Peta Hiku is in the final year of his Hull KR deal
Peta Hiku in action during Hull KR’s Challenge Cup win over Huddersfield Giants.
Off-contract centre Peta Hiku hopes to have clarity on his Hull KR future sooner rather than later.
Hiku has been with the Robins since joining the club from North Queensland Cowboys ahead of the 2024 Super League season.
Since then he has played an instrumental role in KR’s success, with the New Zealand international helping the club to a Grand Final in his first year before making 33 appearances during the club’s treble winning season last time around.
However, the three-year deal he initially penned is due to expire at the end of the current campaign and while he has been focusing on his rugby so far this season, the 33-year-old is keen to secure his future.
“There has been a bit of mention about it earlier in the year but I wanted to focus and see how my body was during pre-season,” Hiku said when asked if talks on his future had started.
“Then obviously we had a bad start so I wanted to focus on my rugby a little bit more. We’ll see how we’ll go about it after that.”
Asked when he’d hope to have things wrapped up, he added: “Hopefully soon, so I can not worry about the body and focus on footy and not about what’s going to happen next year. Hopefully it gets sorted out soon.
“I love it at this club. I’ve enjoyed my three years here. Winning makes the game a lot more fun and that’s what this club has been good at for the last few years.
“They’ve been building to get there and it’s good to be a part of. Not only for the rugby but my family as well, they’ve been enjoying it. KR has made my family very happy and very welcome. That plays a big part.”
Hiku is expected to feature this weekend when KR take on York Knights in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals as Willie Peters’ side bid to secure a spot in the final four for the fifth year running.
The clash obviously presents KR with a chance to keep their cup hopes alive, but it also gives them the chance to dish out some revenge after being stunned by newly promoted York on the opening day of the Super League season.
“I’m expecting nothing different [from York],” Hiku said. “We think they’re going to come out firing and obviously in round one they came out firing so that’s what we’re expecting now.
“They’ve been playing some good footy but getting a few injuries and they’ve had some people that have moved into important positions and played very well. We’re not expecting the next person to come in and do any less because anyone that gets a chance or the opportunity is there to prove themselves and we think they’re going to come with their best performance.
“If we can just focus on what we can control and get back to the basics. You don’t enjoy losing to teams, you remember them but it would be just good to get out there and get the win for our team and fans.”