The duo go head to head once again on Good Friday.
Hull FC and Hull KR coaches John Cartwight and Willie Peters. (Image: SW PIX)
Hull FC head coach John Cartwright believes Willie Peters’ move to the NRL was ‘always going to come.’ The Hull KR supremo has landed the PNG Chiefs’ top job for the 2028 season, putting an end to a superb four-year stint in East Hull.
Peters will have a year to recruit and put together a squad and ensure the infrastructure of the football department is up to NRL standard before entering the competition as its 19th team.
And for Cartwright, who enjoyed a long and successful coaching career in Australia – involved in Premiership wins at Sydney Roosters and North Queensland Cowboys – the 47-year-old has everything it takes to make a fist of it in Papua New Guinea.
Speaking on his former colleague, whom he worked with at Sydney-based club Manly Sea Eagles, Cartwright said: “I think with what he’s been able to do over here with KR, that opportunity was always going to come.
“He probably had a few options, and I’ve read that the opportunity to start a new club is what’s appealed to him and that would be appealing to any coach, especially in a rugby league-mad place like PNG is.
“He’s deserved what he has got on the back of the results that he’s got here. He’s a good fella, Willie, and he deserves everything that he’s getting out of the game.”
Cartwright will go up against Peters once again on Good Friday, having tasted defeat to his Hull KR three times last year.
Asked what the Rovers do best under Peters, the Hull boss added: “Good sides put you under pressure and the sides that do it best are there on the last day of the season. They’re one of those.
“The defensive pressure that they put on the opposition is huge. It’s sort of simple; they just really cut down your time with the ball in hand. They give it to you in tough areas to get out of that part of the field.
“They’re easy things to talk about, but they’re difficult to do, and they’re one side that does it pretty well consistently.”