Rovers bounced back to winning ways in perfect fashion against Hull FC
Hull KR coach Willie Peters looks on as his side defeat Hull FC.
Hull KR’s derby win over Hull FC showed they have plenty of fight left in them as the Super League run-in approaches.
That’s the belief of Willie Peters, who saw his side come from behind to claim a ninth win in a row over the Black and Whites on his last derby as coach of the Robins.
Rovers had a dreadful start at the MKM Stadium, with Joe Batchelor and Davy Litten putting the home side firmly into the lead.
However, the Robins hit back through Tom Amone and Arthur Mourgue and that set them on their way to victory in west Hull.
Jack Broadbent put Rovers into the lead for the first time at the start of the second half before Joe Burgess and Jordan Dezaria made sure of the result.
It was one KR needed after losing three of their last four games and slipping out of the top six. That has led to criticism from a number of angles, but Peters believes his side sent a firm message going into the final eight games of the season.
“Really proud,” Peters said after his latest win over Hull. “I thought that first 10 minutes was a nervous start. It could have got ugly.
“They score another one and it goes to 18, but we fought and that’s what I wanted. After the week that we had and people questioning a few things around us, I think the best way is winning football games but the fight that we showed tonight shows we’re a connected team and there’s some fight left in us.
“I said before the game that I thought it was the perfect fixture to show the fight. Every derby is challenging, it’s played with a lot of physicality and tonight was no different but just being 12-0 down at the MKM Stadium against your rivals and to be able to kick on at the back end, I thought that was what we needed.”
The bench played a huge part in turning the game Rovers’ way and Peters took the opportunity hail those who came off it and Dean Hadley for playing huge minutes and enabling such rotation.
“I thought Tom Amone was outstanding, Karl Lawton was outstanding, they gave us a lot of energy,” he added.
“I say the same thing every week about Dean, what he brings our team is incredible, he helps with rotations, it means that you don’t have to play people longer minutes, they can have shorter stints.
“Jesse Sue was carrying a bit of a foot issue, but he was always going to start the game and not go back on which helps when you’ve got Hadley. The bench did a great job and Dean Hadley is a big reason why we can be flexible doing that.”