Willie Peters asks key Bill Leyland question as Hull KR next steps assessed

Leyland was outstanding in a young Hull KR side on Friday night at St Helens

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Bill Leyland continues to move in the right direction at Hull KR but he might have to remain patient.

That’s the message from head coach Willie Peters following what was arguably Leyland’s brightest showing for the Robins at St Helens on Friday night.

Peters’ youngsters were beaten by the Saints but Leyland was arguably KR’s strongest performer against the club he excelled at while on loan earlier in the season.

The hooker scored a try in the game and his pace and deception around the ruck created problems throughout as KR pushed a first choice St Helens team close.

Ultimately, Leyland probably hasn’t played as much as he would have liked this season, with most of his 13 appearances being fleeting appearances off the bench.

However, game time will always be hard to come by when he has a man like Jez Litten ahead of him in the pecking order.

“What’s the next step?”, Peters said when asked if Leyland had shown he was ready to kick on. “You have an international hooker and that’s the hooker.

“For me, Bill has developed and he’s played a number of games, probably more games in the last two years together combined than what you would have thought initially when you had Micky McIlorum.

“Then obviously this year he’s played in the Challenge Cup final, so he’s playing more and more and developing more and more.

“At the moment he’s got Jez Litten who plays 80 minutes and he’s built to play 80 minutes. For me, Jez has earned that right. Bill has got to keep doing what he’s doing and developing.

“Saying that, I’m not speaking for Nathan Cayless. Cayless might see it different. For me at the moment, Jez is obviously the club’s nine and Bill’s doing a great job developing. He knows the areas he needs to work on.

“I thought he played really, really well last week. He looked like a senior player in that team, they’re all the signs that he’s heading in the right direction.

“The club got Bill for a reason, you need to have two or three hookers at the club. That’s what we’ve had and I’m sure Nathan will still have that next year. How he uses the two hookers will be up to him.”