the Robins’ starting line-up alongside Sauaso Sue.
The former Leigh Leopards man has been playing big minutes and Peters is pleased with the way he is settling in.
“There’s no doubt he’s growing into that role, coming into a new club it will always take time to find your feet and he certainly is now,” Peters said on the prop. “We brought Tom over to be a senior leader in our pack for the next few years and he’s definitely growing into that role.
“We know he can play big minutes and that’s what he’s doing at the moment. As long as he continues to value those effort areas and compete the way he is then there’s no reason why he can’t keep playing big minutes.
“We’ve got rotation with our forwards but at the minute the best thing for us is by playing him those big minutes.”
One man who probably isn’t getting the opportunities he would like is Jack Brown, who has made just five appearances for the Robins so far.
All but one of those outings have come off the bench, with Brown having to make do with a shorter time on the field.
“It’s difficult because that role is a shorter stint,” Peters added. “We’ve got players in our forward pack that can play big minutes when you look at Dean Hadley, Tom Amone, Jai [Whitbread] can play decent minutes, there’s Mini and a number of players that can play big minutes.
“It just depends on what we’re looking for that week. Jack was that person last week and we certainly look to rotate as well because it’s important to keep everyone fresh.
“We have a plan in place around our training schedule which helps with that. But yeah, I obviously want to give opportunities at the right time when it presents itself and whatever that person’s role is, regardless of time, they have to go out and make the most of it. That role usually entails 15-20 minutes and that can be like a normal stint for a starting prop.”