The Robins go to St Helens next week with every little riding on the contest
Hull KR coach Willie Peters with Betfred Player of the Match Jack Broadbent after victory over Huddersfield(Image: SW Pix)
Willie Peters has a team selection decision to make over the coming days as Hull KR prepare for their final match of the regular season.
The Robins secured their spot in play-offs on Friday night as they returned to winning ways by beating Huddersfield Giants 36-6 at Craven Park.
With St Helens losing at Leigh, KR would have been all but over the line regardless of their own result, but the win just mathematically secured a top six berth.
KR know they will be playing away from home in their eliminator against either Warrington Wolves, Wakefield Trinity or Leigh Leopards and with the club having no real preference, whether they ultimately finish in fifth or sixth doesn’t really matter.
As such, next week’s trip to St Helens can be considered a dead rubber of sorts, with the Saints resigned to the fact that they will miss out on the play-offs for the first time in their history.
Peters then must decide between naming his strongest side for the game in the name of building momentum, or resting up some of his key men ahead of their do or die play-off game.
“I need to have a look at it,” the head coach said. “My focus was winning today but now that we’ve done that I need to see scenarios, but we need to get momentum as well. You need to have momentum and that could be important.
“We didn’t look too far ahead, we needed to win this game. If we didn’t win this game and Saints lost, it’s not the way you want to build momentum. We won today so we’re in but we still need to keep momentum building.”
One change that looks likely to happen is the return of Mikey Lewis, who has now completed his two-match ban. He’ll almost certainly step into the side at six, with Arthur Mourgue, who played well against the Giants set to shift to full-back.
“I thought it was more like Arthur,” Peters said. “I said in the week that he just needs to keep playing and the more he plays the better he’s going to get. I saw some glimpses tonight.
“I thought last week defensively he was good and there was glimpses tonight, that first try and running the ball, which is good.
“Mikey is back next week. We’ll have a look at the team and see. Mikey has done his time, we didn’t play him for that game and he’s done his time now. He’ll be in our best team.”