On goal kicking, am I right in thinking Hayes kicked for the academy? How was he there generally? He seemed to be rushing his kicks last night and didn’t seem too relaxed while taking them. Maybe he just needs time and practice of kicking in a SL environment

Really looks like Gleeson is having an impact. He was clearly behind getting Dufty more involved last season and that has kicked in this season.
The last try was a well thought out and really well executed move.
Hayes run round the back and Dufty joining in the line not next to Hayes but 1 along.
In general the ptb seems a lot cleaner this season for most teams. Lewis managed to con the ref by moving forward for one penalty but for the most part the ref got most things right.

Great game and well won by the Wire. The goal kicking is going to be a problem later on so we need to resolve that soon. Appalling punditry from the gathered loons.

I normally don’t mind Wells but he was being a first class handle last night. Wilkin is the new age Clarke except it’s Saints rather than Wigan

Ha ha



They are pound land pantomime villains aren't they.

true but he would have kicked at least 3 conversions and is better defensively.

Great win on a boggy pitch, with a bitter swirling wind which had an effect on the goal kicking.

Proud of the effort involved and the will to win.

We have a lot of raw pace in the team with Ashton, Wrench and Dufty and to a lesser extent Williams and Thewlis,which terrorised Hiku and eventually forced Hull KR to move him from fullback.

Didn`t expect a win prior to the game.

Can`t wait to see this team play on a dry pitch.

We need to get a RU goal kicking coach in PDQ to give Thewlis and Hayes intense tuition and hopefully they will improve on last night, but Hull KR only scored two goals so it wasn`t a night for goalkickers.

I don't accept the narrative of 'Hull KR were unlucky because they bombed a few tries'. Those things happened because their skills let them down, nothing to do with luck. I thought it was an exciting, tense game that certainly could have gone either way, but we dug in and got the win, so happy days. I'm not getting carried away, but there are some promising signs from us so far.

Exactly. We deserved the win, no doubt about that. 5 tries to 4.

Wire were unlucky too, when Walker just missed a chance when the ball ran dead after Hiku couldn`t handle it.

In front of the post so would have guaranteed a conversion.

That’s a good point too. It was tough to see in real time but there was another one where Hiku let it go dead and Hayes was very close, I think he ended up kicking it instead of diving and trying to put it down. But chances for both teams.

It’s worth saying, they are a good side. Really enjoyed Gildart’s flick pass and May, Lewis and Litten will cause lots of problems throughout the year. It’s a good game to get out of the way!

As a Rovers fan I'm gutted to lose that, but what a good game to watch though, the ref let the game flow for a change which seemed to make it a fast one.
Definitely a grey hair game for the coaches though.
I think your speed in the backs gave you a good advantage and showed us up for a lack of it.
Interesting times for you guys because I think you'd probably have crumbled under that second half pressure in recent seasons.

My take on the game was that there wasn't much in it between both sides. I thought we were the more composed. But Hull KR had the better go forward. They certainly blew 2/3 chances.
That was the only area of concern for me. We were rolled far too easily and Hull KR made it up the field making more metres than we did. I'm happy with Vaughan and Harrison but i still think we're a bit light when they're off the field. Musgrove was OK but Philbin, apart from maybe 1 run has never been the same player he was years ago.
I thought Heyes did ok. His in field kicking was hit and miss and it often landed in a Hull KR players hands rather than turning them around but maybe thats also to do with our go forward. All in all he did well and got involved far more than Drinkwater which is pleasing.
So overall a great win over a team which many tip for big things this year. I agree with others that we would have lost that last year. When i was watching last night, even though they went up in the second half i still felt we had it in us to win the game. I've not felt that for a long time.

We could do with whoever taught Harry Smith to kick goals last year - he was dreadful at one point IIRC but seems to not be an issue now?

id disagree, i'd say aside from his purple patch for gb honours hes exactly the same player he was. just undersized and not as good as we'd like him to be,

i mentioned this last week, interesting prop rotation last night, we currie, crowther and musgrove after the first set of interchanges. powell was held back last night and came on at hooker rather than 13 and philbin was kept back till the second half as well.

Burgess is giving us a fair bit to think about, especially after about 6 years of subs you can telegraph a mile off.

Totally agree Boss and from a Wire "were unlucky too" narrative does anyone think their first try had a whiff of offside about it? The timing of the run was fantastic and I'm not calling for a football type ten minute review ( we won after all ), but the VAR lines may have proved that the timing was too fantastic.

Great win and just the kind of game I was hoping for don't think many teams will come away with the points there. NTW

Yes, I couldn't understand what Hayes was trying to achieve there - just dive on it and try to score!

Yes kick up for backside for Philbs for sure in terms of limited game time.

Our go forward slumps when Vaughan and Harrison go off. Here's hoping for 2025 we can sign some prop forwards.

With Kasiano paid-off and a quota spot available currently, I am expecting to see another prop playing for us in 2024.

I'd like Mike McMeeken for 2025.

Doubt if he will leave Catalans and the lifestyle he is living there.

Could possibly have been tempted with the Marquee spot that Toby King currently has, but King has another year with us after this season.

Our right side defence was up against it last night with the likes of the experienced Hall & Gildart & the explosive maverick called Lewis , but they coped & will improve & i thought our overall defence won the game ,helped of course by a couple of HKR handling errors with our try line at their mercy. The Tyrone May try & his cut out pass for the right winger were superb rugby moments.
As for the goal kicking ,both teams suffered , but if Thewlis is to be persevered with he needs to be getting plenty of training field kicking practice in with Ratchford coaching him...a great goalkicker & no need for the expense of a RU kicking coach. Great to see Burgess sticking with the kids though & i thought last night's game was played in great spirit by both teams ,.very few penalties & a reduction in head contact.
Good game ,enjoyed it !

Wakefield bound

Good point. It was a clean game, that required very little whistle, and the spectacle was vastly improved as a result. Well done to both teams, and let's hope this becomes the norm.

Holroyd did a good stint in tackling, but it was he who gave an away a soft penalty that swung the 1st half momentum to KR when we were 10 zero up.
He technically had us 10-12 down at the break. So for all his good stuff, his daft penalty undermined the 1st half.