Hull KR have climbed up to fifth in the Super League table
Hull Kingston Rovers’ Mikey Lewis scores a try at Bradford Bulls
Mikey Lewis scored four tries as Hull KR moved into the Super League play-off spots for the first time this season with a 48-12 win over Bradford Bulls.
The Robins touched down for eight tries on the day, with England international Lewis running riot to blow Kurt Haggerty’s side away in the West Yorkshire sunshine.
With their fifth win on the bounce and their fourth in Super League, Rovers now sit fifth in the Super League table and as they edge towards the top of the table, they’re starting to show the type of imperious form that took them so far last year.
Given the sheer amount of injuries the home side had, Rovers were always going to be the overwhelming favourites in West Yorkshire and it showed early on as Mikey Lewis capitalised on a superb Elliot Minchella offload to touch down with ease with just a few minutes of the clock.
Bradford were stuck in the blocks as Rovers ran rampant in the early stages and Lewis got over again, this time cutting against the grain and beating two defenders to touch down.
The stand-off turned provider for KR’s third as his kick over the top set up the untracked Tyrone May and Rhyse Martin touched for a fourth before the 20th minute with the back-rower-turned-centre barrelling over from around 15 minutes out.
It was one way traffic as KR wiped the floor with their depleted rivals and at that stage they looked capable of racking up what would have been a record score.
But, for whatever reason, Rovers appeared to take their foot off the gas and through slack possession and poor discipline, they let Bradford back into the game.
Brandon Douglas got the home side on the scoreboard, powering over through the middle after a period of sustained pressure and former Robin Greg Eden, scored the Bulls second on his return to Super League after penning a one-month deal with Bradford.
Letting a Chris Atkin kick bounce, Rovers could only watch on as Eden collected and touched down.
After dusting themselves down at half-time, though, KR made the perfect start to the second half as May’s short kick through was collected by Jack Broadbent, who touched down unopposed.
Lewis collected his hat-trick shortly after, shaping one way to open up the gap before running through and touching down from short range.
The Bulls couldn’t lay a glove on the England international in truth and with just under 15 minutes to go, he scored a fourth, looking wide, meandering inside and somehow slipping through a crowd to touch down.
Peta Hiku got himself on the scoreboard late on, getting on the end of May’s kick through and that was enough to wrap up the scoring on another successful afternoon for the east Hull outfit.
Teams
Bradford Bulls: Ethan Ryan; Connor Wynne, Dan Russell, Ed Chamberlain, Greg Eden; Caleb Aekins, Chris Atkin; Jack Ormondroyd, Mitch Souter, Loghan Lewis; Zac Fulton, Eliot Peposhi; Sam Hallas.
Bench: Brandon Douglas, Will Gardiner, Leon Ruan, Jamie Gill.
Hull KR : Jack Broadbent; Tom Davies, Peta Hiku, Rhyse Martin, Noah Booth; Mikey Lewis, Tyrone May; Sauaso Sue, Jez Litten, Tom Amone; Dean Hadley, James Batchelor, Elliot Minchella.
Bench: Sam Luckley, Jai Whitbread, Jordan Dezaria, Bill Leyland.