Rovers’ Kiwi centre produced a monster hit on Wigan Warriors star full-back
Hull KR’s Peta Hiku recalled his monster hit on Wigan’s Jai Field and admitted: “It felt almost like scoring a try.” The Kiwi centre was excellent again as the Robins edged Friday’s tense 10-6 table-topping clash to move six points clear.
Champions Warriors couldn’t break down their fierce defence until Adam Keighran’s 74th minute effort. And Hiku’s huge ball-and-all tackle on Field earlier in the second half, just as their star Aussie full-back looked like breaking clear, really summed up his side’s defensive attitude.
Hiku, 32, explained: “We spoke about how he’s just a dangerous player, and every time in those situations – and he had a couple – the boys kept turning up on him. He’s that player that, when the ball’s on the ground, he’s coming from anywhere. If I wasn’t there he’s probably scoring under the posts.
“Once I made the tackle I was just trying to hold him down for as long as I could, trying to slow it down. But I was just happy I made it. Especially in a kind of threat like that, when you pull off a good, dominant tackle that stops a broken play where anything could happen, and you’ve made a good read, it is almost like scoring a try.
“There’s little ones that go unnoticed but obviously if it’s a big hit then the crowd do.”
It was another huge step for KR towards claiming their first-ever League Leaders’ Shield. Wigan were surprisingly error-prone but Rovers’ pressure forced a lot of their mistakes.
Hiku, who recently reached 100 career tries, said: “Defence is something we’ve been working towards. We let that easy one in the end but that’s a positive – only letting one try in after 75 minutes, especially against a good attacking side.
“But that was not an easy game. It’s one of those games where everyone was in it, on both teams, for the whole 80 minutes. But those are the big games you want to come away with.”
And, having been beaten at home by Wigan in April, along with last year’s Old Trafford loss and Challenge Cup semi-final defeat against Matty Peet’s side, it meant Rovers also beat them for the first time in five years.
It had started becoming a narrative – the Robins being unable to overcome Wigan when it mattered most – so was it good to silence those knockers? Hiku responded: “The outside noise is not a main focus point for us.
“But I suppose there’s always a bit of banter; we’re all human and obviously you always buy into stuff like that, you always hear the outside noises. Obviously you try not to make it a fickle game and we don’t focus on it. But I suppose it is a positive [to win]. Obviously the crowds give it to the teams – and I suppose that’s the way we speak to them.”